1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
Alternate universe and parallel dimension are my favorite genres of modern fiction. That is why I am fond of Murakami. Nearly all of Murakami’s novels play with the device of parallel universe, into which characters slip through cracks or portals. I have waited so long until I have time to get onto 1Q84, Murakami’s mega novel (900+ pages) published in three volumes in Japanese. Murakami’s mind-bending saga of parallel world, life creepily imitating art, and religious-magical cults was very, very intriguing. There’s no doubt that Murakami is one of my favorite modern writers *for short novels*, yet I hate to say that, this novel disappointed me. Unless you’re already enamored with Murakami's work, I beg you not to read this book. If you’ve already read this book…please don’t judge his writing skills base on this piece.
As a Murakami fan, I have to stop people from reading this book to save Murakami’s reputation. Seriously, go read Kafka on the Shore or The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. I’ll get into this novel, and explain why you should read Murakami’s other work instead of this.
The year 1984 pronounces asいちきゅうはちよん = Ichi-kyū-hachi-yon = 1Q84, The title is a play on the Japanese pronunciation, and a reference to George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. The letter Q and the Japanese number 9 are homophones, which are often used in Japanese wordplay. The fiction is set in the year 1984, when the protagonist, Aomame saw a news report about the construction of a joint American-Soviet moon base, and a second moon in the sky, she ascertained that she has stumbled into a different universe, which she denominated 1Q84, where the Q stood for question. She wanted to ask someone about the second moon, but she couldn’t: If she was still in 1984, people would think she's coconuts for seeing two moons; and if she really was in 1Q84, the inhabitants will also doubt her sanity for finding it strange. As a result, Aomame resolved, pragmatically to take it all in stride.
The male protagonist, Tengo, is an aspiring author who gets persuaded to rewrite a novel by a weird teenage refugee from a surreptitious religious cult. Later on, a prodigiously ugly detective hired by the cult to search for Aomame also became a central character in the novel. Basically, 1Q84 depicts the long, excruciatingly slow reunion of Aomame and Tengo, who knew each other when they were younger.
At this point, you may wonder: what’s wrong with the plot? There’s nothing wrong with the plot.
What’s annoying is that Murakami used 900+ page to create a prose that’s so mundane, and its narrative dragged on and on that you literally can’t gauge the turning points and climax of the novel. The narrative was memory-insultingly repetitive, as if Murakami assumed his readers are 90 or have Alzheimers! Also, he introduced a lot of concepts as chrysalis, Sakigake, maza, dohta and the Little People, yet only explores the periphery of these concepts. I’m the kind of reader that can accept whatever mind-twisting and mind-bending elements in a novel, but the premise needs to be established and explored, so that I’ll have some sort of anchor to base these things on.
What really disappointed me is that 1Q84, with a staggering length of 900+ pages, Murakami did not extend or deepen the ideas and themes within the book. Concepts pre-established were only lightly touched on. Not to mention, most of these concepts mirrored his earlier works. I guess this super length is not suited to a writer of Murakami’s fragile gifts. Murakami nearly pulled it off with The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles, which ran 600+ pages, but that’s about it. There are authors who can’t handle lengthy novels, which is fine. To name one, Kurt Vonnegut, but whatever his shortcomings, he never attempted a 900+ page novel. I strongly advise you not read 1Q84, and go read his other work!
