for reference, before reading this book by murakami, i was more neutral towards him—not a fan, or even someone who hated him.
i tried reading this particular book a few years ago and ended up dnfing for whatever reason. i think murakami was murakami-ing and i just wasn’t in the mood for him at that time.
i don’t know what compelled me to pick this book up a month ago but whatever it was—i am grateful. this book was such a treat to read. it consumed my life for almost a month.
reading this made me remember the first murakami book i had ever read (and REALLY enjoyed) which was “the wind-up bird chronicle.” i’ve read other books by him and most of them fall into one of two camps—discomfort or boredom.
well, “1Q84” goes firmly into its own camp—a beautiful camp that makes me want to go through murakami’s works one by one. i was blown away by the execution of the premise. it was a very trippy experience without being too trippy and confusing. it was as if murakami wanted us as the reader to somewhat grasp what was going on. it was like we were actual participants. for the things he wanted us to understand, he made them painfully obvious. and for the things he wanted to remain mysteries, that was obvious as well. this was one of the first books by him where i didn’t mind not having all of the answers because he made that clear throughout the book. so it was a very pleasant reading experience.
the pace was also done very well. it didn’t feel too long or too short—which is definitely a big deal. i tend to read books on the shorter side, mainly because i’ve found that in much larger books (there are exceptions of course) the writers tend to get long-winded and fill the story with a bunch of unnecessary details that take the reader from the main premise of the book. there are too many details, the writing tends to get sloppy towards the middle, there are more plot holes—you get the idea. but i didn’t get any of that with “1Q84.” everything—the premise, the characters, the execution, etc—was done with precision.
you got the feeling that murakami enjoyed WRITING this story, fleshing out the characters and the themes he wanted to share with us. you can tell that he cared about the story—there was no pretentiousness. it was trippy, meaningful, and dark.
what i also can’t NOT mention is murakami’s take on gender and sex. and this honestly was the thing that knocked my rating down to 4 ⭐️ i genuinely don’t understand why he makes these things so WEIRD. i will say aomame was one of the more complex female characters that murakami has written (so far) and i didn’t get the sense that murakami was purposely sexualizing her, but there were some bits that made me kinda uncomfortable (like why did murakami have to describe her lesbian experiences like that??). i also wish that her female friendships were just that—friendships and not weird lesbian experiences. because there wasn’t any of that energy when describing her and tengo. it just rubbed me the wrong way. her female friendships with the sexual energy was just written like a p*rn scene and not one of intimacy. it was very lazy in my opinion.
but the complex thing is that murakami is also very much against femicide and mistreating women. that’s the whole premise behind aomame’s character and how she even got involved with the dowager. he wrote: “men who wield great violence at home against their wives and children are invariably people of weak character.” and he also wrote : “all women have the right to give birth. we have to protect that right as much as we can."
i still have so many questions about the ending! hopefully murakami will write a follow-up. i want to see more of these characters, the worlds, etc. it would also be cool if this got adapted into a series! i would so watch that!! time to find some youtube videos that talk about this book!! (and i need closure 😭)
quotes i liked:
✨”call it a premonition, or just a funny feeling, but there is something strange going on here. something out of the ordinary. i feel it less with my mind than my whole body.”
✨”if you can love someone with your whole heart, even one person, then there's salvation in life. even if you can t get together with that person.”
✨”the ones who did it can always rationalize their actions and even forget what they did. they can turn away from things they don't want to see. but the surviving victims can never forget. they can't turn away. their memories are passed on from parent to child. that’s what the world is, after all: an endless battle of contrasting memories.”
✨”violence does not always take visible form, and not all wounds gush blood.”
✨”but who can possibly save all the people of the world?”
✨”perhaps this was the wisdom with which a child in her position survived: by minimizing her wounds-staying as small as possible, as nearly transparent as possible.”
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