602 pages
Japanese language
Published April 1, 2010 by Shinchosha/Tsai Fong Books.
1Q84 (いちきゅうはちよん, Ichi-Kyū-Hachi-Yon, stylized in the Japanese cover as "ichi-kew-hachi-yon") is a novel written by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, first published in three volumes in Japan in 2009–10. It covers a fictionalized year of 1984 in parallel with a "real" one. The novel is a story of how a woman named Aomame begins to notice strange changes occurring in the world. She is quickly caught up in a plot involving Sakigake, a religious cult, and her childhood love, Tengo, and embarks on a journey to discover what is "real". The novel's first printing sold out on the day it was released and sales reached a million within a month. The English-language edition of all three volumes, with the first two volumes translated by Jay Rubin and the third by Philip Gabriel, was released in North America and the United Kingdom on October 25, 2011. An excerpt from the novel appeared …
1Q84 (いちきゅうはちよん, Ichi-Kyū-Hachi-Yon, stylized in the Japanese cover as "ichi-kew-hachi-yon") is a novel written by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, first published in three volumes in Japan in 2009–10. It covers a fictionalized year of 1984 in parallel with a "real" one. The novel is a story of how a woman named Aomame begins to notice strange changes occurring in the world. She is quickly caught up in a plot involving Sakigake, a religious cult, and her childhood love, Tengo, and embarks on a journey to discover what is "real". The novel's first printing sold out on the day it was released and sales reached a million within a month. The English-language edition of all three volumes, with the first two volumes translated by Jay Rubin and the third by Philip Gabriel, was released in North America and the United Kingdom on October 25, 2011. An excerpt from the novel appeared in the September 5, 2011 issue of The New Yorker magazine as "Town of Cats". The first chapter of 1Q84 had also been read as an excerpt in the Selected Shorts series at Symphony Space in New York.
Enjoyable but quite the marathon. I took a long break between books 2 and 3. I found the third part rather slow, repetitive and whacky.
I love this author's unique introspective style and the matter-of-fact fantasy elements. Very much worth reading.
When I just started reading the book, someone told me that they thought the story was predictable. I think they were focusing a little too much on the obvious and not enough on the meaning of the metaphors in the book. And the metaphors are out of this world! Only Murakami can throw a curveball after curveball of naughty metaphors at you and NOT sound one bit silly or hokey. Another brilliant book by a brilliant author.
I would have liked this so much more if it had been about 30% shorter... The last half really started to drag for me. Great premise, not so much on the follow-through.
