1Q84 Book Review

1Q84 is a novel written by Haruki Murakami.  It was originally published as three part books series in Japanese from 2009-2010 and was an immediate sensation in Japan (according to Wikipedia).  I honestly, knew none of this when I chose to read it. The cover looked interesting- yes I judged a book by its cover.  I got myself on the library waiting list for the ebook version and was notified I had a 7-day loan period to get through almost a thousand pages. One of my challenges for journal writing was an Art Journal entry and after reading this book, I knew I had a work of art journal entry winner. 

This novel is different and I am still not sure if I mean "different" good or "different" bad.  I could see it being made into an anime movie like "Spirited Away" by Hayao Miyazaki.  There is the obvious similarity that 1Q84 is an alternate reality, but also because you have to suspend your disbelief.  The world of 1Q84 does not follow any established rules. In fact, it sole purpose seems to be to bring together the two main characters, Aomane and Tengo, together.  Fate apparently requires the complete bending of logic, suspending of reason and of course a healthy sprinkling of magic.  It seems this genre of romantic sci-fi has gone global!

I wondered if something about this story was lost in translation? The choice to make it one long book instead of 3 books like in Japan or 2 books as it was released in the UK, may have been a mistake. The American audience is an impatient one.  Our "Happily-Ever After" story lines tend to be linear and nicely wrapped up and this is not the case in IQ84.  There was a lot of repetition and details (i.e. rubber plant) that ended up not contributing to the overall plot line. Characters were disposed of and forgotten once they stopped contributing to the fated lover's plot line. When I read some of the reviews on Amazon several people mentioned the style of the book is very typical of this author.  I just felt that I was missing some kind of cultural decoder key.

I must confess, I did not actually "read" the whole book, it was just too long!  About a third of the way through,  I wikipediaed it to get a general idea of where the plot line was going before I continued skimming it. I wanted to make sure the story line would be worth the effort. The author has a very engaging style of writing.  I really got a sense of the characters lives and I genuinely liked them.  There is also a gratuitous amount of sexual content, which neither titillated or offended me.

Would I recommend this book?  Yes if you have plenty of time to kill. The story is unique and the writing style is captivating. My major problem with 1Q84 is the way the plot develops and concludes really makes no sense. For me, it was the opposite experience of "Lord of the Rings," which had an amazing story line, but was tedious to read.  I guess like all "good" art it left me with more questions than answers.