1Q84
Ratings295
Average rating3.7
“I can bear any pain as long as it has meaning.”
The year is 1984 and the city is 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.
Series
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3 primary books#1-3 in 1Q84
1Q84 is a 3-book series with 3 primary works first released in 2009 with contributions by Haruki Murakami.
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I can see why some people don't love it, but I thought it was beautiful. Thoroughly enjoyed it all, even the parts that are left unexplained.
Good but not amazing. Could have been about 300 pages shorter (at least). I was disappointed Murakami only tied up one of many loose plot ends by the end of the book. The idea that post-modern novels don't have to follow old fashioned conventions is a recurring discussion point in the book (for example, M. deliberately mentions and then violates Chekhov's principle that once a gun is introduced, it must be fired), so I guess it's not that surprising. In the beginning, the tightly packaged plot lines drew me in, but Murakami seemed comfortable with mere suggestions by the book's end. Even though I liked it, I'd be hard pressed to recommend it to others just because the page-length investment doesn't entirely seem worth the payoff.
Definitely not his best work, much too long if you ask me. The length robs you of some of the magic in his other books. The story itself it interesting, but not all that satisfying. it was like running a marathon, only to hop in a golf cart for the last mile.
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