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Loading... 1Q84 (edition 2011)by Haruki Murakami, Jay Rubin (Translator), Philip Gabriel (Translator)
Work details1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
 DoingDewey | May 6, 2013 |  Despite the length, this book had a flow to it that made it feel much shorter. I'd call it tight plotting except that Murakami seems to have almost Neal Stephenson-esque digressions and a similar love of loose ends. And yet even as I write what should be criticisms, I find myself not even a smidge worried about their impact on my enjoyment; as a cohesive story 1Q84 all makes sense at the end and I was left feeling satisfied. While I found it to be a relatively smooth read, this is a dense book with themes of magical realism and a deep-down questioning of reality that reminds me of a Philip K. Dick story. Murakami's not shy about meta-fictional discussions either; in several places a smile came to my face as one of the main characters -- an aspiring novelist -- talks about the mechanics of writing with an editor friend, and I couldn't help but thinking how Murakami was in some sense talking about his own construction of the book. And the meta-fictional theme intersects with the questionable nature of reality as a key premise of the story, linking the two main characters with something like a fairy tale. I'd certainly rate this as one of the better books I've read, not despite its quirks but because of them. (  ) MattP225 | Apr 27, 2013 | I have not read "1984," but I do not think doing so is a necessary precursor to understanding and appreciating this book. "1Q84" takes the reader into an altogether different world while cautioning us that "there is always only one reality." What that reality is Murakami manages to hide from you until almost the very end... and maybe even then you're not sure. At the onset, the story seems like a supremely post-modern "Robin Hood," except that instead of robbing the rich to give to the poor, the heroine is involved in another kind of theft to avenge the poor in spirit. The book backtracked a bit in the third section and I found my interest starting to wane, but the suspense picked right back up again, and twice in the last hundred or so pages I found myself with literal goosebumps in anticipation of what was going to happen, something I'm not sure I've ever experienced while reading. I did not find the ending at all predictable, and while I am still flummoxed by the overall import of the story, it managed to be very personal and moving to me. I keep looking up at the sky for a second moon just to reassure myself that everything is in order. And even though there's only one up there, I'm still not really sure. (  ) quaintlittlehead | Apr 21, 2013 | I loved the first part. The second part absolutely killed any interest I had going in. It's just so repetitive! I can see quite clearly why it was released as a three-book series in Japan...why didn't that happen in the US? Why was it published as one repetitive, unnecessarily long book? I stopped at the beginning of the third book. I still remember what happened in the first two-thirds because it is a very interesting story, but it just doesn't have that need-to-read-ness that a REALLY long book MUST have to hold my interest. I just stopped caring. (  ) melissarochelle | Apr 19, 2013 | "1Q84" was my second Haruki Murakami book, and I've come to the conclusion that Murakami and I don't get along. I'm not a big fan of magical realism, or Murakami's writing style, so this book was really a struggle for me to get through. The book tells the story, alternately, of Aomame and Tengo, as they inexplicably dwell in a mirror image universe. I can't really tell you much else about it... as with Murakami's "Kafka on the Shore" I didn't really get what it was all about in the end. (Either I'm just not smart enough or Murakami doesn't do a good job explaining things. Considering he likes to repeat certain details over and over perhaps it's just that I am unable to figure out why the heck they matter.) Generally, I love books that leave you guessing and trying to figure things out... but it isn't worthwhile when it never comes together in the end. I honestly just don't find Murakami's books fun to read. (  ) amerynth | Apr 15, 2013 |
