Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami - CENTIPEDE PRESS 2017

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami - CENTIPEDE PRESS LIMITED EDITION 2017

A PICTORIAL REVIEW

Limited edition No.129 of 200 copies.
Signed by Haruki Murakami and Jacob McMurray.
Two-volume edition.
Ribbon page marker.
Printed in two colours throughout.
10 double-page full-colour illustrations by Jacob McMurray, five in each volume.
Blue patterned endpapers.
Books bound in black image printed cloth.
Black capped slipcase lined in printed paper and wrapped in Dutch cloth and stamped in two colours on the spine.
2017
284 & 295 pages
30.2x19.8cm.
US$595

Winner of the World Fantasy Award. Comprising two distinct but interrelated plots, the narrative runs back and forth between both plots, taking up each plotline in alternating chapters.























Endpapers
































































An index of the other illustrated reviews in the this series can be viewed here.

>1 wcarter: Beautiful edition! If only the CP would consider doing The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles.

Beautiful book, thanks for sharing.

Did you purchase Something Wicked This Way Comes? Mine is on the way.

Apparently some of them have a pasted in copy of Bradbury’s signature. Yes, it looks as incongruous as it sounds; not sure if I want mine to have it or not.

But the book does look like a similarly tremendous production.

>3 U_238:
No, I did not purchase Something Wicked.... I already had the Folio Society edition, and saw no need for a second one. I am very selective about what I buy, and do not slavishly buy everything a particular publisher produces.

I also have this one—my only Centipede Press book but one I am quite satisfied with. Living in Japan and an on-again, off-again Murakami fan, there was no question in me getting it. I would also love CP (or any other fine press publisher) to take on more of his works.

Murakami says that the secret to understanding the novel lies in reading it several times: "Kafka on the Shore contains several riddles, but there aren't any solutions provided. Instead, several of these riddles combine, and through their interaction the possibility of a solution takes shape. And the form this solution takes will be different for each reader. To put it another way, the riddles function as part of the solution. It's hard to explain, but that's the kind of novel I set out to write"

No thanks. I really don't want to have to read a large novel several times just to try to understand "the secrets". The CP edition is lovely, but I just have no interests in reading it. Pity, because I do love cats and Kafka :)

>2 kdweber: >5 mnmcdwl: In the August CP newsletter Jerad mentioned having recently acquired the rights to The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.

>4 wcarter: Whoops, just asking!

>8 U_238:
Sorry if my post seemed aggressive, not meant that way, just expressing my eclectic book buying philosophy.

>9 wcarter: I didn't buy the FS edition because I was waiting for the CP edition. Also, the FS cover is incredibly garish and ugly.

>6 astropi: I would give Murakami a try. It’s not as complex as he makes it out to be. As I mentioned, I’m an on-again, off-again fan. Some of his works are great, some drive me crazy. Kafka on the Shore is one of the better ones. Norwegian Wood and the Wind-Up Bird Chronicle are also highly rated. In terms of best-selling authors out of Japan today, it’s either him or Marie Kondo...

>7 SolerSystem: That’s great news! I was about a week too late for Kafka and had to wait a while for one to appear on eBay at (near) original cost. I will be faster on the ball for the next one.

>11 mnmcdwl: Thanks, but if I'm going to read a Japanese author I would rather read Yasunari Kawabata. I have a ton of books to read at any rate, and I'm not a fan of books that are overly obscure.

>9 wcarter: No problem, thanks for clarifying.

I too find the FS version of SWtWC too garish for my tastes.

>12 astropi: I prefer Kawabata but I certainly am not about to kick Murikami out of my library

>15 the_bb:

Gently cracking the spine isn't going to hurt it. It's supposed to crack.

If a book is opened properly, it won't break at the spine. If it isn't, it will break with a big "crack!" Avoid the cracking sound.

Here is a video showing the proper technique for opening a new book: How to open a book.

