He always had a few sardines with him, just in case. One of my favorites, sardines.' Nakata took a saran-wrapped sardine from his bag and opened it up for Okawa. Okawa,' Nakata said, 'as a token of our meeting each other, would you care for some dried sardines?' 'Sounds good. 'How about Okawa? Do you mind if I call you that?' 'Whatever.' 'Well then, Mr.

'And your name would be?' 'Ain't got one,' the tabby said brusquely. 'My name's Nakata,' Nakata said, introducing himself. 'Impressive all the same,' the tabby commented. The cat spoke gruffly but seemed nice enough. And with his government subsidy, Nakata has plenty of time to wander vacant lots discoursing politely with the neighborhood strays: 'So you can talk, huh?' the cat, a black and white tabby with torn ears, said a bit hesitantly as it glanced around. Black cats, striped cats, tabby cats… Nakata is particularly fond of a Siamese named Mimi with impressive conversational skills and a proclivity for quoting Puccini operas. Nakata, it seems, has the curious ability to speak with cats. He depends on a government 'sub city' which he augments by finding lost cats. His needs, like his thoughts, are simple. A bizarre childhood accident left him learning-disabled, unable to read or write. Cut to Satoru Nakata, a pleasant old man, speaks kindly and politely to everyone he meets.

So, armed with his backpack, walkman, and a childhood full of resentment, Kafka sets out from Tokyo to Takamatsu, a small town on the Southern island of Shikoku, where he does indeed take up residence in a corner of a small library. The weight of this Oedipal prophecy is particularly heavy for Kafka, abandoned by his mother and sister at the age of three and without a clue what they look like or where they live. Fifteen year old Kafka labors under the weight of an omen laid upon him by his father, a renown Tokyo sculptor who tells Kafka that he is destined to murder his father and sleep with his mother and sister. But it's no fairy tale, believe me.' And yet, it is. The first person of his own tale, Kafka Tamura begins by informing us, 'On my fifteenth birthday, I'll run away from home, journey to a far-off town, and live in a corner of a small library. Murakami's characters typically sojourn through tales sprinkled liberally with vaguely symbolic encounters, emissaries from the spirit world, and for good measure, a dash of sex. By Mark Flanagan, Reading a Haruki Murakami novel is always a bit like listening to a Brian Eno composition - mesmerizing, ethereal.

Johnnie walker kafka on the shore