Kafka on the Shore by haruki Murakami (Author),, Illustrated by Daniel Liévano, Introduced by the author, Translated by Philip Gabriel.

Newly introduced by Haruki Murakami, this outstanding Folio Society collector’s edition of Kafka on the Shore features the enigmatic and fantastical artwork of illustrator Daniel Liévano.

‘Murakami is a master storyteller and he knows how to keep us hooked’

The Sunday Times

Teetering on the edge of a dreamworld, Haruki Murakami’s novels operate in the space between reality and fantasy, sanity and insanity – and Kafka on the Shore is no exception. A master of magical realism, Murakami draws the reader into his world and makes them want to stay, despite the darkness he is so adept at portraying, and this truthful yet romantic storytelling has earned him millions of devoted fans around the world. In his deeply personal new introduction to this edition, Murakami revisits the emotionally charged experience of creating 15-year-old Kafka’s journey from confused runaway to enlightened sage. His vision of loneliness and philosophical awakening has been beautifully interpreted by award-winning Colombian artist Daniel Liévano, whose stunning illustrations, motifs and binding design make this an artist’s book and one of Folio’s finest editions to date.

PRODUCTION DETAILS

Bound in blocked cloth

Set in Arno with Futura as display

528 pages

Frontispiece plus 6 colour illustrations including 3 double-page spreads, each with red motifs on reverse

Printed throughout in black and blue, including 41 illustrated motifs

Metallic printed endpapers

Blocked and die-cut slipcase

10˝ x 6¾˝

THE ULTIMATE COLLECTOR’S EDITION

From the mind-bending slipcase design to the symbolic motifs on the metallic binding, and the ethereal endpapers, illustrator Daniel Liévano’s creative genius abounds throughout this edition. Murakami fans will be blown away by his affinity with the novel, as he weaves elements of the surreal and the sublime into each of the six single- and double-page illustrations and unique chapter motifs; the diagrammatic artwork systematically aligning the many threads of Kafka’s masterpiece. Such is the synergy of narrative and artwork that, once experienced together, they will become inseparable.

A NOVEL THAT DEFIES CONVENTION

‘As I wrote the novel, I breathed in the same air I’d breathed when I was 15, the same light I’d felt so many years ago pouring over me . . . And I realised how wonderful it is sometimes to be a writer.’

Haruki Murakami, from his introduction

Murakami’s lyrical and uncomplicated writing style propels the reader through 15-year-old Kafka’s story, as his twisted history and destiny are revealed through strange coincidences and prophetic encounters. A forest full of stupefied schoolchildren; an illiterate old man who converses with cats; the ghost of a woman who is still very much alive; and a downpour of sardines and mackerel. Kafka on the Shore is full of fantastical interludes and yet it remains perfectly tangible. Murakami is the master of bending reality just enough to blur the line between fiction and fantasy, while shining a sensitive light on human nature through his use of metaphor.

ABOUT HARUKI MURAKAMI

Haruki Murakami was born in Kyoto, Japan, in 1949. He grew up in Kobe and studied drama at Waseda University in Tokyo, where he later opened a jazz bar with his wife. In 1979 Murakami won the Gunzou Literature Prize for his first novel, Hear the Wind Sing, which was followed by Pinball, 1973 (1980) and A Wild Sheep Chase (1982). Further renown followed with Norwegian Wood (1987), The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (1994–95), Kafka on the Shore (2002) and 1Q84 (2009–10). To date, Murakami’s work has been translated into more than fifty languages and his accolades include the World Fantasy Award, the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, the Franz Kafka Prize, and the Jerusalem Prize.

ABOUT DANIEL LIÉVANO

Daniel Liévano was born in Bogotá in 1988. As an editorial illustrator he has devoted most of his work to the creation of conceptual images for clients including The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Economist, The Sunday Times, Victionary and The Lancet. As an author and illustrator, Daniel likes to explore abstraction, taking information from other media such as poetry and independent film. His experimental comic book, The Mountain of Reality, was listed by Arcadia Magazine as among the best books published in Colombia. Among other accolades, his recent and second graphic novel, Gravity, was awarded the Gold Medal in the Book category from The Society of Illustrators in New York. He currently lives and works in his hometown.