Review: 1Q84

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hooter: In Japan, an Assassin and a writer are coming to terms with their shifted reality in 1984, terming it as 1Q84 as their lives are seemingly parallel lines which are bound to intersect thanks to a super secret religious commune coming into the mix.

This trilogy needs to be read in one shot as it is a continuation and can't be read stand alone. Cat town and 1Q84 comes to a conclusion with this third book. Murakami springs in a new POV with a lot of focus and to be honest, I wouldnt have minded a spin off with him being a detective because he logically does break it down and draw to the same conclusions we the readers were hinted to through out the storyline so would do a brilliant job at deducing probably not in 1Q84 but maybe in 1984 somewhere.

I missed Fuka-eri ! Her randomness was refreshing even for a Murakami book , instead we had a long drawn out waiting game Bollywood style will the hero and heroine meet or will there be a tragic ending a la Murakami style. Without getting into spoilers because the suspense adds a mild flavour to book 3 which was set up so well with books 1 and 2.

There is nothing Orwellian 1984 about it as Book 1 had hinted at nor is there much about the secret religious organization that Book 2 hinted at but gets a lot more philosophical and completely different theme. I know see how a trilogy made sense because what Murakami has served up is a 3 course meal - none of the courses alone would have whetted your appetite but together, they complete each other, though I would have liked a strong round of desserts to end a satisfying meal.

A lot of threads are closed, a lot more left open for more air chrysallis to be made I guess in this imaginary make believe world and the premise that Murakami set up had a lot more to offer than what he did. Hence I give a 3 for this edition of the book just because my expectations had been set much more higher. As Tengo defines reality - when you prick someone and there is blood, there is a lot left to understand the receiver and perceiver. The hint of sexism continues to be sprinkled all over this book too. Overall though, Murakami manages to connect you with Ponytail and Buzzcut ( them being identified by their physical appearances alone) , side characters to the main plot but get their appropriate air time too which I think has been Murakami's strength.

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