Plain and simple, this is a masterpiece.
You can read and enjoy it just for the story line, which involves lonely characters who connect with one another in a world that has turned uncanny on them. Or you can ponder deeper metaphysical questions about reality along with the author and the characters.
I think you have to be an introvert and willing to suspend belief about abnormal events to appreciate what Murakami has to offer. But this work is rich, involving and perfectly constructed.
Don't be surprised when Murakami wins the Nobel Prize eventually.
You can read and enjoy it just for the story line, which involves lonely characters who connect with one another in a world that has turned uncanny on them. Or you can ponder deeper metaphysical questions about reality along with the author and the characters.
I think you have to be an introvert and willing to suspend belief about abnormal events to appreciate what Murakami has to offer. But this work is rich, involving and perfectly constructed.
Don't be surprised when Murakami wins the Nobel Prize eventually.
Step into Tokyo of the year 1984 and the lives of Aomame and Tengo, two young people whose existences converge in a strange way. Aomame is a fitness expert who has trains extensively and her services are in demand by numerous clients. Tengo is a child prodigy who chose to teach while he aspires to be a writer. The two were in grade school together when an incident occurred that became a childhood memories that neither can forget. It was a simple encounter. She greeted him, smiled and touched his hand. He, tongue tied , said nothing and she walked away but the incident was not forgotten by either.
Fast forwards into 19184, late for her appointment, Aomame in a taxi caught in a traffic jam but the driver tells her she can use a stairway off the freeway. She does and encounters a strangeness. It's a parallel time that she calls 1Q84. The Q stands for question mark where she exists but many things around her are changed.
Tengo has been asked by his literary agent to rewrite a novel written by a seventeen-year-old to submit it for a writing contest. While the collaboration is unethical, he is persuaded to work with the young writer. Of course, the novel wins the contest and becomes so widely read that he fears his involvement will be discovered with dire consequences.
The author weaves a complex plot with a parallel period including murder, strict religious groups - one of which is vindictively seeking Aomame, a wealthy widow whose works protect battered women, an ugly detective searching for Aomame, and a body guard whose training and acumen protect the widow and help Aomame. To survive, Aomame must find Tengo but that's a small part of this lengthy tome. The author has created a fascinating and original story like no other I have read. It took awhile but I kept going, enjoying every page of this well written and thrilling novel. Take the time to read it. It's soo good.
Fast forwards into 19184, late for her appointment, Aomame in a taxi caught in a traffic jam but the driver tells her she can use a stairway off the freeway. She does and encounters a strangeness. It's a parallel time that she calls 1Q84. The Q stands for question mark where she exists but many things around her are changed.
Tengo has been asked by his literary agent to rewrite a novel written by a seventeen-year-old to submit it for a writing contest. While the collaboration is unethical, he is persuaded to work with the young writer. Of course, the novel wins the contest and becomes so widely read that he fears his involvement will be discovered with dire consequences.
The author weaves a complex plot with a parallel period including murder, strict religious groups - one of which is vindictively seeking Aomame, a wealthy widow whose works protect battered women, an ugly detective searching for Aomame, and a body guard whose training and acumen protect the widow and help Aomame. To survive, Aomame must find Tengo but that's a small part of this lengthy tome. The author has created a fascinating and original story like no other I have read. It took awhile but I kept going, enjoying every page of this well written and thrilling novel. Take the time to read it. It's soo good.
(SPOILERS IN THE REVIEW)
1st:
Fuka-Eri dictates to her sister events that happened to her in a cult compound known as Sakigate. These events involve Air Chrysalis', two moons and Little People. That manuscript - titled Air Chrysalis -is submitted to the New Writers Contest. It captures an editors heart and a novelist whose job - among others - is to read the submitted works.
Tengo is that novelists name. Komatsu knows it can be a winner and because of that he pretty much forces Tengo to ghost write it, to make it better.
Unbeknownst to them this unlocks a world of problems. Fiction becomes reality, reality becomes fiction. One moon becomes two.
2nd:
Aomame is a killer of abusive men. She and her ice pick that isn't quite an ice pick pierce the brain stem and send the man to the other side. She, after finding herself in the world of 1Q84, is tasked with killing Leader. The head of Sakigate and the hearer of the voices.
Aomame and Tengo share a complicated past. A single memory that has stuck with them for twenty years. A moment in a classroom where they held hands.
They've never forgotten each other. Not a day passed when they didn't think of each other. Tengo's world is turned upside down by the novel, Aomame's by her killing Leader. This brings them into each other's orbit and closer to the other.
Will they or won't they find each other?
This is a love story. A weird, wacky, wonderful love story. Their is drama with the changing of the worlds, and curious happenings with Fuka-Eri and the Little People. Their are side characters like Ushikawa and Tamaru that add a lot to the story and keep you wondering what will happen next.
Tengo's story plays out richly, as does Aomame's. You really get to know them. You really begin to root for them and hope that they find each other. That begins to consume you. You begin to not care so much about anything else which is good because towards the latter portion of the book things begin to wind themselves up and in a way that isn't so climactic. If you expect a Hollywood shootout or Bonnie and Clyde style ending, something with more bang then you're going to be disappointed. This is after all, a love story. That's the point of it. You're meant to fall for Tengo and Aomame and root for them.
It is a will they or won't they find each other sort of story. One worth reading.
1st:
Fuka-Eri dictates to her sister events that happened to her in a cult compound known as Sakigate. These events involve Air Chrysalis', two moons and Little People. That manuscript - titled Air Chrysalis -is submitted to the New Writers Contest. It captures an editors heart and a novelist whose job - among others - is to read the submitted works.
Tengo is that novelists name. Komatsu knows it can be a winner and because of that he pretty much forces Tengo to ghost write it, to make it better.
Unbeknownst to them this unlocks a world of problems. Fiction becomes reality, reality becomes fiction. One moon becomes two.
2nd:
Aomame is a killer of abusive men. She and her ice pick that isn't quite an ice pick pierce the brain stem and send the man to the other side. She, after finding herself in the world of 1Q84, is tasked with killing Leader. The head of Sakigate and the hearer of the voices.
Aomame and Tengo share a complicated past. A single memory that has stuck with them for twenty years. A moment in a classroom where they held hands.
They've never forgotten each other. Not a day passed when they didn't think of each other. Tengo's world is turned upside down by the novel, Aomame's by her killing Leader. This brings them into each other's orbit and closer to the other.
Will they or won't they find each other?
This is a love story. A weird, wacky, wonderful love story. Their is drama with the changing of the worlds, and curious happenings with Fuka-Eri and the Little People. Their are side characters like Ushikawa and Tamaru that add a lot to the story and keep you wondering what will happen next.
Tengo's story plays out richly, as does Aomame's. You really get to know them. You really begin to root for them and hope that they find each other. That begins to consume you. You begin to not care so much about anything else which is good because towards the latter portion of the book things begin to wind themselves up and in a way that isn't so climactic. If you expect a Hollywood shootout or Bonnie and Clyde style ending, something with more bang then you're going to be disappointed. This is after all, a love story. That's the point of it. You're meant to fall for Tengo and Aomame and root for them.
It is a will they or won't they find each other sort of story. One worth reading.
The basic story, about 2 lonely people in an off kilter world, was interesting and was what kept me reading, but I think it was way too long. Happy with part of the ending but yet disappointed that I was left with a "what happens now" feeling after reading over 1000 pages.
