Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - 1Q84

I have so many things to say (all negative) but I’m gonna try my best to not make this too long lol. But this book was so goddamn long and boring. Starting this book was so hard, it took me about 3 weeks just to read 300~ pages and I’m usually a pretty fast reader. I had to switch to the audiobook because I just couldn’t get through the book otherwise. The audiobook definitely made the book easier to read but it also made it worse because it vocalized and brought to life these characters who were pretty insufferable in my opinion.

No wonder this book was originally released in three parts because I genuinely don’t think there is any reason this book should’ve been 1500+ pages (ebook) long. It definitely could’ve been reduced a third of its length because there were parts that were so lengthy and repetitive, and just dragged on for seemingly forever. There was a whole ass scene where the narrator went over the complete instructions of how a pregnancy test worked, what the results shown meant, as well as the science behind it. I think if just the sentences that mention breasts were cut out, that alone could reduce the book by at least 1-2 chapters. (After a quick ctrl+f, breasts were mentioned an astounding 77 times)!

I’ve heard plenty of times before that Murakami is terrible at writing women, but he’s genuinely so terrible at it that I can’t even get mad. In my opinion he should just stop including female characters in his books completely. And if he wanted to have a romance arch, he should just consider having those characters be gay, because writing this sentence, “Aomame mourned the deaths of these two friends deeply. It saddened her to think that these women were forever gone from the world. And she mourned their lovely breasts—breasts that had vanished without a trace.” is insane to me.

The book also contained so many content warnings. Literally any tw you can think of, it’s most likely included. Luckily, I’m not adverse to reading things that contain content warnings, for the most part, but the stuff in this book definitely made me uncomfortable. And if you’re someone who hates sexual assault being used as a plot device, definitely don’t read this.

And since I’m on the topic of content warnings, the one that I sensed from the beginning was an adult minor relationship. I also just want to point out that an adult talking about a minor’s chest and ‘beautiful curves’ is already disgusting, but it doesn’t cancel out just because he throws in that there is no sexual meaning. However, out of all the foul parts I read (there were many) the one that was the most revolting to me was a scene where these two characters found themselves waking up naked together and there was a descriptive contrast made where one of the things being compared was referred to as ‘adult penis’. I’m sure you can guess what the opposite thing being described was. Having to read that full scene made me want to die.

There were so many times throughout the book where I wanted to dnf, because I have truly never disliked a book more than this one. But above all, more than disliking this book, I am a hater, and so I finished it even though I wanted to unalive myself the whole time, so that I could properly write this review.

TLDR:
Badly written female characters
Too many mentions of breasts
CW: adult minor relationship, sexual assault/rape as a plot device, incesty (mommy issues), suicide, sex scenes
Unnecessary sex scenes
Long and boring

Content Warnings

bellaa's review

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challenging mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Format: Background, overall thoughts, likes, critiques, miscellaneous
Background: I first bought this book in 2019 because I thought it looked intriguing. I then spent the next three years attempting over and over again to start and power through it, until I realized this is not really a book that you attempt to power through. This is a book you take chapter by chapter, line by line, with time in between. When I realized that, it became a lot easier to consume and enjoy because I knew I would be able to take time away from it eventually.
Overall thoughts: I thought it was a good book. It was alright. The world-building was spectacular, the writing itself was very detailed, I found myself enjoying it at a lot of parts. But then, Murakami would write something (and I'm blaming him for this) that took me completely out of it, often relating to the character's sexual preferences. This could be an incredible book had Murakami's editor taken a more liberal red pen. I also think this book was attempting to be a lot more thought-provoking than it was. The story was superfluous at times, probably around 600 pages to long. However, I do think it is a good book to be read by people willing to overlook some of the more out-there statements Murakami just throws in for the fun of it.
Likes: Again, I like the poetic writing, the world-building, and (at some points) the characters. These are all things Murakami excels at. He can make things intricate, detailed, and interesting. He also has shining moments in between the fluff. It is impossible to not see the appeal of this book when it comes to these things.
Critiques: But then we get to the critiques. Firstly, it's long. That much is obvious. It is long and while there is nothing necessarily wrong with it, I don't think it does Murakami himself much good. Does he write incredibly well, simplistic yet detailed? Yes, absolutely. Does the long form of the novel give way to much of Murakami's personal fetishes and sexual fantasies? Also yes (more on that later). The story becomes too much, lost in a way that I'm not sure Murakami intended.
Secondly, the characters' insecurity. I'm not hating on anyone for being insecure, but God, Murakami's characters are some of the most insecure, self-obsessed, and boring people I have ever met. The female main character's obsession with her small breasts, the male secondary character that is constantly reminding us how ugly and unlikable he is. Etc. Etc. Etc. I'm done with it. I'm tired. I don't need to be constantly reminded of how much these characters, and everyone around them, finds them ugly and unlikable and a million other adjectives boiling down to insecure. Murakami, make your characters confident 2022.
Thirdly, the sexual shit. Tengo does not need to keep reminding us of a) his mothers' sexual affair in front of him that he constantly has flashbacks to (that he then recreates with his girlfriend and it makes him nut immediately???), b) his lack of attraction (but possible, there's always a possibility) for the teenage girl he is in a very confusing friendship with, and c) his constant masturbation over a hand touch from a girl he knew once when he was ten. Aomame, for the first half of the book, reminds the audience of her fetish for balding older men every chapter, or even twice every chapter. Additionally, the constant mention of her forays into homosexuality without any tangible results just frustrated me. I firmly believe Murakami just finds lesbians sexually attractive but refuses to condone homosexuality (no tangible evidence, just opinion lol). That brings the list of Murakami's sexual shit that he included in this book up to five: Oedipus complexes (??), pre-pubescent hand-touching (/j), women's ears, women's breasts (constantly, fucking constantly), and lesbians.
[Massive TW for this paragraph: pedophilia, graphic descriptions of sex]

Then, we get to the canon-necessary pedophilia. And I say canon-necessary because it is literally built into the world that the pedophilia is necessary for the religion and for the world. The male main character is literally described as unable to move a singular muscle while the teenage girl fucks herself on him. Firstly, why the ever-loving, god-forsaken fuck would you write that. Second off, not loving the idea that the grown man is literally forced to be helpless, while an insatiable teenage girl gets fucked by him. Feeling very eh on that one Murakami. He was teasing pedophilia the entire book and then finally gave it to us (like we even wanted it??), then attempted to make us forget it happened by having Tengo and Fuka-Eri not bring it up after it happened. But Tengo kept bringing it up in his internal monologue and like half-condemn it, but also be like "It's not my fault, I couldn't move :/"

Miscellaneous: Fuka-Eri may essentially be a manic pixie dream girl, but I love her. She deserves the world. Wish this book had been about her and only her.
Conclusion: Murakami, get a fucking editor

Content Warnings

j_abby's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.75

Content Warnings

shelbytheduck's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I cant tell if it is the worst book ive ever read or my favorite. I feel like i want to reread it but the 1000 pages were a struggle and I dont think i could read it again for a very long time.

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