While it started out a lot like "1Q84" (there is even a recurring character between the two novels), it didn't end up the same. I still maintain there's a marked similarity between Murakami's characters and a Paul Auster character — levelheaded, displaced, and ultimately pretty passive. There's a lot of stories-within-the-story here, too. I always feel like Paul Auster's incidential plot points are contributing to the overall story, though, while with Murakami, somethings there's things that just sorta fizzle out, or are connected to the overall story in a very complicated way that I just can't figure out.