Ultimately: Kafka is Murakami at his most perplexing and the novel indeed ends without actually bringing many of its threads to a satisfactory knot. Saeki Kafka's mother? Is Sakura Kafka's sister? Did he actually rape her, or was this a dream? Or does that matter-as with his father, did Kafka somehow project into Nakata? If he did-and Johnnie Walker is indeed Kafka's father, and Kafka did murder his father through some dreamy astral projection, who then is guilty of the crime? But even, as you say, Kafka 'has sex with his mom and rapes his sister'-does he? Is Mrs. Kafka is very much waving the flag of Oedipus Rex (If you decide to read more Murakami, 1Q84 pays respect to 1984, his most recent novel, Killing Commendatore to The Great Gatsby, or his short story Sansa in Love which is, essentially, a sequel to Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis). Murakami likes to pay homage and reference to famous works of literature. You also happened to pick up the strangest. It sounds like this is your first Murakami novel. Works Inspired by Haruki Murakami Please leave feedback on subreddit design! <- Reddit Hot New Rain, Burning Sun (Come Rain or Come Shine).What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.It Ain't Got that Swing (If It Don't Mean a Thing).Absolutely on Music: Conversations with Seiji Ozawa.Haruki Murakami Goes to Meet Hayao Kawai.Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage.Such posts or comments WILL be promptly deleted.įurther please avoid overt spoilers in the titles of posts and tag posts as spoiler if they contain them!

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