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)

Strong out the gate long in the stretch.

A fun novel to be sure, but the casual insanity of all the characters and what’s felt like a rushed and lackluster ending that gives the impression that the author had written themselves into a corner and either had their deadline due or just got sick of the story.

Limitless & Fluid

Stephen King once wrote that "the glory of a good tale is that it is limitless and fluid," and that's certainly true of 1Q84. There is no way to guess where Murakami will take the reader next, but rest assured that it will always be somewhere thoroughly interesting.

Hats off to the translators who string together English phrases in an arresting way as, I imagine, Murakami does in Japanese. An example that struck me: "It was the kind of smile he might have found in the back of a normally unopened drawer."

I enjoyed the character development, especially in the beginning when we are really learning the personalities. Aomame wondering how different her life would be if she had a different name (and one that didn't mean "green peas"), and Tengo pondering the fact that he is a simple listener in a small group, but a forceful presence when speaking before a large group.

Like others, I disliked the labored translation of the Dowager, but felt the narration worked well everywhere else.

Mesmerizing

The slow pace of the book definitely takes some getting accustomed to, but once I did I didn't want to stop listening to it. The writing is superb, the characters are fascinating, and the story is compelling...until the end. I won't spoil anything but the ending was a bit flat and is really the only reason I didn't give this book five stars. Still it's a great book that's well narrated, and well worth your credit and your time.

First 40+ hour book I've managed to get through!!!

Would you listen to 1Q84 again? Why?

The story & narration were quite engaging.

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

The narration suited the characters, careful and precise. I know that others found the narration too slow, but in my mind it added to the story.

very good. classic Murakami

I enjoyed it. it was a little too long and slow paced in portions. performance was excellent

Unique and interesting

Any additional comments?

I loved this story. It was alittle slow to start but once the plot thickend I was pretty rivited.

The longest Audible that I have completed.

This book took me three tries, partially because of technical difficulties with my device, and partially because I wasn't concentrating enough to follow the plot enough to be "sucked in" enough to care when I lost it on my device and re-download it. I am glad that I finally finished it, although I don't know if I would recommend it over others, especially when taking the time commitment into account.

my favorite audio book of all time

words cannot express. I listened to this a year ago and I still miss aomame and tengo

When Literature can shape the world you are living

Would you listen to 1Q84 again? Why?

The reading was fantastic and the story so incredibly beautiful. The way the narrative began to bend my own experience in this world of 2014 helped create possibilities for me that as absurd as they were became possible and then probable.

Who was your favorite character and why?

they felt like different patterns of the same cloth.

Which scene was your favorite?

The owl.

If you could rename 1Q84, what would you call it?

Cat Towns

Any additional comments?

You either will love this book - as a favorite of all time or you will not like it at all.

I loved this book so much!

I love the writing style of Haruki Murakami and have read a few of his novels now. I wish I could read them in Japanese but the the translations are great. I love the Narrators in this audio book, I loved that it was almost 47 hours long, it languishes, I loved the experience of the book, the characters, the strangeness of the tale. One of my favorites. I'm sure it's 'not for everyone' but I loved it!!!