1Q84 | Haruki Murakami – Book 2

I ended up having a little mini-break between book 1 and book 2 of 1Q84. I wasn’t going to but my mental images of the Little People were starting to creep me out and I felt it would be healthier to put some distance between them and me!

Book 2 has definitely taken a more sci-fi turn, though, with the sinister meter turned up several more notches. Aomame and Tengo are drawing closer together as their understanding of 1Q84’s world increases. It took me a little while to get back into the rhythm of the story, but it eventually got to the point where I couldn’t put it down.

I no longer need a break between the 2 voices as both Tengo & Aomame feel so familiar now that I can easily pick up where we left off at the last chapter. Maybe it also has something to do with how the two stories are slowly coming closer and closer together. (Some people might say too slowly, but I’m enjoying the anticipation, the suspense and the missed opportunities so far.)

I’ve loved the Orwellian references in book 2 as well as The Great Gatsby quote (esp since Gatsby was the book I read between book 1 and book 2!)

Their world is like the one that George Orwell depicted in his novel. I’m sure you realize that there are plenty of people who are looking for exactly that kind of brain death. It makes life a lot easier. You don’t have to think about difficult things, just shut up and do what your superiors tell you to do. You never have to starve.

Murakami’s ability to make his 1Q84 world so real is incredible. I’m not usually very visual when I read (for me it’s about character & mood), but I have so many vivid images in my head for the Little People and the 2 moons that they’re invading my dreams.

The image of the Little People emerging from the dead goats mouth & the exploding dog will haunt me for the rest of my life! Book 3 will now have to wait for me to finish my Classics Club spin challenge (see below). But since I’ve heard that book 3 feels different to the other two due to the change in translator, a little time delay will probably be good.

You’re still young and healthy. Maybe that’s why you don’t understand what I am saying. Let me give you an example. Once you pass a certain age, life becomes nothing more than a process of continual loss. Things that are important to your life begin to slip out of your grasp, one after another, like a comb losing teeth. And the only things that come to take their place are worthless imitations. Your physical strength, your hopes, your dreams, your ideals, your convictions, all meaning, or, then again, the people you love: one by one, they fade away. Some announce their departure before they leave, while others just disappear all of a sudden without warning one day. And once you lose them you can never get them back. Your search for replacements never goes well. It’s all very painful—as painful as actually being cut with a knife. You will be turning thirty soon, Mr. Kawana, which means that, from now on, you will gradually enter that twilight portion of life—you will be getting older. You are probably beginning to grasp that painful sense that you are losing something, are you not?

Note to self: next time I read this book, read it either during the same months of each book, or match the seasons (Book One: April – June (spring), Book Two: July – September (summer), Book Three: October – December (autumn)

• My 2012 edition was published by Vintage Books and translated by Jay Rubin and Philip Gabriel.
• Original title 2009: いちきゅうはちよん [Ichi-Kyū-Hachi-Yon]