Translators: Jay
Rubin and Philip Gabriel
Date of Publication: January
22, 2013
Memorable Quotation: “IQ84-That’s
what I’ll call this new world, Aomame decided. Q is for question mark. A world
that bears a question.” (pg.138)
Lasting Impression: Combining multitudes of genres to create a
story of fate, love, death, and magical realism, 1Q84 is a massive undertaking
in terms of length and depth that any reader will not soon forget.
Story-line: A
Pace of Story: A
Characters: A+
Ending: B
Overall Grade: A-
It is important to note that 1Q84 is not for the ill of heart. It has been
compared to The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie and 1984 by George Orwell but
this epic novel definitely stands on its own for its originality, depth of
characters, and fluid writing style. A lengthy novel of over 1,100 pages, 1Q84 has two alternating storylines; one
concerning Tengo Kawana, a cram school math teacher and the other concerning
Aomame, a sports club physical trainer. Under
different circumstances, they each fall into the new world of 1Q84 (aptly named
by Aomame) instead of 1984, where there are two moons and a bestselling fantasy
novel, Air Chrysalis, actually
contains classified information about a highly religious organization,
Sakigake. As each of them adjust into this new world and try to find one another after twenty years, dangerous
obstacles stand in their way of them reaching their goals. With only a few trusted companions and their own
inner strength, they have to survive long enough to hopefully discover a way
back to the real world and have the storybook ending they so deeply desire.
This
novel took on so much in terms of storytelling and character development, but
one of the best parts of 1Q84 is the
combination of Murakami’s writing style and the translation of Jay Rubin and
Philip Gabriel. The words flowed so
evenly, so much so that the reader may forget (as I did many times) that they
are reading a translated novel. Because
of this fluidity, it was so easy to become hypnotized by the events that took
place and are swept away with the plot twists that keep the reader guessing
until the very end. The other beautiful
aspect of Murakami’s writing is the way that 1Q84 is a love story, but that fact is not in your face. I appreciated the way the he presented love
with fate, and did not make it the focus of the story; it played an important
part but you were not smothered by it.
The length,
which most readers seemed to have a problem with, is a bittersweet subject for
me. I do not mind a long novel because the
longer the novel is, the more opportunity the author has to test his characters
in various scenarios to show their complexity and versatility. On the other hand, staying at a consistent
pace to keep the reader’s attention is very important in such a novel, but unfortunately
in 1Q84, in the last two hundred pages,
the story line becomes slower and you have to push to finish it. Please do not
think that the story becomes less interesting and that is a reason not to read
this amazing novel! What I mean is 80% of the novel is so fast paced sometimes
you forget to breathe. Slowly, everything
slows down, and the new relaxed pace is a difficult adjustment to make after
such a wild ride and especially since you are so close to the end.
The ending
is good, but not great. Throughout the
entire novel, I could not figure out how everything would sort itself out but
as the story started to relax and everything became more predictable, the
ending (not a surprise) was conventional. Personally, I was hoping for
something grandiose, but
the fact that the ending is simple is not bad; it is merely personal
preference.
The
biggest mistake Murakami makes in this novel, however, is not the length or the
ending but the way he eliminates key characters as the story goes on,
characters that are not given a follow-up after they have left the storyline
and are never heard from again. If he would have given some background as to
what happens to them once they leave the story, then the story may have
continued to pick up some speed.
Unfortunately, though, Murakami lets them fade into the wind, almost
making the reader wonder if they had ever existed in the first place.
Regardless of everything negative, Murakami's characters are
what make 1Q84 a masterpiece. The characters have wonderfully well-rounded
personalities and at times it is almost impossible to not make connections
between your world and theirs, so much so that the readers may find themselves
looking up at the sky and wondering if their moon has changed into the ones in
the world of 1Q84.
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