I didn't go through the previous posts but I hope there isn't such. Have you guys read the trilogy? I've been reading it for three years now, having at times this compelling urge to read a bit of the book (I have the all-in-one book) and finally finish it. I find it tedious, lengthy, with no real action, just hints of action. The trilogy starts off on quite an interesting note but you lose any interest in the next fifty pages describing ordinary lives. Then there is another subtle hint of something interesting going on, which, even if exposed, is, again, ordinary. All three books give the impression of trying to be mysterious, cryptic, the kind of "nothing is the way it seems" but it doesn't work, in my opinion. The characters are interesting but they are as if prevented from acting for there to be three books instead of one, so they indulge in indolence, absent-mindedness or obscene conduct. Murakami is my favourite writer (that being true, I've read woefully few of his books) but this trilogy almost seems to be written by someone else. I've read Norwegian Wood which won him popularity and it's for a reason; there's a tenth of 1Q84 mystery in it but it's at least five times more interesting, even without the inexplicable. And you can relate to the characters. I've also read Kafka on the Shore which is also mysterious but unlike 1Q84 grabs your attention. Raises your interest, is sometimes outrageous but always interesting. You keep on reading. My opinion is that Murakami should have written one book instead of three.
I've read part of the first volume, and I agree with you, and what seems to be the consensus. The work really needs an editor. I mean, I love Murakami, I really do, but he really let all notion of conciseness slip from his mind. It's Murakami alright, and the poetry is there, but it's had more than a few pork pies. That said, I've not finished it. I want to, I will do one day, I've just not had the time.
The poetry is there, true, a bit different than his other books (if I can judge from the sample I've read, maybe not fully). If it is his regular poetic style, then I don't like this particular shade... "That said, I've not finished it. I want to, I will do one day, I've just not had the time." This sums it up, I've got the same problem. I hear The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is excellent. And Undergound. Read any of them?
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is the popular one, that and Kafka on the Shore. I can see why, but I like Kafka on the Shore more. I've not read Underground, though, but everything I've read suggests it's very good.
spoiler alert I've read Kafka on the Shore myself, it's an excellent story. I was particularly captivated by the vividness of the beginning -- very suggestive, straightforward and self-reflective. Yet, the book ends with a lot of questions unanswered (or maybe it's that I've read it only once...) With this book I sometimes had the feeling that Murakami pushes you into thinking that something impossible will happen (like the stone or the dead body answering the lorry driver's questions) and he uses words like naturally, obviously to dispel that expectation by stating the obvious. I wish some Japanese anime production made this into a motion picture. Madhouse production who made Perfect Blue. Strongly recommended, by the way. They would make a great Kafka.
Me too. I found Wind Up Bird frankly pretty boring. Like, 80% boring, 20% mind-blowing. The ratio was too much. Kafka is one of my favorite books ever, on the other hand.
Just finished all three and I agree that it was way too long without much action. Could easily have been one very interesting book. I also found Tengo to be a somewhat empty character.
I'm on the verge of finishing the final book myself. We could engage in some enlightening discussion on the series. I've got some theories. Say, one very obvious but I need to work on it.
That's kinda how Murakami is though. Long winded descriptions of characters cooking rice and fish in their boring apartments in between bizarre sex scenes while fish are falling from the sky or moons happen to have copied and pasted themselves. I loved Tengo!
