1Q84

By: Haruki Murakami, Jay Rubin - translator, Philip Gabriel - translator

Narrated by: Allison Hiroto, Marc Vietor, Mark Boyett

Length: 46 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

Earphones Award Winner (AudioFile Magazine)

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.

BONUS AUDIO: Audible interviews the translators of 1Q84, Jay Rubin and Philip Gabriel.

©2011 Haruki Murakami (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"This imaginative, lengthy novel satisfies as a mystery, fantasy, and humorous coming-of-age tale—all blended with the vagaries of love and loss in a dystopia mired in strange cults and mathematical/musical dreamscapes. One surmises that it's no accident that the book's enigmatic title relates to George Orwell's 1984." (AudioFile)

“Profound . . . A multilayered narrative of loyalty and loss . . . A fully articulated vision of a not-quite-nightmare world . . . A big sprawling novel [that] achieves what is perhaps the primary function of literature: to reimagine, to reframe, the world . . . At the center of [1Q84’s] reality . . . is the question of love, of how we find it and how we hold it, and the small fragile connections that sustain us, even (or especially) despite the odds . . . This is a major development in Murakami’s writing . . . A vision, and an act of the imagination.” (David L. Ulin, Los Angeles Times)

“1Q84 is one of those books that disappear in your hands, pulling you into its mysteries with such speed and skill that you don’t even notice as the hours tick by and the mountain of pages quietly shrinks . . . I finished 1Q84 one fall evening, and when I set it down, baffled and in awe, I couldn’t help looking out the window to see if just the usual moon hung there or if a second orb had somehow joined it. It turned out that this magical novel did not actually alter reality. Even so, its enigmatic glow makes the world seem a little strange long after you turn the last page. Grade: A.” (Rob Brunner, Entertainment Weekly)

A Heroic Endeavor!

This is for sure THE LONGEST audiobook I have listened to so far. At 46 hours, this was a major commitment, requiring enormous stamina (on my part!)

It was pretty good. There was a lot going on. Parts of it were too slow moving for me and I found myself getting a little irritated and annoyed. Other parts were very good, well done, and some parts were actually downright hilarious! It was hard to take it all in, and could probably use a few more listens on my part. However, at 46 hours total, I doubt I will be listening to it again soon.

The narration was quite good, especially the female narrator’s very soothing, calm voice.

Haruki Murakami is a very unusual writer and, like all of his other works, this book was a mixture of realism and fantasy with borderline mythical properties. I am somewhat intrigued by his work, and he is clearly a very unique and talented writer. But not necessarily one of my favorites. In this book, I think it took him an awfully long time to get to the point.

Ambitious Undertaking and extremely provocative

This is my first experience with a translated Japanese author and I think I was overwhelmed. Plot lines good, descriptive, good introduction to a mysterious culture and narrators excellent.

Took me some time to get into it but then couldn't put it down. This author developed his characters in a rewarding way and wish more US authors would do like wise. Lengthy and verbose in places, perhaps necessary, but did not detract and continued to hold my interest.

This will not be my last listen from Haruki Murakami

This offering is certainly worth the price and the investment in time. Trust me . . . read or listen to it.

Love, death, innocence, and enlightenment

I have a conundrum regarding this book. It will sit hauntingly in your head long after you finish it with wonder about the ultimate meaning of the events in relation to the characters and wonderment over how satisfactory the ending is with regard to the lengthy build up.

This is a VERY long book, which was originally published as a Trilogy in the native Japanese, although I find it hard to see how anyone would be totally fulfilled without reading the entire set.

The book revolves from the point of view of 3 main characters who are voiced by different readers. The performances are straight-forward and don't pack a great deal of emotional drive into the words, so you're left to that interpretation on your own.

One thing that significantly helps to understand the structure and tone of the book is an understanding of Japanese culture and speech patterns. Some prose will seem needlessly repetitive, but this is the cadence of Japanese conversation. Because the language contains numerous homonyms (words that sound the same, but have different meanings), Japanese speakers often echo back a statement to insure that they understood the meaning inferred from one speaker to another. So you'll hear passages like "I need to go to the train station in the Chiba prefecture." followed by their conversation partner saying something like "The train station in Chiba. Yes, I see."

The plot of this book is sort of twisty and fantastical. It builds on a premise of alternate realities, and the reaction one might have to switching subtly from one reality to another. In the end, it seems to be a story about second chances at love and happiness, a good thing indeed.

I am not familiar with any other work by this author, but there is one aspect to this book that I found rather perplexing. It contains some very explicit sexual descriptions that don't necessarily advance the plot of the story. They might be seen as what the Japanese call "Fan Service" which is in essence meaningless titillation that arouses the user to press on with the story. That's just my guess, but perhaps a less cynical person might conclude that the author is simply using sexuality to express the wholeness of a person beyond the dimensions that are known publicly. Much of the motivation of the characters is driven by the desire to keep secrets and discretion, and what may seem more indiscreet than sexual situations. If you are offended by explicit sexual descriptions, you may want to pass on this book.

Overall, its a worthwhile journey through some unusual circumstances, and was definitely worth the time I spent with it.

Murakami - unique, imaginative, makes you think

What did you love best about 1Q84?

Murakami's unique way of story telling becomes addicting! He leaves plenty of room for the reader or listener to think about and figure out for him or herself. I felt highly engaged at all times. The writer skillfully reveals the characters past, internal dialogues and motivations in a manner that never gives away too much at once. Like a beautiful classical music composition, this book has everything it needs in the right place, in the right time!

