1Q84

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An ode to George Orwell's "1984" told in alternating male and female voices relates the stories of Aomame, an assassin for a secret organization who discovers that she has been transported to an alternate reality, and Tengo, a mathematics lecturer and novice writer.

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Love it! submitted by marielle on July 5, 2012, 5:12am I selected this book for my book club. I loved this book, but then again I am a huge Murakami fan. It's definitely on par with Kafka on the Shore and the Wind-up Bird Chronicle.

The opinion of my book club, which most of which had never read any Murakami, was that there was too much gratuitous sex. I, of course, disagree- sex is an integral part of both the human condition, which Murakami is always after.

Highly enjoyable! submitted by kstyron on July 5, 2012, 2:56pm This was my first Murakami and I was rewarded tremendously for checking it out when I saw it. It was a little stranger than expected but as a long time reader of sci fi and fantasy I'm used to strange things happening. Oh and I LOVED the ending.

1Q84: screams for serious rewrite submitted by geneslibrary on July 10, 2016, 11:29am Principal male character, Tengo Kawana, rewrote Fuka-Eri's text which had been submitted for a new writer prize. The text benefitted greatly and Murakami should have followed that example with his text. He should have found a writer who could tighten up the story and reduce its 925 pages to something more manageable. It hurt to have it sit on my legs as I read it. Particularly so, since I was often thinking about how the story could be made less wordy.

I did appreciate the way Murakami worked natural aspects of human existence into the story: people ate (he describes what and, if they cooked it, what went into it and how it was put together; people peed (I took this to include both elimination functions and that it was one area where Murakami was spare with words); people had sex; people dressed and undressed; people cleaned their dwellings or didn't.

I liked the fantastical aspects of the story but so much was left undeveloped that I grew more and more irritated with the author as I approached the end of the story. Also, so much defied logic: a "Leader" of a religious organization who, while in a catatonic state, is used sexually for the purpose of producing an heir by the Leader's premenstrual handmaidens. Bio 101? No eggs available until menstruation, hence no possible heir. This activity (non-activity?) on his part brings him to the attention of a feminist dowager who decides that he must die. Her information is faulty (he really isn't at fault) and there is failure to correct the fault in a line of females in the process leading to (SPOILER ALERT) his execution; the two main protagonists (Tengo Kawana and Aomame, who knew each other briefly when they were about 10 years of age and had never spoken to each other before they were separated by chance, somehow know, 20 years later that they were fated lovers, destined to reunite. They both have taken little to no action to find the other. It is only due to action taken by the dowager's bodyguard that they finally are reunited; working backwards I could have saved Murakami 29 pages of writing by ending the story shortly after Tengo and Aomame meet at the slide in the park. They could have sex at the top of the slide while watching the two moons, close their eyes and when they opened them they would see only one moon. 1Q84 returns to 1984. End of story.

Also, I didn't see any relevance to the year of the story being 1984. There was almost no government involvement in the story, no big brothers, limited corporate surveillance but nothing at all like in Orwells' 1984.

Captivating and Mind-bending submitted by inewton on July 27, 2020, 1:32pm Murakami is one of my favorite authors but I had always been intimidated to tackle 1Q84 because of how long it is! Definitely worth it. The story is great and it keeps you reading. Classic surrealist Murakami vibes--it's a really awesome read.

. submitted by cutie patootie on June 19, 2021, 8:12pm .io

b submitted by ellis dobson on June 14, 2022, 1:51pm b