Kafka On The Shore

　　日本未上市先轟動，畢竟這本書距離上一本長篇已經相隔近四年。這幾年村上作品陸續有英美歐洲俄國韓國中國版本出現，也都很快受到各地讀者的喜愛，在當地深化成不同樣貌的村上流行，這樣的待遇幾乎可以說是當代作家第一人。

　　因此村上的新長篇幾乎是全世界等著出版，同時他自己也說經歷阪神地震與東京地下鐵事件衝擊後，自己也對日本有了不同看法，也使得老讀者更加期待這部小說。新書描寫四國鄉下的十五歲少年，因為成日待在圖書館而發生的奇特啟蒙經驗。

　　書名有卡夫卡，村上表示這是他非常喜愛的作家，作品與卡夫卡的聯繫，則要看過小說由讀者自己體會。

　　★本書中譯版《海邊的卡夫卡》由時報出版。

　　Kafka on the Shore follows the fortunes of two remarkable characters. Kafka Tamura runs away from home at fifteen, under the shadow of his father's dark prophesy. The ageing Nakata, tracker of lost cats, who never recovered from a bizarre childhood affliction, finds his highly simplified life suddenly overturned. Their parallel odysseys - as mysterious to them as they are to the reader - are enriched throughout by vivid accomplices and mesmerising dramas.

　　Fish tumble in storms from the sky; cats carry on conversations with people; a ghostlike if familiar pimp deploys a Hegel-spouting girl of the night; a forest harbours soldiers apparently un-aged since WWII. There is a brutal murder, but the identity of both victim and killer is a riddle. Yet this, as all else, is eventually resolved, even as the entwined destinies of Kafka and Nakata are gradually unravelled.

作者簡介

村上春樹

　　一九四九年生於日本京都府。早稻田大學戲劇系畢業。

　　一九七九年以《聽風的歌》獲得「群像新人賞」，新穎的文風被譽為日本「八○年代文學旗手」，一九八七年暢銷七百萬冊的代表作《挪威的森林》出版，奠定村上在日本多年不墜的名聲，除了暢銷，也屢獲「野間文藝賞」、「谷崎潤一郎文學賞」等文壇肯定，三部曲《發條鳥年代記》更受到「讀賣文學賞」的高度肯定。除了暢銷，村上獨特的都市感及寫作風格也成了世界年輕人認同的標誌。

　　作品中譯本至今已有50幾本，包括長篇小說、短篇小說、散文及採訪報導等。

　　長篇小說有《聽風的歌》、《1973年的彈珠玩具》、《尋羊冒險記》、《世界末日與冷酷異境》、《挪威的森林》、《舞舞舞》、《國境之南、太陽之西》、《發條鳥年代記》三部曲、《人造衛星情人》、《海邊的卡夫卡》、《黑夜之後》、《1Q84 Book1》《1Q84 Book2》、《1Q84 Book3》等。

　　Haruki Murakami was born in Kyoto in 1949 and now lives near Tokyo. His books include Norwegian Wood, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Kafka on the Shore, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, and 1Q84. His work has been translated into more than fifty languages and he has received many honours, including the Franz Kafka Prize. His most recent novel, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, sold one million copies in its first week of publication in Japan.