1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

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Just finished this novel and want someplace to discuss it. I figured there might be some people here who have read it. It's over 900 pages and there is a lot to talk about.
I'm not sure fully what I think of it yet. It's my first Murakami novel, and I spent a lot of time thinking "what a strange and fascinating book," while also "what awkward/simplistic language" and "what a long book" and "why so many sex scenes?" I think most things I criticized are partially justified, however. I'll get into that later.

I've read a few reviews and analyses and I think many of them get it wrong, particularly with the "unanswered questions" criticism, at least with the specific questions they think are unanswered. It seems a lot of them are missing some details. I'll get into that later as well, if any sort of discussion comes of this post.

So, what do you think of 1Q84? 

Edited by Polymorphia - June 22 2016 at 16:48

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Polymorphia Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: November 06 2012 Location: here Status: Offline Points: 8856	Topic: 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami Posted: June 22 2016 at 16:47
	Just finished this novel and want someplace to discuss it. I figured there might be some people here who have read it. It's over 900 pages and there is a lot to talk about. I'm not sure fully what I think of it yet. It's my first Murakami novel, and I spent a lot of time thinking "what a strange and fascinating book," while also "what awkward/simplistic language" and "what a long book" and "why so many sex scenes?" I think most things I criticized are partially justified, however. I'll get into that later. I've read a few reviews and analyses and I think many of them get it wrong, particularly with the "unanswered questions" criticism, at least with the specific questions they think are unanswered. It seems a lot of them are missing some details. I'll get into that later as well, if any sort of discussion comes of this post. So, what do you think of 1Q84? Edited by Polymorphia - June 22 2016 at 16:48
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BaldFriede Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Prog Reviewer Joined: June 02 2005 Location: Germany Status: Offline Points: 10261	Posted: June 22 2016 at 19:10
	Japanese literature is generally a bit weird; if you think "!Q84" is weird try reading "The Box Man" by Kobo Abe or "The Temple of the Golden Pavilion" by Yukio Mishima. The first Murakami book I read was "A Wild Sheep Chase". I liked the weirdness in that novel a lot, so I stuck with Murakami. I really enjoyed the way the story is told from completely different viewpoints in "1Q84". Probably the strangest character is Fuka-Eri; she seems to have a variation of the Asperger syndrome (which to me appears to be a recurring theme in the work of Murakami; there is always a character like that. In "A Wild Sheep Chase" it is the Sheep Man, who also appears in "Dance, Dance, Dance"). The only thing I disliked a bit is the love story between Aomame and Tengo, though the fact that it somehow ran back to childhood was great. But I would rather have had a love story between Aomame and Fuka-Eri or Ayume (which is probably due to my sexual preference; it is a general problem with books I read).. Edited by BaldFriede - June 22 2016 at 19:12
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Polymorphia Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: November 06 2012 Location: here Status: Offline Points: 8856	Posted: June 22 2016 at 19:54
	I'll have to check those books out. I liked 1Q84's weirdness. I have Wild Sheep Chase actually. I'm thinking about starting it soon. Fuka-Eri was quite intriguing to me too. (SPOILER ALERT). I was mostly interested in the parallels between her and Aomame– growing up in a cult, her face being "off-balance" like Aomame's (her ears are different sizes or heights, one of the two), her being the conduit for Aomame's pregnancy. Even before the maza and dohta elements were introduced I suspected that they were the same person. Murakami seemed to tease this bit of information. Particularly with the Aomame's/the dowager's/Tamaru's plan to have Aomame get plastic surgery after she killed leader. But Tengo's last conversation with Komatsu hints pretty heavily that Fuka-Eri is, in fact, Aomame's dohta. From the book: "'Couldn't you hypothesize that the Fuka-Eri we met is actually the dohta and what was left behind at Sakigake was the maza?' (Komatsu) ... But put it that way, and it started to sound possible. I have no periods. So there's no chance I'll get pregnant... An alter ego can't reproduce itself– only the maza can do it." The maza that got pregnant the night of the thunderstorm was Aomame. I think Fuka-Eri's distant nature might be chalked up to her being a "shadow" of Aomame, although this not might be the case considering other possible dohtas (Kumi and Ayumi and possibly Tamaki might be dohtas of Tengo's mother; the NHK collector knocking on Aomame's and Ushikawa's doors being Tengo's father's) have more "up front" personalities. Tengo and Komatsu also talked about the possibility and probability of there being multiple dohtas. "Maybe there is one powerful, main dohta, and several weaker auxiliary dohtas, and they function collectively." So it is possible for Fuka-Eri to have dohtas of her own as described in Air Chrysalis. I think the maza/dohta framework can be used to explain a lot in the 1Q84 universe. Not that it has to be explained. Edited by Polymorphia - June 22 2016 at 19:55
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