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

Apr 21, 2019 Jason rated it liked it · review of another edition

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Murakami has a way of writing ethereally lonely accounts that twist and distort reality rather than wrenching it, he is a spell caster. 1Q84 is a perfect example of this intimate look at a world that has slipped, though perhaps this one slips a little further towards fantasy than his typical writing. We have 'little people', cocoons or 'chrysalises', a small green moon, and all kinds of other supernatural stirrings. More than anything though, I think we realize before the end that this is just a ...more

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Jul 18, 2016 Jeni rated it it was amazing

This book was pretty amazing and may be the best book I've read all year. It was long (over 900 pages), dense (you had to pay full attention while reading it), and surreal (a lot of the explanations, especially regarding the little people, left you with more questions than answers). But it was interesting and kept me fairly glued once the story got going, even if reading it took me a little longer than usual.

It was also a good reminder as to why it's important to read books from other cultures, ...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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