1Q84

1Q84 was my first exposure to the work of Haruki Murakami, and from everything I'm seeing, it may not have been the best starting point; to say that the book is divisive, even among fans, is putting it very mildly, and there are more than a few people who seem to actively despise it even as they love a lot of his other work. I can't speak to all of that; all I can do is explain what a strange experience 1Q84 is as a book - a 1200 page saga where, even now that I'm done, I am not sure I could tell you what it was all "about" or what it all amounted to in the end. 1Q84 sounds deceptively busy when I tell you that it's about a religious cult, an alternate version of the year 1984, ghostly "little people" who emerge into the world in a most unsettling manner, a ghost-written novel that attracts dangerous attention, a notably unattractive private detective who's torn between his clients and himself, an assassin who targets abusive men - oh, and somehow with all of that, it's also a love story between two people who haven't seen each other in decades? But for all of that incident, 1Q84 is surprisingly lax, sprawling out across its length (more than it needs to, I'd say), enjoying the derails and the day-to-day mundanity, musing on the nature of time, our connections to others, sexual desire, relationships, parenting, and religion, but never feeling incredibly pressed or forceful about any of it. The result is a book that's about a lot but also a bit about nothing; it's easy to both get caught up in Murakami's world but also to keep thinking "is this all there is to this book?" (And none of that even touches on the sexual content of the book, which ranges from fine to...very much the opposite of that - I don't really blame the people who are unable to get past his dedication to describing almost all of the female characters' breasts, for example, and that's not really the wildest part.) I found myself returning to it again and again, but I'll be damned if I know what it was all about, even after all that time, and I struggle to know how much to even recommend it. It's compelling, oddly haunting, beautifully written...and it's also overly long, meandering to a fault, maddeningly unclear, and sometimes very off-putting. But for all of that, I found myself immersed in its odd world, in its bonds between its characters, in its melancholy mood, and in its sense of the slightly surreal and beautiful in the world.

Let's get this out of the way, this novel is a HUGE love? story. There were many moments while reading that I was rolling my eyes with boredom (I actually got the audio version just to slog through it). And unlike a fantasy or sci-fi where the pages are required for filling out an incredible world/setting, this world is pretty mundane Japan. So, pacing was a loss for 1Q84.BUT, and this a big but, the story is fascinating (especially for a writer!). There is a uniqueness here you will struggle to find elsewhere. Most characters have a depth to them (somewhat thanks to the length) you just won't find in similar fiction. It's very understandable why some critics can't gush anymore than they have over it.One character stood out to me as the most intriguing of all but we get to his story later in the novel and frankly, I would have preferred more of Ushikawa’s POV. In fact, I would enjoy a book centered on this character entirely (though much shorter!)The MC, Tengo, is boring as a person (we get deeply immersed in his boring life) and I have to imagine he reflects the author in many ways: as a writer, Japanese, perhaps even disposition. I don't think Murakami developed him very well as a lot of the pacing problem is thanks to the droll and drawn out plodding we are forced to undergo with this cowardly, timid bear of a man (with very odd proclivities--Freudian!). Our experiences with Tengo are not far off from the anime genre, Slice of Life, with the exception that things get weird. But it does feel more like events happen to Tengo. As a result he is mostly a passive MC, which is just bad writing, not that he doesn’t get active towards the end, but it’s a long wait for that.Aomame is very interesting (I’d call her a sub-MC despite having a bulk of POV moments), if not also timid, character. Her story is good, exciting, and at the beginning of the novel it really drives the pacing. Where it falls off the rails is when we approach her relationship with Tengo and how improbable and ridiculous their love is. I didn’t buy it. It’s one of my heaviest criticisms for the book, but with how she and Tengo are written, it’s not surprising that they may share an unconventional pairing.Fuka-Eri is extremely enigmatic, and draws focus in every scene she is in. If you are attracted to women sexually, odds are you will be attracted to her characterization as a 17 year old girl, with a good body, and one crazy story!A major win for this story is the fantasy, mystery element that hangs over everything and doesn’t allow the reader to wander off once they get sucked in despite the plodding moments.I must say, the perverted sexuality in this story is a major part to it. If that’s not your bag, then this story is not your bag. If you are willing to allow the perversion to exist, in all the various characters, you will find an interesting commentary on human sexuality, culture, and love.I have to give this story 3 stars. Its pacing overrules a lot of good aspects, IMO. If you came to this book because of George’s book, then prepare to be surprised. It’s quite different. And there is an undercurrent of male fantasy fulfillment that can’t be ignored. I suppose one could argue that is part of the commentary on sexuality, but it is at times cringeworthy. If we sped the pacing up, I could easily afford 4 or 5 stars for this beast of a novel. It's a book I will not be able to forget. Heck, I'm writing this review near a year late after reading it and I can still remember clearly the personalities of all the characters. They are that pronounced!Should you read this book? There’s a lot going on, with deep characterizations, a crazy imaginative plot, and a recognizable criticism on Japanese culture when you pull back and view the story objectively. Unfortunately, it’s all encased within 1300 pages. So, yeah, you can read it patient, character-loving people. Anxious, SJW-exultants, probably not a recommend for you.(As an aside, if you are wondering, the translation is very good. The book does not read as clunky as some have suggested. I was surprised how well the migration to English went!)

