Kafka on the Shore

The book tells two distinct but interrelated stories.

Kafka Tamura, a 15-year-old boy, runs away from home to escape an Oedipal curse and search for his mother and sister.

He finds refuge in a private library in Takamatsu, where he interacts with Miss Saeki and Oshima.

Meanwhile, Satoru Nakata, an old disabled man, has the ability to talk to cats and is on a quest to find an entrance stone that opens up another world.

The narrative explores themes of music, metaphysics, dreams, fate, and the subconscious, with the two characters' stories intertwining in complex ways.