 Murakami name-drops George Orwell's laugh-riot 1984 several times. Both books deal with the concept of manipulated realities. And while Murakami's book is more than three times as long, it's also more fun to read. 1Q84 is definitely worth checking out if you enjoy fiction set in fantasy worlds with a deep love story that brings up the questions of fate and pure, true love.  As always, the experience is a bit like watching a Hollywood-influenced Japanese movie in a version that’s been dubbed by American actors. This time, sad to say, it also reminded me of stretches of the second season of Twin Peaks: familiar characters do familiar things, with the expected measure of weirdness, but David Lynch has squabbled with the network and left the show.  I finished 1Q84 feeling that its spiritual project was heroic and beautiful, that its central conflict involved a pitched battle between realism and unrealism (while being scrupulously fair to both sides), and that, in our own somewhat unreal times, younger readers, unlike me, would have no trouble at all believing in the existence of Little People and replicants. What they may have trouble with is the novel’s absolute faith in the transformative power of love. One of the many longueurs in Haruki Murakami’s stupefying new novel, “1Q84,” sends the book’s heroine, a slender assassin named Aomame, into hiding. To sustain her through this period of isolation she is given an apartment, groceries and the entirety of Marcel Proust’s “Remembrance of Things Past.” For pity’s sake, if you have that kind of spare time, follow her lead. Aomame has the chance to read a book that is long and demanding but well worth the effort. The very thought of Aomame’s situation will pain anyone stuck in the quicksand of “1Q84.” You, sucker, will wade through nearly 1,000 uneventful pages while discovering a Tokyo that has two moons and is controlled by creatures that emerge from the mouth of a dead goat. These creatures are called Little People. They are supposed to be very wise, even though the smartest thing they ever say is “Ho ho.” Contains
 Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0307593312, Hardcover)“Murakami is like a magician who explains what he’s doing as he performs the trick and still makes you believe he has supernatural powers . . . But while anyone can tell a story that resembles a dream, it's the rare artist, like this one, who can make us feel that we are dreaming it ourselves.” —The New York Times Book ReviewThe year is 1984 and the city is Tokyo. A young woman named Aomame follows a taxi driver’s enigmatic suggestion and begins to notice puzzling discrepancies in the world around her. She has entered, she realizes, a parallel existence, which she calls 1Q84 —“Q is for ‘question mark.’ A world that bears a question.” Meanwhile, an aspiring writer named Tengo takes on a suspect ghostwriting project. He becomes so wrapped up with the work and its unusual author that, soon, his previously placid life begins to come unraveled. As Aomame’s and Tengo’s narratives converge over the course of this single year, we learn of the profound and tangled connections that bind them ever closer: a beautiful, dyslexic teenage girl with a unique vision; a mysterious religious cult that instigated a shoot-out with the metropolitan police; a reclusive, wealthy dowager who runs a shelter for abused women; a hideously ugly private investigator; a mild-mannered yet ruthlessly efficient bodyguard; and a peculiarly insistent television-fee collector. A love story, a mystery, a fantasy, a novel of self-discovery, a dystopia to rival George Orwell’s—1Q84 is Haruki Murakami’s most ambitious undertaking yet: an instant best seller in his native Japan, and a tremendous feat of imagination from one of our most revered contemporary writers. (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 30 Sep 2011 23:13:27 -0400) (summary from another edition) |
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Like my summary above, the synopsis I read before starting 1Q84 told me what the story was about but gave me no idea what the story was going to be like. I think the best genres labels to describe the book are “literary” and “magical realism”. The writing reminded me of both Ray Bradbury and Stephen King. Like Ray Bradbuy, Murakami shares strange and incredible things as though they’re normal. He also matches Bradbury’s ability to craft sentences so beautiful I just want to read them out loud. Like King, I felt a build up of a suspense through the many mundane details, a certainty that something wasn’t quite right below the surface. Since I like both King and Bradbury, I consider this high praise and well deserved. The writing was superb.
Although I can’t disagree with those who say 1Q84 was longer than it needed to be, I think I liked that about it. I loved the quotes from other stories that seem like the author’s way of telling you something about his story. I loved the beautiful descriptions of people and places and feelings, the incredibly apt analogies. I loved the way everything was interconnected. I loved the way hearing the most intimate thoughts and dreams and memories of the characters gives you a much deeper connection than you can usually get with fictional characters. And I loved that all the characters were so unique. What prevented this from being a five star review for me was the abruptness of the ending. There’s a lot of build up to one particular event, which passed by too quickly and left me with the feeling that this already-long novel still needed a sequel. I have, however, read several reviews that suggest this is not one of Murakami’s best works, so I’ll definitely be looking to read more by this author.
This review first published on Doing Dewey. (