Reviews

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

equilibriax's review

3.0

This book was so tedious. Excessively long for very little payoff. I did not feel emotionally invested in the main characters as I have in previous Murakami works.

lostinliterary's review

5.0

Absolutely stunning read. This book will make you look at your everyday surrounding twice with complete different perspectives.

cafes's review

5.0

Tengo un especial amor por su obra, independiente de la crítica. Gracias por hacerme perderme en tu surrealismo, murakami.

ajmcwhinney's review against another edition

2.0

Yeesh

jojo_usul_wargon_atreides's review

adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

katieinca's review

4.0

My generic review for good literary fiction applies:
-Masterfully written
-Has scenes and concepts that are likely to stick in my mind for years to come
-I could put it down for weeks at a time without missing it, and can't imagine I'll ever re-read it.

Specifically, I really enjoyed the two apparently unrelated plots that turned out to not be, and what's more, to be a love story. I enjoyed how well it captured both mundane reality and surreality. It didn't make me want to go back to Tokyo, but it did make me wish I'd visited more bars when I was there.

amicareads's review

adventurous challenging mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

i hated it and i loved it. i read this book diligently and stared at the moon often while reading. i drank four roses bourbon and saw myself in aomame and in tengo. a story that details the minutiae of every day life with the most vivid characters. the details that murakami brought to life in each character needed 1157 pages. you start to wonder if murakami is a genius or someone insane, for being able to detail the inner machinations of so many different characters. each character all at once complicated, but all just looking for purpose and companionship in the end. i loved all the story lines involved, but especially tengo and his father’s relationship throughout.

but alas, even to the very end, murakami had to mention every female characters’ breasts. it actually is impressive how he managed to talk about them so much. oh but rest assured, he made sure to make a point that they weren’t being talked about in a sexual way. they were just there. i hated this about the book. 

a book that was once a chore became something i read with discipline. i never had fervor to find out what happens at the end but also couldn’t put it down. overall, a book i know will be memorable to my core.

jadey24's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

tarrowood's review against another edition

4.0

Biggest book of the year? Murakami’s epic 1Q84 spans 1157 pages and yet it was an absolute page turner. Every part of it made me want to figure out what would happen next. The way Murakami finds a way to include some sort of other world that is closing in and threatening to his central character is impressive. The world of 1Q84 has a mystical air to it that crops more questions than answers. It defies laws of life, truth, reality, and novels. I was scared of this one due to its lengthiness for a long time. But I’m glad I took it off the shelf

zaneb's review

adventurous challenging mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Bizar