It's not my practice to review a book before I've finished reading it, but I'll make an exception in this case since the book is nearly 1200 pages and I'd rather get some of my thoughts down now, at roughly the midway point, while they're fresh in my mind.Books of this size tend to start slowly, and if the reader isn't sufficiently stimulated he might put it down and never pick it back up. 1Q84 has been different. From the start I've been pulled into Murakami's imaginary world, and as the chapters fly by the story snowballs in complexity and intrigue. Thus far the novel alternates chapters between the two main characters, Aomame and Tengo.Aomame is a young woman who moonlights as an assassin of men who have harmed other women in one form or another. She has her own unique, nearly undetectable way of dispatching them.Tengo Kawana is a would-be writer who supports himself by teaching math part-time. An editor and friend of his, Komatsu, receives a brilliant story from a 17-year old girl as an entry to a literary competition. One problem: the story is brilliant and it overwhelms the amateur treatment in the writing. So Komatsu concocts a plan to have Tengo rework Air Chrysalis, the story, polishing it for the competition. It will be done with the author's, Fuka-Eri, permission, and it will be submitted in her name. That the story had been reworked by another author will remain secret. They expect the story to win the prize, to have Fuki-Eri lauded as a prodigy, and know this will all bring the spotlight of the media. They go ahead with their plan nevertheless.These are the basic storyline threads we begin with. From this structure, Murakami adds countless complexities as the two stories begin to subtlely overlap. Murakami does this so cleverly by introducing small facts which make the reader wonder, "Did that or something like that occur in the other story thread?" As the reader, you begin to challenge your own grasp on the story. Similarly, this is happening to the characters, as they notice some small and some not-so-small things in their world are not what they seem to be, historical and current events they'd never heard of, even to the point of noticing two moons in the sky rather than one for Aomame. It is Aomame that begins to doubt her sanity, or believe she has somehow stepped into a parallel universe, one that she dubs "1Q84" after the current year of the novel, 1984, with the "Q" added as a question.And somewhere approaching the halfway point in the novel, I had a very rare moment of surprise and discovery when Murakami reveals an important fact in such a nonchalant manner that I could have easily missed it had I not been paying attention. It's been a long time since I experienced such a literary "take-your-breath-away" moment of that magnitude.This was originally released in Japan as a trilogy of three separate books in 2009 and 2010, then later translated to English as a single volume in 2011. Reading some of the reviews on Amazon it appears one either loves or hates this novel. Then again, I find that sort of breakdown for many novels. Perhaps I will be disappointed by the end; I don't know, but I will revise this at that time. For now, though, I'm enjoying the ride.There is so much more that is happening now that it defies explaining, and I wouldn't want to give away any spoilers, for experiencing the unfolding of this novel is just too much fun.UPDATE: Having just finished 1Q84 I might temper my enthusiasm just a tad. The final 200 pages or so were slow-going, at least up to the final several chapters where things sped up to the conclusion. I think some editing here would have helped to tighten the story, if it can be said a 1200 page novel can be tightened. And while I was thoroughly absorbed by the universe Murakami painted, once I was finished it felt like gossamer. Unlike some novels, I doubt I'll be thinking about this one for very long. Again, that's not to say I didn't enjoy it; in the end, it's just not very thought-provoking, at least not for me, not yet, anyway.