I like to crack my spine/back, it feels great!

Anyone has both CP's Kafka and the Folio Society one? I am thinking of purchasing the unsigned CP.. But have read really good reviews on the Folio edition (and it is a margin of the price of the unsigned CP) What do you all think?

>19 Praveenna_Nagaratnam:

The CP Murakami was not my favorite. High quality materials but the illustrations were *shrug*. The capped slipcase of the unsigned copies might also have a slight gap when closing? Might just be my copy. Nothing weird about that; unsigned/PC copies often have small defects.

>20 MobyRichard: Were the unsigned actually PC copies? or they were a second run of publication? Is there a difference in the binding etc for the signed and unsigned?

>21 Praveenna_Nagaratnam:

I believe the unsigned were offered later and not part of the original listing on the CP Kafka on the Shore page. Back in the day, CP unsigned copies were usually offered later and were usually overruns or sometimes defective in some way (and clearly listed as such). Since then, I think Jerad changed things so that unsigned copies are just part of the normal print run most of the time. It's been quite a while since I've seen any overrun/defective copies listed on the CP scratch and dent page.

>22 MobyRichard: I didn't know that... Thank you for the reply

I own both the signed and unsigned versions of Centipede Press' Kafka on the Shore. As MobyRichard mentioned this was one of the rare occasions (at the time) that Jerad offered unsigned copies after the signed had been sold. The unsigned copies in this case, however, could be bought in the same page that the original was sold and not in the CP scratch and dent page. The unsigned edition is in perfect condition and has no issues whatsoever.

I own the signed Centipede Press version, but if I was in your shoes, I would go for the Folio Society edition. Folio Society really did a fantastic job in the production of that one, so much so that I am thinking about breaking my general rule to not own two versions of the same book. Plus, the secondary prices for the Centipede Press version, signed or unsigned, are just crazy right now.

The FS Kafka on the Shore is in my opinion the best in print single volume FS SE prose fiction book. I have all of the $100+ fiction SEs except for Middlemarch, Stranger in the Strange Land and the PKD 2 novel volume - I doubt any of these could be better than Kafka, and while I don't have many of the sub $100 books I think its safe to say these are not as good as the more expensive books.

Just echoing a lot of the above. I own both the CP unsigned and Folio unsigned, and for what it's worth, neither makes me get rid of the other. The FS is, as others have mentioned, I think a remarkable value for the care and vision. (And while it is short, it does include new prefatory text by Murakami that I believe is unique to the FS edition). Also, I find Lievano's illustration wonderful, from the endpapers to full page pieces to the small details at the end of chapters. And it's a great reader.

The CP I also love, even if the illustrations didn't catch me quite so immediately at first. But the materials of the edition, the typeset, being split across two volumes (as the original publication in Japanese was), the capped case. For the size, I find the two volumes to be very comfortable reads as well. I was also kind of struck by the CP and FS similarities, for as different as they are in binding and presentation -- both printed in two color text with blue, the blue-toned abstract approaches to illustration. Oddly, I find them kind of complimentary, and again, neither one supplants the other for me. Then again, I also have both original Harvill limiteds of Kafka (the clothbound and the leatherbound), so that might not be saying much as he's a favorite author of mine. :)

Bottom line, you can't go wrong with either imho -- but at its price point, I really don't think the Folio is to be missed if you have an interest in the book/Murakami! I have a lot of Murakami limiteds and it's one of my favorites (and most affordable, if not *most* affordable).

I never could bring myself to read the book. I believe Murakami said to understand the book you have to read it at least twice... well no thanks! Especially at the length it is, I feel that's just too much. It's like those video games where to get the "true" ending you have to play them through at least twice, and they are LONG... nope! Got other things to do with my life :)
That said, no offense to anyone that enjoys/loves this book.

The signed and unsigned Centipede Press Kafka are identical to each other one decor for the signature page. There are no issues or irregularities.