May Book Club: 1Q84 Discuss!

[LooseyMama]

I came to the club late and didn't want to announce myself as I didn't really feel like discussing anything. Plus, I've got the book on CDs, so I kinda feel like a cheater, anyway.

I've been listening along, mostly listening while I'm doing household stuff or driving, and often before bed. I've gotten most of the way through CD 11 (out of 38-yikes!), and feeling like I was getting into the groove of it ... and then (spoiler alert) when the Little People came out of the little girl's mouth while everyone was sleeping.... ... that was too spooky/thiller-ish for me, so I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to continue.
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"Struggle is obsolete." -- my friend Barbara

[Kendaljay]

Oh yeah, Loosey, that was way creepy. It definitely takes a turn for the weird(er) after that.

I just started book 3 on Friday at work. I'm excited where it's going I think. I mostly just want to finish it lol...I feel like I'm taking a reaaaaally long time but then I remember it's 900+ pages and actually 3 books so I don't feel so bad!


And now I'm off to start the June thread for Bossypants! :)
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ps- you're my favourite. We should be friends.--e

[sibee]

I have about 150 pages left and I'm trying to figure out the significance of page numbers being inverted on either the right or the left side of the page. It doesn't seem to correlate with the 1984/1Q84 worlds, however. I like that if you go though the pages like a flipbook, the page numbers move up and down the page - like the moon(s)?

There are a couple 1Q84-inspired playlists on Spotify that are a nice accompaniment to reading. (Though, the commercials can be distracting. Having a McDonald's commercial blare in the middle of the Sinfonetta is pretty jarring.)
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Wenn's dir nicht gefällt, mach neu.

[SlipperyShade]

I'm only 20% done, eek! When I finish I'll be sure to jump back into the thread, it's just been hard to find time to read what with moving countries and all. Bleeeh.
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You can't be giving up sandwiches in the name of style.

[LooseyMama]

Despite my previous declaration of thinking I was done, I've been listening to more CDs because I really want to know what happens next, and they haven't repeated that really creepy aspect again.

I just can't listen at bedtime anymore, and even still, I think this is creeping into my dreams. Oy. Like I need to add stress to my life through a freaking NOVEL! *shakes head*
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"Struggle is obsolete." -- my friend Barbara

[sibee]

I finished the book last night and soooo want to discuss it!

I agree, the ending was a bit of a let down. I mean, why spend so much time on Aomame hiding out from the Sakigake and and all that about Ushikawa tracking her and Tango down, only to have them never actually meet? I wanted a big confrontation!

So if Aomame and Tengo's child is supposed to be the one who listens (the Receiver), were the Little People at the end making an air chrysalis to create it's Perceiver? Or would it matter now that Tengo and Aomame are back in 1984 (or are they???)?

I felt really bad for Ushikawa, especially when he died. I'm glad that Tamaru did too. I like Tamaru.
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Wenn's dir nicht gefällt, mach neu.

[Kendaljay]

I'm about 80 pages from finishing it and why won't people just let me sit here and read??! Arg. Lol...okay, I'll probably finish it on my lunch and break later but still.
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ps- you're my favourite. We should be friends.--e

[Kendaljay]

I finished it Friday afternoon! :) I really, really enjoyed it, gave it 4 out of 5 stars, and am going to loan it to my dad this weekend because I think he'll like it a lot too. I definitely want to read more of his books. I'm not going to put my thoughts in white, since it is after the month, so please consider anything/anyone's post after this a spoiler if you haven't finished it yet! That way, we can get into a good discussion, without messing with the white font and such.

Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler


Okay, to start with...Sibee, that's what I was kind of thinking about the page numbers as well. I had noticed that they were going backwards right away, but I didn't even notice they were moving up and down until probably the 3rd book! Lol...

And I agree, the ending was a disappointment to me. There was so much detail about trivial things (food, music, facial features, exercises) and he just ends it so abruptly. I liked that they escaped and all (more on that in a minute) but I wanted that confrontation with the Sakigake too! I don't think they came back to 1984, so in a way it feels like Murakami was leaving it open in case he wanted to write a 4th book? Has anyone read anything about that, one way or another?

I felt so bad for Ushikawa too. That last scene was really hard to read, maybe more so because I liked Tamaru a lot too.

The romance between Tengo & Aomame was for me, the best part. I know it isn't technically a romantic book and I've read a lot of reviews that hated it. But, to me, it's the reason this story was written, and the story within the story and within that even. I'm glad they got together in the end. I don't care if things were horrible before and might be horrible after, at least in that small moment they were together. These 2 quotes made me tear up, they describe me so perfectly:
I'm a coward when it comes to matters of the heart. That is my fatal flaw.
What I want is for the two of us to meet somewhere by chance one day, like, passing on the street, or getting on the same bus.

Questions I still have:

-What happened to Eri?? I'm assuming she was the Dohta? Did she get absorbed back into the Air Chrysalis?
-How did the cabdriver in the beginning know about 1Q84?
-How much did Tengo's story he was writing play into the bigger story?
-Was there something sinister going on with Tengo's dad & the 3 nurses? It seemed like it at the time, they kept taking him away for tests?
-The Little People?? Who/What/Why/How?? Yeah, all that. Oh and creepy McCreepyton.

Other quotes I liked:

Most people don't know the value of a good novel, but they don't want to be left out, so they'll buy it and read it...I feel like we got sucked right in with that one lol...

I'm a very ordinary human being; I just happen to like reading books.

Tengo could hardly believe it-- that in this frantic, labyrinth-like world, two people's hearts-- a boy's and a girl's-- could be connected, unchanged, even though they hadn't seen each other for twenty years.

And also this person's review of the book on G00dreads.

Wow, I had a lot to say. ;)
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ps- you're my favourite. We should be friends.--e

[aliwa]

[Kendaljay]

It did feel finished in a sense, but I guess I just wanted more lol.

Maybe the doctor parts were just one of those things he liked to write about a lot, like the food and music.

Has anyone else finished it and want to discuss? I took it to my dad this past weekend, he was pretty shocked by how big it was lol.
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ps- you're my favourite. We should be friends.--e

[LooseyMama]

I had really mixed feelings about the ending, too. On one hand, I was soooooo tired of reading the book, but felt like I couldn't stop when I was so near the end ... but on the other, like has been said, it seemed like it wrapped up too easily. For such a complicated book, it's like Murakami was a kid in class doing an essay exam: he looked at the clock, realized he only had a few minutes before time was up, and so he scrambled to wrap things up!

Then again, the whole book kind of made me feel uneasy. That review on Goodreads...yes, aspects of the book (thinking about time travel/alternate universes/whether I should pay more attention to the moon in the sky) have really leaked into my real life.

I actually don't have too much trouble believing the idea that many "realities" exist simultaneously, and that time is an abstract idea that we know a lot less about than we think we know.

I'm glad you guys set up this Book Club, because I never would have finished the book (even in audio form!) without knowing there would be folks to discuss it with at the end.

I'm hoping there *won't* be a sequel. I can't really imagine a satisfying way for him to write about these two people who've been in love with an image from their past for twenty years, who finally find each other AND who immediately become parents ... not to mention having bad guys chase them, shifts in time and reality ... Oy. I mean, obviously, in real life, this relationship is frigging DOOMED. Reading about that would suck, and yet reading a romantic, lalala-all-is-blissful version would suck, too, IMO.


Then again, maybe this is my post-insomniac, ineffectively-overcaffeinated alter-ego speaking, and I should shut up now! :)
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"Struggle is obsolete." -- my friend Barbara