“Murakami is like a magician who explains what he’s doing as he performs the trick and still makes you believe he has supernatural powers . . . But while anyone can tell a story that resembles a dream, it’s the rare artist, like this one, who can make us feel that we are dreaming it ourselves.” —The New York Times Book Review The year is 1984 and the city is Tokyo.A young woman named Aomame … Tokyo.
A young woman named Aomame follows a taxi driver’s enigmatic suggestion and begins to notice puzzling discrepancies in the world around her. She has entered, she realizes, a parallel existence, which she calls 1Q84 —“Q is for ‘question mark.’ A world that bears a question.” Meanwhile, an aspiring writer named Tengo takes on a suspect ghostwriting project. He becomes so wrapped up with the work and its unusual author that, soon, his previously placid life begins to come unraveled.
As Aomame’s and Tengo’s narratives converge over the course of this single year, we learn of the profound and tangled connections that bind them ever closer: a beautiful, dyslexic teenage girl with a unique vision; a mysterious religious cult that instigated a shoot-out with the metropolitan police; a reclusive, wealthy dowager who runs a shelter for abused women; a hideously ugly private investigator; a mild-mannered yet ruthlessly efficient bodyguard; and a peculiarly insistent television-fee collector.
A love story, a mystery, a fantasy, a novel of self-discovery, a dystopia to rival George Orwell’s—1Q84 is Haruki Murakami’s most ambitious undertaking yet: an instant best seller in his native Japan, and a tremendous feat of imagination from one of our most revered contemporary writers.
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I clearly recommend 1Q84, but it’s turning out to be a difficult recommendation to put into words. I can’t talk about why I liked it without spending half of the time talking about big portions of it that aren’t actively enjoyable. For the most part: I loved 1Q84 for the same reasons that I’ve loved Murakami’s books in the past. Much of it is captivating; all of it is strange, and very Murakami.
But: I did eventually drift from legitimately enjoying it to just appreciating it. I would say that 1Q84 has a pacing problem, but nothing about its pace is unintentional; it has a very specific, unconventional structure that, due to its length, means that most of the wind goes out of its sails for hundreds of pages. But it is great — it is fascinating in how specifically itself it is, and it is absolutely worth reading.
Haruki Murakami has a style all his own in my opinion. His stories raise interesting issues and he has a knack for interior dialogue that humanizes his characters to a degree that it’s hard not to relate to them on a visceral level. At this point, I have not finished the book, but I’m far enough along on the journey that I feel confident saying it’s worth reading both from a storytelling standpoint and a writing standpoint. His translator deserves tons of credit too, always does a wonderful job (Jay Rubin). If you like a realistic magical feeling and a description of insect death that leaves you staring at the clouds, this might be the book for you.
Murakami is always a bit fantastical
I absolutely loved it! It was so awe-inspiring and such a page-turner! Haruki Murakami has become one of my all-time favorite authors. I love his books and I’m so happy that BTS leader RM recommended it for me!
Long, but good!
just ok
Amazing!
The story has staying power. Characters that you believe in and can root for.
I truly loved this book. It begins… a traffic jam on a huge highway occurs when a woman passenger jumps out of a taxi saying it’s ok, she will get off here. The taxi driver, as well as all the cars on the highway think this well-dressed business woman must be mad. Running across the highway, she finds a small opening which workmen use to fix pipes & things… enters & goes down the ladder…
I would like to tell you why this woman was in such a hurry, but I think it would be best if you, the reader, find out the extraordinary circumstances yourselves.
Very long, sometimes hard to follow. Could have been far more succinct. Interesting premise of dystopian worlds.
It’s hard to describe adequately how much I enjoyed this book. Murakami is an unusual writer in that he grabs the reader and intoxicates. I became engrossed in the story line and loved the characters. I loved the way the plot progressed and the ending, all completely unpredictable. This is a great book to read during the uncertain times of the COVID19 pandemic, because you can certainly relate to its otherworldliness!
This book is VERY long but I could not stop reading it. The characters and the plot are mesmerizing.
I’m not really a fan of fantasy, so this wasn’t my cup of tea. I put it down several times, but went back to it…I wanted to know how it turned out…but it wasn’t one of my favorites.
This book would’ve been great if it were 800 pages shorter. He incessantly went into every detail ad nauseum and repeated the same thing over and over. You do not need to know what the character had to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner EVERY day.
Not as good as the Wind Up Bird Chronicles
This is one of the best written books I’ve ever read. The detail, storyline and characters are unreal in the best possible way. Very long book which is great because you can’t put it down and you won’t want to.
WOW! What an unusual story. I loved it!
What a beautifully written story. It is like the slow ascent of a roller coaster ride, with many different twists and turns on the way up and with just as many twists and turns on the way down as you plunge deeper into the story that you never want to end.
His oddest book and quite different from others I have read, but he is an astounding writer. Have loved every book of his and think this is my 4th.
A delicious Book. I loved it.