Read with me: “1Q84: Book 3″

“But remember — this is the year 1Q84. A strange world where anything can happen.”

— 1Q84: Book 3, by Haruki Murakami

If you haven’t read my articles on/reviews of 1Q84: Book 1 or Book 2 then;

a) Shame on you and,

b) You should know that these posts talk about plot points that have occurred up to the end of the book being discussed.

Aside from everything else that’s great about Murakami, I think unpredictability ranks pretty high. Since Book 3 is the conclusion of 1Q84, only click on the Read More link if you’re finished or if you’re the kind of wild, devil may care type that just doesn’t mind knowing things about a story before experiencing it firsthand (the type who will never be asked to watch my cat while I’m on vacation).

Read with me: “1Q84: Book 2″

“One reviewer concluded his piece, ‘As a story, the work is put together in an exceptionally interesting way and it carries the reader along to the very end, but when it comes to the question of what is an air chrysalis, or who are the Little People, we are left in a pool of mysterious question marks. This may well be the author’s intention, but many readers are likely to take this lack of clarification as a sign of ‘authorial laziness’. While this may be fine for a debut work, if the author intends to have a long career as a writer, in the near future she may well need to explain her deliberately cryptic posture.’

Tengo cocked his head in puzzlement. If an author succeeded in writing a story ‘put together in an exceptionally interesting way’ that ‘carries the reader along to the very end,’ who could possibly call such a writer ‘lazy’?”

— 1Q84: Book 2, by Haruki Murakami

Here we are at 1Q84: Book 2 which, if you’re familiar with high-concept mathematics, follows 1Q84: Book 1. I’d like to continue this series of reviews but, as before, don’t want to give anything away (the above quote doesn’t spoil anything, sensitive readers) so will encourage anyone who has read to the end of Book 2 to follow the link below to the full article whereas everyone else should . . . not.

Read with me: “1Q84: Book 1″

I’m reading Haruki Murakami’s newly released (for North Americans) 1Q84 right now and really enjoying it. This might seem like a foregone conclusion because, after all, Murakami has long been one of my favourite authors but, bias aside, the book is looking extremely special thus far. 1Q84‘s NA release is a big ol’ 900ish page hardback but it was originally released in serial format. Because of this, and because I want to talk a little about it now, I’ve decided to do three miniature write-ups for each of the books that makes up the whole.

Obviously there will be some discussion of plot points up to the end of 1Q84: Book 1 so, if you’d rather not encounter them, don’t continue reading. Otherwise, take the long, long scroll down to the Read More button.