1Q84: Books 1 and 2 [Paperback]

From the outset I want to nail my colours firmly to the mast - I absolutely loved this book, loved everything about it and have now ordered Book Three and can't wait for it to arrive so I can live a little longer in the world of 1Q84.

The book follows the lives of the two main characters Tengo and Aomame in a series of alternating chapters focused on one or other of them in turn. Tengo is an aspiring novelist and writer, who eventually takes on the task of "re-writing" a book for subsequent submission for a literary prize. Throughout the book this is a great mechanism for Murakami to give a fantastic insight into the writing process and beyond. Aomame on the other hand is a kind of avenging assassin, wreaking revenge in the most subtle, understated but super-efficient way, with her victims essentially men who are abusers. In the early stages of the novel there seems no connection between the two in any way but of course you expect that connection and it comes. But it is brilliantly done. As you read it you are fed tiny pieces of the connections between the two but it's teased out gently, page after page, a bit like a spider spinning the most delicately interwoven web which is only revealed to you by the morning dew gathering on its threads - and even then it's revealed to you one dew drop at a time as it were.

The two main characters and their intertwining lives are supplemented by the story of Fuka-Eri, a 17 year-old girl who writes the most fantastic novel in terms of narrative but in terms of style and structure it's all over the place. It needs re-written and that's where Tengo comes in and eventually Aomame becomes linked into it too. Of course there's so much more to the story than this but I won't say more in any case anybody who reads this post decides to try 1Q84 - I wouldn't want to spoil it for anyone as it's a joy to read this book!

There's something odd and a kind of friction and tension within the personality of every character in the book for me, even in the very minor characters, but somehow this added to rather than detracted from my enjoyment of the novel. Consequently, because of the slightly strange feel to everything I wouldn't say I was able to completely empathise with Tengo, Aomame, Fuka-Eri or any other character in the book. But I was fascinated by them and I felt I did kind of understand them. They are so well drawn that their complexities, features and lives simply leap off the page at you.

The book is wonderfully well written. No matter what he explores in a chapter it is always done with a kind of vibrancy in the writing and yet there is a feeling of a writer applying an economy of effort at the same time. It reads like one of those books where the author says just the right words, just the right amount of words and just at the right time, on every single page.

Above all though for me what I loved most about this book is "story" itself. Clearly there are obvious parallels between it and Orwell's 1984. I read Orwell's book a long time ago as a very callow adolescent. I remember enjoying reading it but 1Q84 definitely moved me more than Orwell's book. (That may of course simply be a maturity thing for me personally). I loved the fact that somehow this is what I tend to think of as a "clever" book, in fact it's a toweringly "clever" book, and yet it stayed on the right side of clever from start to finish and never strayed into the "look how clever I am" territory that I sometimes find with some other authors.

At this point I've no idea where it will go next in Book Three - but I can't wait to find out

Once again Murakami has produced something that is truly magical. I would have to agree with the previous reviewer, if you have never read Murakami before, then this is probably not the best place to start, due to its length and surrealism, if you are not familiar with his work you may end up feeling rather perplexed.

It is 1984, and the place is Japan, but things are going to suddenly start altering. With two main characters, Aomame and Tengo, the tale is told in alternating chapters between the two. At first you have a mystery, in that what relation do these two characters actually bear to each other? Both characters seem to be living completely different lives, and have very little in common, but as you progress everything is slowly revealed, drawing you further in to the story. Aomame feels that she is in a different reality, or parallel universe, but is she? Could she just be more real than others? With Aomame as a gym instructor and assassin, and Tengo as a teacher and writer you are completely mesmerised by the two. Taking in such things as religious cults, and some history of what happened in Japan in the last century, this could be seen in some ways as an allergory of the Japanese people as a nation.

There is just so much to take in here, especially with the appearance of the 'Little People' that you are held in thrall. Tengo has taken part in a literary fraud with a publisher and the original writer of a story, and is hoping not to be revealed. Aomame is sent on a mission to kill 'The Leader', the head of a cult.

You could in actuality read this story twice, once reading the chapters to do with Aomame, and then the ones that are about Tengo, but it is much better to read them as a whole and enter Murakami's imagination; just relax and go with the flow, you won't be disappointed.

Once again, if you have never read any fiction by Murakami, I wouldn't suggest this as a first read. I usually tell people to read After The Quake. There is a good reason for this, as this is a short story collection where all the stories centre on one subject, an earthquake. If you enjoy and 'get' those then you should enjoy anything else written by Murakami. I can't wait until next week when the third volume comes out. I should point out that this kindle edition does have an active table of contents.

I read these two books and the third in a fairly brief period, a fact that indicates that they are immensely readable. The narrative that Murakami weaves is beautifully written, as always. In fact I read a recent Booker (and other) prize winning novel between these books and it hammered home how skilful Murakami is compared with almost anyone else. If I were a writer I would endeavour to write like him. The text flows so clearly, it's like a lovely stream that takes you along and makes you think everything is effortless. I think in many ways Murakami's work is getting better and better. I have loved his most recent three novels.

I do have a number of problems with 1Q84, and this takes quite a lot away from the book. If there is a trade off between plot and character in writing, I think this book is too heavy on character. Or to be negative, it is too light on plot. This is not clear until one reaches the end, and it leaves one a little empty. Murakami has never been afraid of talking about love and sex, but there were also certain parts of this book, written by a man in his 60s, that sat very uncomfortably with me. That might upset some to read, but I can't help feeling it. Maybe we are meant to feel that way.

There is plenty to redeem the book. In essence this is a story of the power of love to overcome space and time. Many others have tried this, and it is very hard to accomplish when disbelief needs to be suspended. 1Q84 requires some such suspension, but the love story is very powerful. There is also Murakami's superbly evocative rendering of Tokyo and Japan. It has a wonderful sense of place. There is stacks of emotion running cooly through the book. There are little stories told at tangents by characters that are truly wonderful, and the memories of childhood are pretty much perfect. In conclusion, I am a massive fan of Murakami, but I give this 4 stars due to some question marks over plot, and to me, morals.