It is important to note that 1Q84 is not for the ill of heart. It has been compared to The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie and 1984 by George Orwell but this epic novel definitely stands on its own for its originality, depth of characters, and fluid writing style. A lengthy novel of over 1,100 pages, 1Q84 has two alternating storylines; one concerning Tengo Kawana, a cram school math teacher and the other concerning Aomame, a sports club physical trainer. Under different circumstances, they each fall into the new world of 1Q84 (aptly named by Aomame) instead of 1984, where there are two moons and a bestselling fantasy novel, Air Chrysalis, actually contains classified information about a highly religious organization, Sakigake. As each of them adjust into this new world and try to find one another after twenty years, dangerous obstacles stand in their way of them reaching their goals. With only a few trusted companions and their own inner strength, they have to survive long enough to hopefully discover a way back to the real world and have the storybook ending they so deeply desire.This novel took on so much in terms of storytelling and character development, but one of the best parts of 1Q84 is the combination of Murakami’s writing style and the translation of Jay Rubin and Philip Gabriel. The words flowed so evenly, so much so that the reader may forget (as I did many times) that they are reading a translated novel. Because of this fluidity, it was so easy to become hypnotized by the events that took place and are swept away with the plot twists that keep the reader guessing until the very end. The other beautiful aspect of Murakami’s writing is the way that 1Q84 is a love story, but that fact is not in your face. I appreciated the way the he presented love with fate, and did not make it the focus of the story; it played an important part but you were not smothered by it.The length, which most readers seemed to have a problem with, is a bittersweet subject for me. I do not mind a long novel because the longer the novel is, the more opportunity the author has to test his characters in various scenarios to show their complexity and versatility. On the other hand, staying at a consistent pace to keep the reader’s attention is very important in such a novel, but unfortunately in 1Q84, in the last two hundred pages, the story line becomes slower and you have to push to finish it. Please do not think that the story becomes less interesting and that is a reason not to read this amazing novel! What I mean is 80% of the novel is so fast paced sometimes you forget to breathe. Slowly, everything slows down, and the new relaxed pace is a difficult adjustment to make after such a wild ride and especially since you are so close to the end.The ending is good, but not great. Throughout the entire novel, I could not figure out how everything would sort itself out but as the story started to relax and everything became more predictable, the ending (not a surprise) was conventional. Personally, I was hoping for something grandiose, but the fact that the ending is simple is not bad; it is merely personal preference.The biggest mistake Murakami makes in this novel, however, is not the length or the ending but the way he eliminates key characters as the story goes on, characters that are not given a follow-up after they have left the storyline and are never heard from again. If he would have given some background as to what happens to them once they leave the story, then the story may have continued to pick up some speed. Unfortunately, though, Murakami lets them fade into the wind, almost making the reader wonder if they had ever existed in the first place.Regardless of everything negative, Murakami's characters are what make 1Q84 a masterpiece. The characters have wonderfully well-rounded personalities and at times it is almost impossible to not make connections between your world and theirs, so much so that the readers may find themselves looking up at the sky and wondering if their moon has changed into the ones in the world of 1Q84.

From the other reviews I've read, it seems like a consensus is that this not Murakami's best work. Because this is my first time reading something of his, I can't compare it to what he has written, but I can say that 1Q84 grabbed me, pulled me in, and wouldn't let go.Background: I've lived in Japan for a couple of years and know the language, and I feel the translators did an excellent job conveying this as it was written in the original Japanese. The feeling of the words, the pacing, even the puns [1984 in Japanese is ichi ku (hence the Q) hachi yon] are faithfully reproduced in the English text, though I do feel that without this additional background I've had, I could see it falling flat. It also helped me that so many of the places - Azabu, Koenji, Shinjuku, Shibuya, and Sangenjaya - were all places that I'm intimately familiar with, having biked those streets time and time again while I lived there.The story: You aren't in need of a recap, or even an initial summary, there are lots of those. However, with this book it does take its time to get where its going. It's not a book that will be rushed. Instead, the deliberate pacing draws our two heroes together in a slowly tightening circle. If you're expecting a quick cross country trip on I-40, you'll be disappointed. If you're expecting a scenic, rich, leisurely journey along Route 66, you'll be richly rewarded. This is close to 1000 pages of the best that Japan offers, and it is well worth the read.Stories within stories and repetition: One of the hallmarks of 1Q84 is that it has several sub stories that Murakami wrote and inserted in the text. Sometimes they're mentioned in bits and spurts, other times you get what is (essentially) the whole story. Both these works are integral to the protagonists' world views. Throughout the text, there is an ongoing repetition of several instances involving both protagonists. While some may feel that they are unnecessary padding, I feel that they are essential to understanding the characters and what their pasts and motivations are, without adding additional exposition. They're vague enough to allow the reader their view, but concrete enough that Murakami gives us a direction to travel.Loose ends: I've seen some complain about loose ends in the novel, and while there certainly are some - I would love to see what happened with the dowager and Tamura - I feel that it wraps up in a very satisfying manner and in such a way that there are no "loose ends" in the core of the story.