Haruki Murakami: 1Q84 (2010, Penguin Random House)
English language
Published 2010 by Penguin Random House.
The novel is a sub-melodramatic sentimental metafictional love story in a ficticious world with two moons in the sky, a thriller packed with cults, assassinations and grotesque sex (newyorkobserver). The title is a play on the Japanese pronunciation of the year 1984 of George Orwell. The novel was longlisted for the 2011 Man Asian Literary Prize and placed No. 2 in Amazon.com's top books of the year.
Just finished books 1 & 2, and wow, I think I will have to start book 3 right away.
Particularly loved the "town of cats" story; and the scene towards the end, where Aomame is watching Tengo sitting on the slide in a park in Koenji from her balcony, is so well written, it felt like actually seeing it or being there.
Yep, this book is long, and feels draggy toward the middle / early end. Worse, it leaves some of its more interesting themes and plotlines on the table. But I love Murakami and certainly found things about this book to like... and the story and characters kind of stick with you. I wouldn't recommend anyone who hasn't read his books before start here, but I enjoyed it despite, or maybe even because of, its flaws.
I find myself looking at the moon more carefully now.
Incredible and almost impossible to put down. I've been stealing time to read an extra chapter whenever possible, including during lunchbreaks. Loved it!
It took me a long time, but I've thoroughly enjoyed the first two books. :-)
