Description

Kafka Tamura runs away from home at fifteen, under the shadow of his father’s dark prophesy.

The aging Nakata, tracker of lost cats, who never recovered from a bizarre childhood affliction, finds his pleasantly simplified life suddenly turned upside down.

As their parallel odysseys unravel, cats converse with people; fish tumble from the sky; a ghost-like pimp deploys a Hegel-spouting girl of the night; a forest harbours soldiers apparently un-aged since World War II. There is a savage killing, but the identity of both victim and killer is a riddle – one of many which combine to create an elegant and dreamlike masterpiece.

‘Hypnotic, spellbinding’ The Times
‘Cool, fluent and addictive’ Daily Telegraph
‘Addictive… Exhilarating… A pleasure’ Evening Standard

Publisher Review

Wonderful... Magical and outlandish * Daily Mail * A magnificently bewildering achievement... Brilliantly conceived, bold in its surreal scope, sexy and driven by a snappy plot... Exuberant storytelling * Independent on Sunday * Cool, fluent and addictive * Daily Telegraph * Hypnotic, spellbinding * The Times * Addictive... Exhilarating... A pleasure * Evening Standard * Murakami's most addictive fix to date * Independent * Engrossing and wildly inventive * Times Literary Supplement * Laden with philosophical overtones and enchanting wit * Observer * Murakami's exquisitely simple prose and deft evocation of the surreal are captivating and sublime * Sunday Times * The mysteries are never tainted by explanation, merely beautifully described, delivering a hypnotic read * Times Higher Education Supplement *