1Q84
Synopsis
After climbing down a mysterious staircase on the expressway, Aomame discovers some strange differences in the world around her. A second moon appears in the sky, her perception of time shifts and she repeatedly and inexplicably crosses paths with the religious organization Sakigake. As these uncanny peculiarities grow, she realizes that she's been mysteriously transported from the year 1984 to the parallel world of 1Q84. In this new world, she can feel an invisible force drawing her closer to an old classmate named Tengo, who she has not seen in twenty years. Since the age of ten, the two felt destined to reunite. After diverging paths, Tengo became a writer and was ensnared into co-authoring the book Air Chrysalis. This novel is significant in the way it so accurately describes the goings-on of 1Q84. Tengo and Aomame must face their deepest insecurities head-on, and navigate their new realities to find each other.
Review
This book was genre-bending in that it could be considered a heist, spy, and love story wrapped into one. What really shines about it is Murakami’s distinct magical realism and profound attention to detail. The complexity and nuance he grants to each sentence is absolutely breathtaking. I enjoyed breaking down the Orwellian influences and its confrontation of illusion versus reality. Overall, this work is about the push-and-pull between our inner and outer selves, the grief of losing loved ones, and the pursuit of a meaningful life. Despite being around twelve hundred pages in length, this still managed to pack quite the punch. The characters are isolated, flawed and haunted by their pasts. Both of the main subjects undergo some sort of meaningful character arc—from passive to courageous and evasive to vulnerable. The inclusion of Air Chrysalis is effective in its representation of the power stories have to reshape reality. My only qualm was the way Murakami writes about Tengo's seventeen year old co-author Fuka-Eri, who is depicted engaging in sex acts with adult men. Other than that, this book was executed well and posed some intriguing questions about art as a method of manipulation and the unseen forces that shape our lives.