1Q84

Ultimately, 1q84 reminded me of LOST as a whole. I had great hopes, it was beautifully described, completely enigmatic, and absolutely less complicated than it seemed. There's about a bajillion reviews since the book was so hyped. So in the interest of being short and sweet (unlike the book, jeez) I will say: the characterization was damn good, the storyline, for all it's initial weirdness, was actually pretty pedestrian? I definitely had a, “that's all?” moment toward the end there. I loved certain elements. Tengo's dad, his mistress (what happened to her, that's my great mystery). I loved the stuff about Chekov. There's a lot to like really. It could have been at least 200 pages shorter. I'm going to have to read six or so kids books as palette cleanser, but I'm glad I read it.

2nd short piece that I have read by Haruki Murakami thats available in The New Yorker. I can relate to this one better as I can someone identify with Tengo and his daddy issues. Tengo's father is never given a name, which I understand since he is a selfish and jealous man.

“Going to see his father was a depressing prospect. He had never much liked the man, and his father had no special love for him, either.” With that being stated I could understand the resentment, dislike, and anger that Tengo felt from his father. From the beginning Tengo felt out of place at home thus it trickled down to his every day life.

Tengo's father raised him alone since his mother “died” but Tengo doesn't believe that. Tengo believes that his mother left Tengo and his father and ran off. Based on Tengo's fathers attitude I could understand that, but not taking Tengo? Did the father threaten her? Make her feel as if he was the competent parent?

The final act in this short piece is what makes me give this a 4 star rating instead of 5. I don't like that the father's response was riddles, I don't understand why he could not tell his son the truth about his mother. Did he truly have no heart at all?

This piece is an excerpt from Haruki Murakami's novel 1Q84. Unfortunately its over 900 pages so I won't be reading it. I do want to know if Tengo ever finds his mother though.

Pretendo formar uma opinião mais completa quando terminar a trilogia — o que pode ou não acontecer, mais cedo ou mais tarde —, então vou ser bem sucinto sobre o primeiro livro: gostei muito. Há ressalvas, como sempre há, mas 1Q84 é uma obra que, com certeza, faz jus à popularidade. No todo, eu só fiquei querendo menos sexo e mais desenrolar da história em algumas partes,* mas esse foi um problema completamente meu.

Este foi meu segundo Murakami, e o primeiro que realmente gostei. Talvez por outros motivos que não tenham a ver com os livros em si, mas o outro que li, After Dark, não havia me convencido por completo, não tanto quanto 1Q84.

* Chegaram a me explicar que o Murakami usa sexo como uma espécie de crítica ao conservadorismo e à repressão da sociedade japonesa, mas eu ainda fico incomodado. Sei que acabo soando pudico ao reclamar disso, mas as cenas de sexo de 1Q84 foram realmente aleatórias e sem necessidade aparente, na minha opinião. Ou talvez tenha a ver com como o sexo é descrito. Não sei.