The Outhouse - The Greatest Comic Book Forum

by **Chris** » Fri Oct 28, 2011 11:18 pm

I don't think I've ever read a book by him, but his new one sounds very interesting, if a little daunting at almost 1000 pages.

The year is 1984 and the city is Tokyo.

A young woman named Aomame follows a taxi driver’s enigmatic suggestion and begins to notice puzzling discrepancies in the world around her. She has entered, she realizes, a parallel existence, which she calls 1Q84 —“Q is for ‘question mark.’ A world that bears a question.” Meanwhile, an aspiring writer named Tengo takes on a suspect ghostwriting project. He becomes so wrapped up with the work and its unusual author that, soon, his previously placid life begins to come unraveled.

As Aomame’s and Tengo’s narratives converge over the course of this single year, we learn of the profound and tangled connections that bind them ever closer: a beautiful, dyslexic teenage girl with a unique vision; a mysterious religious cult that instigated a shoot-out with the metropolitan police; a reclusive, wealthy dowager who runs a shelter for abused women; a hideously ugly private investigator; a mild-mannered yet ruthlessly efficient bodyguard; and a peculiarly insistent television-fee collector.

A love story, a mystery, a fantasy, a novel of self-discovery, a dystopia to rival George Orwell’s—1Q84 is Haruki Murakami’s most ambitious undertaking yet: an instant best seller in his native Japan, and a tremendous feat of imagination from one of our most revered contemporary writers.

by **S.F. Jude Terror** » Fri Oct 28, 2011 11:57 pm

I tend to stick mostly to salmon or tuna when eating sushi, but I'd be up for trying something new.

by **sdsichero** » Sat Oct 29, 2011 12:04 am

S.F. Jude Terror wrote:I tend to stick mostly to salmon or tuna when eating sushi, but I'd be up for trying something new.

wait, you're selective about what you eat?

by **Royal Nonesuch** » Sat Oct 29, 2011 12:09 am

I've read some of his books. It's good stuff. He has a lot of cool ideas and vivid characters. Looking forward to the new book.

by **Herald** » Sat Oct 29, 2011 1:56 am

sdsichero wrote:
wait, you're selective about what you eat?

Only eating chocodiles is being selective.
It's just not being intelligent.

by **Strict31** » Sat Oct 29, 2011 2:01 am

Needs more tentacle rape.

by **Zero** » Sat Oct 29, 2011 3:17 am

Royal Nonesuch wrote:I've read some of his books. It's good stuff. He has a lot of cool ideas and vivid characters. Looking forward to the new book.

Yup. This new one's probably too big for me to get in hardback so I'll make do with what I already have until it's out in paperback. The stories feel like a very modern, japanese version of magical realism sometimes and I'd recommend them to anyone of a literary bent on this site.

by **Jubilee** » Sat Oct 29, 2011 4:51 am

I'd read it if I had any choice in the books I read

by **Chris** » Sat Oct 29, 2011 9:34 pm

I picked this up today.

Other than this.. where do I start with Murakami?

I have heard "Kafka On The Shore" and "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" were good.. any others?

by **mrorangesoda** » Sat Oct 29, 2011 10:19 pm

I read Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. I felt like I was half asleep while reading the thing and couldn't tell you what it was about.

by **Chris** » Tue Nov 01, 2011 6:47 pm

Holland Oats wrote:I don't think I've ever read a book by him, but his new one sounds very interesting, if a little daunting at almost 1000 pages.

About 100 pages into this... it's very good.

Murakami seems to be playing in the same sandbox as guys like Guillermo Del Toro and Mike Mignola, to a certain extent.

So far, we've got a female assassin who gets into a taxi and step out in some weird alternate universe, where she starts noticing weird minor differences from things she remembers.. like police wearing entirely different uniforms than she saw just earlier in the day, and the US/Russia building a base on the moon, amongst others.

And a college math teacher agreeing to ghost re-write a story by a high school girl with dyslexia for a short-story contest, about mysterious "little people" (like fairies, I think) coming out of a dead goat's mouth, which may or may not be true and she may or may not actually see these little people in real life.

I guess at some point the two stories come together, I would assume.. but it's pretty weird so far. But good.

by **nietoperz** » Tue Nov 01, 2011 6:54 pm

The best way to start with Murakami is probably Norwegian Wood. It's his most accessible novel, really.

by **Chris** » Tue Nov 01, 2011 6:58 pm

nietoperz wrote:The best way to start with Murakami is probably Norwegian Wood. It's his most accessible novel, really.

At this point, I figure I might as well just work my way backwards.

I already started on 1Q84. I figured Wind-Up Bird Chronicle would be next, if I liked this one.. but who knows. What is Norwegian Wood about?

by **nietoperz** » Tue Nov 01, 2011 7:02 pm

Holland Oats wrote:
At this point, I figure I might as well just work my way backwards.

I already started on 1Q84. I figured Wind-Up Bird Chronicle would be next, if I liked this one.. but who knows. What is Norwegian Wood about?

It's about a man looking back on his student days and the love affairs he had in 1960's Tokyo, all triggered by the Beatles song in the title.

by **Chris** » Sat Nov 12, 2011 1:11 am

Re: 1Q84

I finished the first book (of 3) yesterday.

So I am about a third of the way through.

This might be one of the most difficult reads I've had all year.. but also the best.

Not because it's dense or anything, but it almost feels like it's just decompressed to hell.. Bendis would love this.

Everything has to be explained in detail.. if a character is hungry, they sit down to eat and he describes every minute detail of the kitchen and food that is being eaten.

It's somewhat of a chore to get through, and it's clear why this book is 900+ pages...

But oddly enough, I feel very satisfied at the end of each chapter. He makes all the little details matter.

The story has come together excellently. I am thoroughly engrossed in it, but the thought of 600+ more pages is daunting. It took me about 2 weeks to read the first "book".. so I guess another month to go.