A fifteen-year-old runaway and an old man who talks to cats drift toward each other across a Japan thick with omens, libraries, and fish falling from the sky.
Books mentioned in Kafka on the Shore (17)
The Trial by Franz Kafka: “"I assume you've read some of Kafka's stories?" I nod. "The Castle, and The Trial, 'The Metamorphosis,' plus that weird story about an execution device."”
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka: “"I assume you've read some of Kafka's stories?" I nod. "The Castle, and The Trial, 'The Metamorphosis,' plus that weird story about an execution device."”
A Thousand and One Nights: “Finally I decide on a multivolume set, with beautiful covers, of the Burton translation of The Arabian Nights, pick out one volume, and take it back to the reading room.”
The Miner by Natsume Sōseki: “"Which of his novels have you read since you came here?" "I finished The Miner, and now I'm on Poppies."”
The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu: “The sort of vengeful spirits that populate The Tale of Genji may be something similar.”
The Castle by Franz Kafka: “"I assume you've read some of Kafka's stories?" I nod. "The Castle, and The Trial, 'The Metamorphosis,' plus that weird story about an execution device."”
In the Penal Colony by Franz Kafka: “"'In the Penal Colony,'" Oshima says. "I love that story. Only Kafka could have written that."”
Poppies by Natsume Soseki: “I finished The Miner, and now I'm on Poppies.”
Kokoro by Natsume Sōseki: “Just like you're attracted to Soseki's The Miner. There's something in it that draws you in, more than more fully realized novels like Kokoro or Sanshiro.”
Sanshiro by Natsume Sōseki: “Just like you're attracted to Soseki's The Miner. There's something in it that draws you in, more than more fully realized novels like Kokoro or Sanshiro.”
Tales of Moonlight and Rain by Ueda Akinari: “there is that tale, 'The Chrysanthemum Pledge,' in Tales of Moonlight and Rain. Have you read it?"”
The Chrysanthemum Pledge by Ueda Akinari: “there is that tale, 'The Chrysanthemum Pledge,' in Tales of Moonlight and Rain. Have you read it?"”
Hamlet by William Shakespeare: “Berlioz put it this way: A life without once reading Hamlet is like a life spent in a coal mine.”
Macbeth by William Shakespeare: “No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red. A line from Macbeth.”
Oedipus Rex by Sophocles: “People are drawn deeper into tragedy not by their defects but by their virtues. Sophocles' Oedipus Rex being a great example.”
Electra by Sophocles: “"Electra, by Sophocles. A wonderful play.”
Symposium by Plato: “"According to Aristophanes in Plato's Symposium, in the ancient world of myth there were three types of people," Oshima says.”