1Q84 (1Q84, #1-3) in Overdue Podcast

May 23, 2015 Devin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: hardback, morristown-public-library-borrow

Quite a long read, and I've heard that this really shouldn't be a first Haruki Murakami book, but I found that I really very much enjoyed it. Probably would have more so, having read others. That said I would recommend it. It's a quiet thoughtful book that feels at times like reading a meditation. ...more

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Jun 25, 2017 R rated it it was amazing

I finally managed to finish this mammoth of a book! This story, while it felt slow at times, I found that I've enjoyed Murakami's style from his previous books and so I pushed on to finish. Warning: this story is not the kind that will wrap up all its ends and have every single thing answered. It is not a story that has what you might call "the end" but rather an ambiguous ending that leaves much interpretation.

The story as a whole could be described as an alternate universe, where characters f I finally managed to finish this mammoth of a book! This story, while it felt slow at times, I found that I've enjoyed Murakami's style from his previous books and so I pushed on to finish. Warning: this story is not the kind that will wrap up all its ends and have every single thing answered. It is not a story that has what you might call "the end" but rather an ambiguous ending that leaves much interpretation.

The story as a whole could be described as an alternate universe, where characters find themselves in a world that is dubbed by Aomame as "1Q84" with the "Q" meaning question mark. In relation, Tengo refers to the time as the "cat's town" based on a story he had read as well. 1Q84 is a fantasy, with hints of magical realism. There was quite a bit of character and world building in the first half of the novel (which I found myself bored of), but the rising action I'd say really began building at the halfway point.

There is a fair enough amount of sex and sexual content in the story itself, and at times I found myself questioning whether or not it was relevant to the story, but it didn't particularly bother me, and so I kept on with the reading. There were times I found it excessive, to a point where I wondered if Murakami was attempting to make a point about a particular character.

With the characters themselves, I found that I liked them and their own quirky personalities for the most part. I don't have too much to say about Tengo, he struck me as an overall "good guy" with some problems and such, but he didn't overall strike a chord within me. Aomame I much preferred as she was dynamic with much more than a one sided personality. She had her own secrets and reasons and ideas and opinions and I was more than taken with her as I found myself caught up more and more in the story for her alone. Fuka-Eri was puzzling to me--puzzling in the sense that I wanted to know more about her, I wanted to know more about what was behind that stunning girl with the piercing eyes.

1Q84 is a stunning novel with a wonderful storyline. It has its moments of course, wherein Murakami would inject his characters with philosophical and whimsical ideas about the world that seemed entirely to be coming from his own mind. At times, several characters (who were already described as brilliant) would make conclusions about events and things that seemed too good to be true (as in, "how did you manage to hit the nail on that?!") and so from this I'd find myself feeling skeptical as to how such a thing were possible if a regular person were faced with such a conundrum.

But overall, I enjoyed this story immensely. I found Murakami's dreamy, and whimsical storytelling entirely engaging and I am so very glad to have finally finished this novel! Haruki Murakami, thank you so much for the novel you have written. ...more

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Oct 26, 2015 Brittany rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-around-town, reading-challenge-2016

Before I start going down the rabbit hole and reading all the other reviews, I want to try and come up with some words at least for what I just read. I was hooked from the very beginning until the end and cannot put my finger on why. This was unlike any other book I've read and would have an extremely hard time summing it up for other people to want to read. You just should. The two main characters draw you in and on top of that, there are several other characters that I became attached to and w ...more

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Sep 05, 2015 Brandon Peterson rated it liked it

Feel like this/these book(s) could have been half the length with a more positive impact. So many mundane details were repeated over and over and over. Still super enjoyable, but one of my least favorite Murakami novels for sure.

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