Kafka on the Shore By Haruki Murakami Vintage, 505pp Running away at the age of 15, Kafka Tamura heads to Shikoku. He has been planning this day for two years. Abandoned by his mother at the age of four, when she suddenly left with his elder sister, he finds an old world library in a quiet town and the story becomes a quest to understand himself and life. Inserted into this story is a mysterious incident that happened in the countryside during World War II when a group of children on a mushroom picking day all fall temporarily unconscious. They all recover except one boy, Nakata, who remains in a coma for two weeks. When he awakes he finds he has forgotten everything he ever learned but has gained the ability to talk with cats. We meet him when he is an old man who knows he has to go somewhere for something important but is not sure what. Along the way we meet a spiritual pimp, who has taken the form of Colonel Sanders and who introduces Nakata's travelling companion to some very erotic sex. We also meet a twisted and demonic Johnny Walker (of the scotch fame) who cannot stop himself killing cats, eating their hearts and saving their heads. All to make a mystical flute. The dream-like quality of all these adventures makes for compelling reading, you never know which are real and which are not. But you do come to understand that they are all part of Kafka. An omen that his father cursed him with, that he would murder his father and sleep with his mother and sister, is constantly on his mind as he lets life dictate his every decision. The only choices he seems to make for himself are those dictated by the hormones of a young teenage male. Disturbing and compelling at the same time, they are an important device to keep the reader aware of the fact that at the centre of this story is a young man battling with his demons. Those who read and enjoyed Murakami's The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle may find this latest novel a little disappointing in comparison because of its lack of depth, but it is still a must-read for those who enjoy his dreamlike and moving novels. Kafka leaves you looking forward to more of Murakami's addictive storytelling.