Kafka on The Shore and Uncertainty

What does Murakami and the unknown have to do with each other?

If there’s an author that no one should bother writing a synopsis for, it’s probably Haruki Murakami. So, when I got my hands on a cheap second hand copy of Kafka on the Shore, I thought ‘let me see what this is about’. I Googled, and I checked GoodReads and no one could really tell me what the novel was about, and that made me very uncomfortable.

I don’t like the unknown, I think that’s a very human trait. This is why we read our horoscopes for the year ahead, we want to know that things are going to be okay.

I, on the other hand take this to the next level. Not only do I check my horoscope, I do check everything.

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This year, the latest season of House of the Dragon, a hit TV show came out. I already know the entire story overall. I know, it was adapted from a book and I could read the book, but I googled…in the first season that came out a couple of years ago.

So, for this season I watched other people’s reactions on social media, with full spoilers happening, and once I was satisfied, I watched it myself.

This is bad, but the worst of it is when it comes to movies.

I used to love going to the movies, you’d get immersed, have a laugh, have a cry and when the lights come up you’d leave really fast so people don’t know who was sobbing uncontrollably in the back row.

Then, as life itself got more unpredictable, I stopped going so often.

Maybe it was the rising costs, maybe it was the fact that I get so immersed and emotional, (even if the movie is terrible) maybe its the lack of original films coming out and maybe….(actually its not really a maybe, it is a fact)…I don’t like the uncertainty of it all.

I don’t like not knowing what will happen, I don’t like not knowing if I’ll get emotional, in short, I don’t want to go along for the ride, please let me off early.

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As I was saying, I wanted to try a Murakami novel, and the one I found at the thrift store was Kafka on The Shore. The blurb on the jacket of the novel was completely unhelpful, something about talking to cats etc, etc.

At this stage, I was still in my ‘see a cheap book, buy a cheap book phase.’ Yes, I would love to support authors, but I haven’t the budget to support every single author. So if a novel wasn’t written in the last ten years, I tell myself its okay. It’s probably not okay, I’m a creative myself, and I should be supporting creatives more.

Now, it was a whole three dollars at savers, so I saw a bargain and cashed in. I also happened to have no budget that weekend, so I dragged a chair into the garden, the weather was nice, and I sat and started reading.

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If you’ve never read a Murakami novel, I don’t suggest you start with Kafka on the Shore, there are more relaxed options out there. This is a wild ride. There’s so much going on at the start of the novel, nothing really connects to each other until the end, and its weirdly sexual in places, and a bit Freudian in others. It really takes you for a ride.

For the entire weekend, it absolutely took me for a ride. I kept stopping and considering Googling, or watching a ‘Kafka on the Shore explained’ YouTube video. But I couldn’t put it down, because it is an engaging novel, it does keep you on your toes. But it made me so very uncomfortable, and that’s not just because it gets weird.

I didn’t like being along for the ride. I didn’t like the lack of control I had of knowing what happened, but when I let things happen I went on this little rollercoaster of emotions and came out the other end feeling alive.

Maybe knowing how some things will turn out is a good thing, maybe not knowing is also a good thing.

Kafka on the Shore didn’t cure me. I’ve already looked at my horoscope for next year. But I did go to see more movies in the last six months than I have in the last four years. I even broke my ‘I only see movies alone’ pledge. I also took to watching TV shows without knowing what happens, and started reading Agatha Christie.

Agatha Christie really takes you along for the ride with her novels, let me tell you- the last one I read had me gasping like a weirdo on the train.

I don’t mean to be that person, but life is pretty much about not knowing and going along for the ride. Any inspirational social media post will tell you this.

I just wish I could be that person who doesn’t start planning for every contingency. I like being prepared, I like having bandaids, and spare headache pills, some paper and a pen in my handbag, my horoscope read and my calendar app synced across every device, with every appointment organised.

I would like to be able to occasionally (when its no trouble, of course), go with it, and embrace the uncertainty (only if it really, is no trouble to anyone else).

So maybe, in 2025 I will go along for the ride a little more.

In the meantime, I highly recommend Kafka on The Shore if you really want to go on a trip.