Kafka on the Shore tells a parallel story of two main characters, the 15-year-old titular Kafka Tamura, only just beginning his life, and the dimwitted old man Nakata, nearing the end of his. Fittingly, the youthful Kafka’s tale is told in present tense, while elderly Nakata’s is told in past. As for their overarching motivations, Kafka seeks to escape his hometown and father (as well as his fate, which we will get to soon) while Nakata goes on an uncharacteristic adventure outside his drab routine. As the reader goes on, details unravel that inexplicably tie the two stories together. **** Kafka Tamura sits in his father’s study. Kafka has decided that he will run away from his home in Tokyo on his fifteenth birthday. Crow (an imagined persona whom Kafka consults for advice when he finds himself in stressful situations) advises Kafka to be tough and strong. Feeling as if he is preparing for a journey that will change him forever, Kafka packs a knife, some money, and a picture of himself and his older sister on the beach from when Kafka was young. Both his older sister and his mother left the family when Kafka was just four, so this is the only memory he has of them. Kafka has spent years building up his physical and mental strength, training to be able to escape his cruel father and survive as a runaway. But he fears that no matter how far he runs, he will never be able to escape a dark omen that follows him everywhere. With only a backpack of possessions, Kafka gets on a bus bound for Shikoku in Western Japan. At a rest stop on the journey, Kafka meets a girl named Sakura, who is a few years older than him. He is attracted to her, but he worries, as he does with all women Sakura’s age, that she could be his long-lost sister. They both agree that chance encounters are important, and possibly even the result of fate. When they arrive in the town of Takamatsu, Sakura gives Kafka her phone number. Kafka, unsure of what to do, visits the Komura Memorial library, where he meets Oshima, a well-dressed young librarian, and Miss Saeki, an extremely elegant, middle-aged woman who runs the library. Kafka is struck by the thought that she could be his mother. Over the next week, Kafka falls into a lonely routine, spending mornings at the gym and afternoons reading in the library. He and Oshima strike up a friendship.