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1Q84 (1Q84, #1-3)

Haruki Murakami,

Jay Rubin (Translator)

Start date: August 1, 2022

Finish date: October 1, 2022

Discussion: Novels

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By E L K Y · 3 posts · 75 views

last updated Jul 18, 2023 09:29AM

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By E L K Y · 6 posts · 83 views

last updated Oct 08, 2022 03:07AM

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Dec 27, 2019 Padmaja rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Before I begin with the review, I would like to quote a line from Kafka on the shore, which best suits the story of 1Q84:
"According to Arostophanes in Plato's The Banquet, in the ancient world of legend there were three types of people. In ancient times, people weren't simply male or female, but one of three types: male/male, male/female or female/female. In other words, each person was made out of the components of two people"
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1Q84 definitely kept me on the edge of my seat, it's an experience i Before I begin with the review, I would like to quote a line from Kafka on the shore, which best suits the story of 1Q84:
"According to Arostophanes in Plato's The Banquet, in the ancient world of legend there were three types of people. In ancient times, people weren't simply male or female, but one of three types: male/male, male/female or female/female. In other words, each person was made out of the components of two people"
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1Q84 definitely kept me on the edge of my seat, it's an experience in itself reading it. It wasn't a difficult read, given it was 1300 pages long, the pace was even throughout. Let's discuss the book now.
Meet our Murakami characters, Aomame, a cold blooded assassin and a gym instructor and Tengo, a maths teacher who teaches at a cram school and writes occasionally on the side. Both of them are looking to complete their incompleteness and embark on a dangerous journey which will plummet them to a world with two moons, and their fates are intertwined here. This world, haunted by the mysterious Little people, where there is no exit but...
I loved the alternating chapters which were narrated through Tengo and Aomame. There is a genius in this book's premise. Perhaps Murakami was trying to experiment and also test his reader's patience with this book.
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At its core, it is a love story of Tengo and Aomame, with surrealistic elements. As it was Murakami, expect a lot of The Great Gatsby references and a healthy blend of Greek myth+Russian literature.
I loved the parts which described Modern day Japan, it's culture and the impact modernization is having in it.
However I have my complaints with the book too. The story became a tad bit repetitive in the second and third half of the book. I wasn't happy with the ending. I was left with a lot of questions, and I needed the answers to them. I was expecting a kickass conclusion, since the buildup was so fantastic. But I made my peace with it, because as Mr Murakami quotes in the book, "If you don't understand it without an explanation, you can't understand it with an explanation"
3.5⭐
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