One of my greatest regrets is that I can not absorb books by osmosis, because I fear I shall never be able to read them all. I tell you that story, because despite considering myself rather well read for an ape, i have until this week, not read Kafka On The Shore by Japanese author Haruki #Murakami.

I am sad that I cannot read #Japanese, because the translated prose is a work of art, and I cannot fathom how elegant it must be in the native language, and I’m missing all of the cultural references that are clear to the original audience, but obscure to a westerner.

Example, Kafka is well known to western readers, but at the time of publishing, not a large factor in Japanese culture. Analyst Hayao Kawai saw special meaning in the name Kafka, as its Japanese version, Kafuka (Japanese: カフカ), is a combination of 可 (ka, meaning 'possible' or 'good') and 不可 (fuka, meaning 'bad' or 'unacceptable', the opposite), thus giving the book liminality.

Anyway, you should read it. It’s amazing.