Kafka on the Shore

15-year-old Japanese teenager dubs himself "Kafka" and runs away from home to search for a missing mother and sister and break a familial cycle that has lasted for generations. Meanwhile, the elderly Nakata, who spends his time investigating the disapearances of cats, finds himself pulled into a case that takes him far away from the comfort of his rural life. Both men travel through a finely crafted version of Japan that author Haruki Murakami renders as both minutely realistic and completely absurd.