Murakami's characters eat and sleep like anyone you might know. They have love lives; ponder morality and their very existence. They all have pasts they need to deal with and futures that seem uncertain. And then there are all the questions they ask themselves.

Any additional comments?

For me, this was the gateway book to Haruki Murakami's unique and imaginative writings. I am reading his other works now. They are just as powerful and memorable, as this novel is.

Keep in mind that the original Japanese Book was a trilogy. Be prepared for a very long novel in the English version. I don't mind receiving all three books for only one audible credit! To me, this is a bonus.

Can you imagine being stuck in traffic in a large city? On the elevated expressway you exit the taxicab and find emergency stairway that should lead you to the subway below. Well, that what Aomame did, in high heels and a miniskirt! On the way to the subway station she notices changes in her surroundings. This part of the book reminds me of Stephen King's '11/22/63', where the main character goes through a portal into another reality.

Now imagine being a teacher and aspiring writer, asked to rewrite a book for an unusual teenage girl, Fuka-Eri. Tango faces this situation, which becomes a life changing experience for him.

The wealthy woman who runs a shelter for abused women and her body guard add to the story, as does a strange cult, a private investigator, a television fee collector and tie the two main characters, Aomame and Tango together in a most intriguing way. Fuka-Eri's life story and her puzzling novella are an enigma in itself.

And so the story unfolds into an epic! You will find plenty of philosophists and well-known music mentioned in this book.

The male and female narrators added additional clarification to what character was telling the story, as Murakami alternates between the two main characters in his writing. The narrators’ voices brought the book to life for me, as I have never been to Japan, nor do I speak the language. Allison Hiroto's voice helped me picture Aomame. I felt magically transported to Japan, learning a bit about the modern culture and its people.

First two parts great, third part is so slow

This audiobook is broken into 3 books. The first two were fantastic. I could not get enough of them. The third one was incredibly slow and could have been just as good, or better, in about 2.5 hours.

Pros: Good story that kept me interested (in Books 1 and 2). I liked how things unfolded.

Cons: The narrators could not agree on some things, like how to pronounce the name of the cult and how to portray one of the characters (who appeared in 2 storylines).
The female narrator is very slow, but that didn't ruin the book for me. It was difficult to differentiate between characters, sometimes.
Book 3 was slow and repetitive... we were forced to hear the story from 3 perspectives, so everything happened 3 times.

Read the other reviews, too. One of them, which comments on the dialogue, is funny and very accurate. Several mentioned loose ends not tied up, but that didn't bother me, either. I don't think I would have really noticed if the reviews didn't mention it.

Can't figure but unbelievable

What made the experience of listening to 1Q84 the most enjoyable?

I am unsure whether I listened to a rare talent in the author or the translators. Since I will never learn Japanese and be able to read it in the original language, I must give ignorant credit to both (though I am nearly certain it is due to both). Thank you for one of the better read-listens of my life, to both.

40+ Hours of Easter Eggs. It’s like a longer more indent twilight zone episode.

I very much loved this book. It was a good companion for my job. My only complaint is I could have done without the sex scenes, I understand the age of consent is younger in Japan but it still grossed me out. That being said I skipped past it because this book is worth it. I understand it’s long but I enjoyed all the tiny finite details that he gave every character. On top of that there was a bonus interview at the end with the translators of this book. They did a wonderful job translating and Audible did an awesome job with the performances. I really enjoyed the back and forth of each characters voice throughout the book series.

I will be listening to this one again.

This book sucks you in, whether you want it to or not

I had a hard time with elements of this book. There are some plot points that are so disgusting, I felt sick and almost stopped reading. These things served no purpose in the book.

I am not one who can’t handle reading about certain topics or graphic violence or whatever it may be, but this book had gratuitous descriptions of the rape of little girls for no good reason. He uses this as motivation for another character and no attention is paid to these children. He simply could have said “sexual abuse” and left it at that and the story is the same.

It also has the typical Murakami older man attracted to teenage girl trope and the constant, repeated, redundant talk about women’s breasts. I don’t know why he feels the need to include these things. The story would be just as good with all that toned down by a lot.

I kept reading after I felt it couldn’t get any worse and the story does suck you in. Yes, it’s too long as everyone has said. But the length of the story and the way everyone repeats themselves makes it all the more hypnotic, which is what one wants out a Murakami book in the first place. It’s surreal and off-kilter. You just accept that there are two moons and “little people” in this universe.

I can’t imagine reading this book in text though. The narrators do a great job and I would say the audiobook is the superior version of this story. I didn’t mind that they added a third narrator late in the game. I actually liked it.

If you can stomach some horrible descriptions and general perviness, there is a pretty good story in the rest of the book.

The interview at the end with the translators of this novel was interesting and I’m glad they included that. However, the sound quality was terrible. Very muffled compared to the crystal clear quality of the novel itself.

In the top 10 Murakami, but not the best

Narrators were good but their Japanese pronunciation was distractingly off. Otherwise well done. Story was a bit repetitive but interesting. Not my favorite Murakami book just because the content oftentimes could have been edited and achieved the same effect.

Couldn’t be better.

The book is incredible. The two storylines and the two* narrators did an amazing job working together. There was so much emotion and personality throughout the entirety of this novel. This Is not a short // quick /read/ by any means. But it is so worth it... by the end of the 48 hours the reader and those three voices are able to capture exactly what the author intended. Splendid.