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1Q84 - Haruki Murakami

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L

LProtag

Member
Ermac said:
I was ok on Wind Up.. i Just didn't like the jumping all over the place with news articles and flashbacks. That and I thought the kinda was kinda meh. It was very well written however, and reading that NYT article makes 1Q84 sound really interesting though.
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The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle was considered by most to be his magnum opus, essentially him taking his unique style and form and employing it to its best use. From what I've heard from those who have read it, apparently 1Q84 has taken over its place as his best work.

This excites me, however it might not bode well for your enjoyment of the book. Have you read any of his other work?
 
7

7aged

Member
For me Wind Up was his most accomplished novel, but I enjoyed his earlier works more (particularly Wild Sheep Chase, and Hardboiled Wonderland).

As for 1Q84, I'm currently in book 2 and it's going really well.
It reminds me of Wind Up actually (but with the 2 main characters format of Kafka).
 
F

Fireblend

Banned
US edition preordered and has been for a while now... sucks I'll have to wait for it to get here (Costa Rica). Really can't wait, I've read most of Murakami's work and this is the first that I actually get to read shortly after release.
 
V

vitacola

Member
Picked up the third book (German edition) yesterday and read the first three chapters so far.

If you didn't finish the first two books of 1Q84 don't read this!
I like the fact that there is a chapter dedicated to Ushikawa now. Though nobody sympathizes with him in the book, I think he's an interesting and "awkward funny" character. I'm pleased so far.
 
P

Pachimari

Member
I don't know the author, I ha e not read any of his books and in fact I haven't read any books for years (maybe five). Now im getting back into it all as I need to relax with all the work I have, and I just started by buying 1Q84 Book One and Two for Kindle. Reading it on the Kindle app on my iPad until I'll buy a Kindle device next year. =)

I'm at page 16 and I love the atmosphere a lot!
 
B

BlazingDarkness

Member
I'm about 130 pages in now
Some connections are starting to form between Tengo and Aomame, very interesting

Aomame still perplexes me a little bit, her character is just so unlike many characters I'm used to Murakami creating, but I do like her - her past is slowly being revealed at a good pace

Tengo on the other hand is pretty much entirely like a Murakami character, for this scenario it's more his situation and the people he's surrounded by (Fuka-Eri, the Professor and Sakigake) that brings the intrigue for me

Really liking it
 
V

vitacola

Member
BlazingDarkness said:
Tengo on the other hand is pretty much entirely like a Murakami character, for this scenario it's more his situation and the people he's surrounded by (Fuka-Eri, the Professor and Sakigake) that brings the intrigue for me
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Tengo's character remembers me a bit of Toru Watanabe from Norwegian Wood.
And Fukaeri: <3
 
Z

Zyzyxxz

Member
Ugh, longshot but does anybody know if and when the English version will be available in Hong Kong?

In the event I end up being stuck in HK for much longer than I anticipated then I don't want to wait for a relative to bring me the US version.
 
O

omgkitty

Member
Haven't been this excited about a book since the last Harry Potter book in 2007. Actually haven't bought a book on release date, or even known when a book was supposed to release since then either haha. Still have about 250 pages left in Wind-up Bird Chronicle though...DAMNIT!
 
1

140.85

Cognitive Dissonance, Distilled
Was extremely disappointed in The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. It read like this great mystery and then the ending meant nothing and went nowhere. Beautifully written but made the vacuous ending that much more annoying.

I realize he wasn't going for a typical novel. I get that. I appreciate that. But he failed to turn what he was building into something satisfying.

I want to read this but I think I will wait for a review.
 
E

Ermac

Proudly debt free. If you need a couple bucks, just ask.
140.85 said:
Was extremely disappointed in The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. It read like this great mystery and then the ending meant nothing and went nowhere. Beautifully written but made the vacuous ending that much more annoying.

I realize he wasn't going for a typical novel. I get that. I appreciate that. But he failed to turn what he was building into something satisfying.

I want to read this but I think I will wait for a review.
Click to expand...


Yeah I felt the exact same way. The whole jumping around with newspaper clippings and flashbacks (some of which I feel were needed) kind of turned me off on it too.

Really want to pick this up though, decisions, decisions.
 
F

faridmon

Member
I really didn't like Wind up Bird Chronicle as much as many of his other books. But I am looking forward to this. What do people think of After Dark?
 
J

Jugendstil

Member
I didn't like the Wind-Up Bird Chronicle much the first time I read it, but something compelled me to reread it and I enjoyed it much more a second time, and since then its become one of my favorite books. Once I knew what to expect, I could appreciate it more. Kafka on the Shore and Norwegian Wood are still my favorite Murakami books, but there's a lot I love about Wind-Up Bird too.
 
B

BlazingDarkness

Member
faridmon said:
I really didn't like Wind up Bird Chronicle as much as many of his other books. But I am looking forward to this. What do people think of After Dark?
Click to expand...
I really like After Dark, to me, it's Murakami in his simplest form - the characters and interaction really shine because the plot and structure is very simple so it's not difficult to grasp what's happening
The conversations and interaction have always been my favourite part of Murakami novels, so After Dark really hits the spot for me, even if it's not particularly ambitious in scope


And for those contemplating to buy or not, just think it's like, what - a third the price of a video game? And for the average working person the book is going to last you a fair bit longer than the average game
If it's whether or not you'll warm to Murakami's style, pick up another book of his you haven't read for cheap, or get the 1Q84 sample from Amazon and see what you think
 
E

Ermac

Proudly debt free. If you need a couple bucks, just ask.
da fuxx does the sample not go up at midnight? I can't buy till I get paid but wanna read >:l
 
E

Evlar

Banned
Mine is on the UPS truck, and should be on my stoop when I get home tonight. I've been looking forward to this one a good long time.
 
