1Q84 by Haruki MurakamiMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was definitely one long strange trip! There is so much to this story its kinda hard to wrap your brain around it when you finish. There was alot I liked about this story and some things that I didn't. The size alone is a bit overwhelming. I would never suggest starting this unless you plan to have a lot of time on your hand such as being laid off from work or maybe under house arrest.
In the begining you find yourself in three different stories. Aomome is stuck in traffic on her way to an important appointment and climbs down an emergency exit to get to the subway. When she does this she eventually realizes she has crossed into another reality. The second story you encounter is Tengo Kawana is being asked to ghostwrite a story writen for a writing contest. The third story is the life of the girl that actually wrote Air Chrysalis. These three threads that start independently are gradually woven together a thread at a time like the actual weaving of an air chrysalis. We are drawn into this strange world of 1Q84 thats as vivid and detailed as any reality that could be imagined. The characters are deep and brought to life of such a scale that we really see life from their eyes. However, this book is so detailed that at some points it detracts from the story. There seems to be so much excess. Is it really necessary to know how food is prepared, or read actual passages from Chekov that had no relevance to the story at hand? I think that nearly every bite of food that was eaten was described not only in detail but how it was prepared. Things of this nature made an already long book longer than necessary.
Overall, I liked the book. It was very well written, the flow of the story was nice and I loved the way the stories were woven together. But the length was daunting and by the end I was asking myself why I ever started this to begin with. This is certainly not a book for everyone, and thats not just because of the size, the overall story is a bit on the bizzare side as well. But I certainly feel as if I have accomplished something now that its over.
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Hey Flora!
ReplyDeleteIt's been a minute, so I figured to check your blog to see if you had finished 1Q84. Glad I stopped by! It's been sitting in my Amazon.com "Wish List" for awhile lol.
Yes, finishing a book over 900 pages is definitely an accomplishment. I give you even MORE credit for writing a kick a** review for a book that obviously is hard to "sum up". I've had that happen to me quite a few times and after I'm done reading, I've had trouble putting into words how I felt.
But I'm glad you were able to write a review for this book-- books of this size and in-depth storytelling definitely need to be discussed-- for your own sanity lol.
Anyway, I think this is a summer read for me because I am so overwhelmed right now with review obligations. But I DEFINITELY want to read it now! Thanks for the great review :)
Mia at The Muses Circle
Thanks so much! I'm glad that you liked my review. I agree that such a large book is hard to sum up, it takes so long to read that sometimes its hard to wrap your brain around everything that you've read lol. I, too, think this would make a great summer read. Or a good read for anytime you are gonna have alot of time on your hands. I don't plan on taking on such a large read any time soon.
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