From the Bookshelf of 2015 Reading Challenge [Closed]…

1Q84 (1Q84, #1-3)

Haruki Murakami,

Jay Rubin (Translator)

Discussion: . Week 1: More Than 500 Pages

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. Week 1: More Than 500 Pages

* Week 1: Introduction
By Jessica · 102 posts · 1093 views

last updated Aug 11, 2015 02:06PM

* Week 1: Progress Post
By Jessica · 100 posts · 421 views

last updated Nov 06, 2015 06:29AM

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What Members Thought

May 15, 2019 Lucinda rated it liked it · review of another edition

A strange book. I am not sure if I liked it or not. I was compelled to keep reading, even though not much actually happens or is resolved.

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Jan 05, 2015 Guy rated it really liked it

First of all this is one long book. It is divided into three sections: Book 1, 2 and 3. I'm assuming it to be a trilogy that has been combined into one title for the US market. The opening scene is brilliant. After that there is no turning back. In spite of long stretches where nothing much seems to be happening. The pace is not breakneck. Yet it does move steadily forward. When I hike in a forest I often feel that it is time to turn back but I just have to see what lies beyond the next bend in First of all this is one long book. It is divided into three sections: Book 1, 2 and 3. I'm assuming it to be a trilogy that has been combined into one title for the US market. The opening scene is brilliant. After that there is no turning back. In spite of long stretches where nothing much seems to be happening. The pace is not breakneck. Yet it does move steadily forward. When I hike in a forest I often feel that it is time to turn back but I just have to see what lies beyond the next bend in the trail. Reading 1Q84 was sort of like that.
It is a mystery. A love story. Science fiction? A morality tale. A literary work in the sense that it is a novel about a novella written by an aspiring novelist. Wheels within wheels. At one point the author describes the fictional novella as containing "vivid, precise descriptions." If I was erudite enough that is exactly how I would have described Murakami's prose in 1Q84.
It has been a long time since I read Orwell's 1984. I can't say that I see much resemblance between the two. Maybe there was not meant to be any. The story plays out over eight months in 1984 in and around Tokyo. The chapters alternate points of view between the two main characters. Trains running on parallel tracks. You have the feeling they will converge eventually but that is never really certain.
My small complaints: loose ends. Questions not answered. Story lines not resolved. Too much description at times. Not enough at others. Repetition. Didn't he already tell us this story? But ultimately satisfying. As the aspiring novelist Tengo says of the novella which he "wrote" even with all its faults it leaves an impression. It stays with you.
And I have no way of knowing whether the faults noted are the result of the translation or not. Always a concern for me when I read a work not originally written in English. However there is so much exemplary literary work being written in languages other than English that I choose to trust in the integrity of the translation. Otherwise I would miss a lot. ...more

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Aug 05, 2025 Tracey rated it it was ok

Shelves: fiction, foreign-novel

A very long read as this is not only Book one it's Book two as well.
It's 1984 and Aomame sits in a taxi on the expressway, Tokyo . Her work is a kind which can't be discussed and she has an assignment to do but the traffic has standstill. When the driver produces a solution to get her out of the traffic, she agrees but these actions start to feel increasingly detached from the real world. The other main character tengo leads a non-descript life but has the wish to become a writer. He somehow be ...more

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Oct 14, 2013 Rae rated it it was amazing

Shelves: adult-fic

After reading some other reviews (which I don't recommend prior to reading, spoilers abound!), I can completely understand some of the negative reaction to this book. It is long. It does get repetitive. There are things that you think you should learn more about that you just don't. All that being said, I loved this book.

It may just be a case of a book coming along at the exact right time, but this book served perfectly my need for escapism right now. A different world or dimension just a stairc ...more

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