1Q84

This post first published June 16, 2012.

Author: Haruki Murakami
First published: January 2010 (English: 2011)
Publisher: Doubleday Books Canada 
925 pages
 
Have you ever been to one of those funky, new age modern art museums? The ones with the very contemporary artworks that kind of confuse you because you’re not really sure what’s so artsy about it? It just looks like a painting of squiggles to you, or a sculpture of an ordinary toilet bowl with the seat up. But then you think maybe you’re just not appreciating it right, so you try hard to like it, but it doesn’t really work and in the end, you’re forced to admit to yourself that you simply didn’t understand the art.

That’s what reading 1Q84 was like for me. Maybe it’s just too hipster for me, or maybe the story is on a whole other intellectual level from me, but I didn’t get it at all. I have quite a number of friends who read this book and said how much they loved it, and I feel almost like I’m missing something key to my enjoyment of this novel. From what I gather though (after finishing this book myself), even some diehard Murakami fans had troubles liking this book, so I’m glad I’m not completely alone. And I did read this book in its entirety, even though it tested my patience. I received this book as a birthday gift some months ago and because of that, felt somewhat obligated to read the entire thing. I also realized later that in Japan, this book was originally published as 3 separate novels, which explains its intimidating 925 pages, and so I was a bit more forgiving with its length …

This book is surrealism, so if you’re not into that kind of thing, then you’ll want to skip this. For those still with me, it’s a bit difficult describing the story, but basically, the novel follows the lives of two characters — Aomame, a fitness instructor by day, assassin by night; and Tengo, a cram school teacher with ambitions of becoming a novelist — over the course of a year. The two haven’t met each other in over 20 years, but still long for one another. Separately, they both find themselves entering into a mysterious new world that is exactly like their own world, but with two moons in the sky. They become entangled in some sort of mystery, or conspiracy, involving a religious cult, and the Little People who can see everything.

Like I’ve already stated, I simply did not get this book. It’s not your standard book with a clearly defined plot, a climax of events, a denouement, and a conclusion. I’m no stranger to surrealistic fiction, I’m perfectly aware that there’s going to be a lot more metaphors/symbolism/etc. in such a story. I like surreal fiction, but this book seriously just confused the heck out of me. I couldn’t piece together how certain events were significant and some weren’t. For example, there are three separate women with no ties to one another who all die of strangulation. My literary senses tell me there’s something significant about this, perhaps the relationships between the characters, but I could not put it together. There is an TV channel fee collector guy who bothers all the characters at their homes, but after finding out who it was, I don’t get why it was important at all, or what kind of significance it had on the story. The mysterious dyslexic girl literally disappears from the story at one point with no explanation, after having played a central role in parts one and two.

One of the review blurbs on the novel is that this book is dream-like, and I think that’s a very good way of describing the story. And like many dreams, you think back and realize nothing made sense, try as you might to decipher some meaning from it. There might be a really profound underlying message in the story, but I couldn’t dig it out. I don’t claim to be some literary expert, but I’ve never really had too much trouble making connections in novels and figuring out the bigger picture. I really had a hard time here, it twisted my mind good.

I really did want to like this book, but I simply couldn’t. This is my first Murakami novel, by the way. Though I’m not the biggest fan of 1Q84, I think I will still give his other novels a chance. It’s a little bit of a relief to hear that even Murakami fans found this book too much of an enigma to enjoy, so I will try another book of his in the future. If you are thinking of reading this book, just keep this mind — some people truly enjoyed this book, while others struggled, like me, to find meaning. I think this book is one of those hit-or-miss books. I hope it will be a hit for you, but unfortunately, it missed me by ten miles.

My Rating: 2/5