Subterranean

Subterranean

Member
Just got my copy in the mail and the cover/presentation is a bit different, but I like it. I am really looking forward to reading this.
 
L

LProtag

Member
Just got my copy in the mail (US Version), I'm really liking the art direction. Need to set aside some time to start reading.
 
S

SD-Ness

Member
Ugh. So jealous of all you people reading it. I won't be able to get into it for another few months. Ahhhh.

I wonder when Hollywood will try to cash in on the Murakami oeuvre. I wouldn't be against it if the right director was chosen.

I know there are Japanese films of Tony Takitani and Norwegian Wood.
 
Z

Zyzyxxz

Member
SD-Ness said:
Ugh. So jealous of all you people reading it. I won't be able to get into it for another few months. Ahhhh.

I wonder when Hollywood will try to cash in on the Murakami oeuvre. I wouldn't be against it if the right director was chosen.

I know there are Japanese films of Tony Takitani and Norwegian Wood.
Click to expand...

Maybe it could get that "I don't understand the hype but I will watch it anyway" treatment like The Girl With The Dragon Tatoo.
 
8

8BitsAtATime

Member
SD-Ness said:
Ugh. So jealous of all you people reading it. I won't be able to get into it for another few months. Ahhhh.

I wonder when Hollywood will try to cash in on the Murakami oeuvre. I wouldn't be against it if the right director was chosen.

I know there are Japanese films of Tony Takitani and Norwegian Wood.
Click to expand...

The Norwegian Wood flick wasnt too good. It felt rushed and they crammed a bunch of stuff together.

Im a couple of chapters in so far...its pretty damn good. One thing that Murakami does great is his descriptions of songs and music. In anyone of his book anytime a character talks about a song, it makes me want to go listen to it.
 
O

omgkitty

Member
Ordered my copy from Amazon, and also ordered a couple other things so they decided to stick everything in one big box. Big fuckin mistake. My copy has scuff marks on the cover and the corner is bent to the point of the cover art starting to flake and tear. Not sure if I want to send it back to Amazon and hope for a better copy seeing as how big this book is and take my odds of getting a book in better condition or just go over to Barnes and Noble so I can take my pick. I honestly hate the tracing paper like cover they used. It's something I will immediately take off and stash somewhere hoping it doesn't crumple up like my copy already has.
 
7

7aged

Member
I'm about a quarter of the way through book 3. I've got to say of what I read so far, it needed a bit of editing: some fat needed to be trimmed of and some inconsistencies fixed
particularly the Ishikawa arc
. I just hope the trilogy as a whole doesn't pancake.
 
D

Dynamite Ringo Matsuri

Member
SD-Ness said:
Ugh. So jealous of all you people reading it. I won't be able to get into it for another few months. Ahhhh.

I wonder when Hollywood will try to cash in on the Murakami oeuvre. I wouldn't be against it if the right director was chosen.

I know there are Japanese films of Tony Takitani and Norwegian Wood.
Click to expand...
Murakami's novels aren't really... Filmable. Also, I don't think Murakami allows his work to be adapted to film without his approval. I can't remember where I read that, but good for him. I'd hate Hollywood to fuck with his magic.
 
D

Dynamite Ringo Matsuri

Member
7aged said:
The only one that can be made into a film, Norwegian Wood (being the most conventional), already has.
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Yeah, and Tony Takitani. A lot of his short stories and works that are more grounded in reality can be adapted, but would suffer tremendously as too much would be lost in translation. These are stories about jaded and weary Japanese folk and the country they occupy, not Americans, and much of the atmosphere and internal dialogue can not be captured on film.
 
O

omgkitty

Member
Dynamite Ringo Matsuri said:
Yeah, and Tony Takitani. A lot of his short stories and works that are more grounded in reality can be adapted, but would suffer tremendously as too much would be lost in translation. These are stories about jaded and weary Japanese folk and the country they occupy, not Americans, and much of the atmosphere and internal dialogue can not be captured on film.
Click to expand...

I think After Dark could be converted straight to a film, with absolutely nothing changed. It literally reads like a film script.
 
S

survivor

Banned
This is probably going to sound silly, but the paper quality of this book is so different from the other hardcover books that I bought before. Is this a publisher thing or just special treatment for Murakami?
 
L

LProtag

Member
Got a good 120 page foray into it my first day. Didn't have much time to read today.

survivor said:
This is probably going to sound silly, but the paper quality of this book is so different from the other hardcover books that I bought before. Is this a publisher thing or just special treatment for Murakami?
Click to expand...

Hm, yeah, it's not acid-free bible quality paper, at least I don't think so, but it does seem pretty above average. I think it just has to do with the general design behind it. You can just tell that the art style and design were really concentrated on in order to make a visually appealing book.
 
tsurugi no mai

tsurugi no mai

Member
artwalknoon said:
I've always wanted to get into Murakami, where should I start?
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Kafka on the Shore. Gives you the feelings that most of his books have. If you don't like that one, you probably won't like any of the others. However, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is his best work to me. It's one of my favorite books of all time.
 
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