Book Review | 1Q84

My May read for #yearofmurakami was 1Q84. Here are my thoughts :]
The first half of the video is spoiler-free!
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[@naoseidenada4502]

Tengo should rewrite the 3rd book!!

[@evaggeliatseliou9329]

YEEEEESSS🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@vaporreads5095]

Great review. I agree that the third volume's pace was very slow, but I really enjoyed the Ushikawa chapters, for me he added some tension that the two body guards couldnt deliver, although I was getting tired of how many times he mentioned how ugly he thought he was, and the way his arc is closed is underwhelming. The ending was also underwhelming, but from what I gather from his books is that he likes unconventional ends and twists. What did you think about Tamaru and the dowager? they were some of my favorite characters.

[@bookishsabrina]

VaporReads I liked Tamaru a lot. He was a really cool side character, and I liked the assassination scheme that Aomame had going on with the dowager. It could have felt much more contrived, but with all of the backstory we were given, it felt really unique. I'm glad that Aomame and Tengo got together in the end. I think it would have been even more dissatisfying if they had remained star-crossed (or in this case, moon-crossed I guess?) Murakami's books never have quite the fireworks that I feel he's building to, but something sizzled in this ending for me. That's okay though, they can't all be my favorite.

[@marialeontina9637]

I really liked 1Q84, I gave it 5 stars. The pacing is much slower in the third book, I noticed that too, but it didn't really bother me, and I liked that the Ushikawa chapters were keeping a little tension, it kept the answer of wether Aomame would be caught or not, and for me this was more interesting than just having Aomame and Tengo talk about their days. I found it interesting how Ushikawa got so close to Aomame and how he figured out the conection between her and Tengo, as he knew nothing much about the two. As for the ending, I liked it, that they got out of 1Q84 and were safe, at least that's what I understood from it. I would have liked to know a little bit more about the little people, but that didn't bother me too much. I had this feeling that if I knew more, the magic of it would just dissapear. This was my 5th Murakami novel, and it is currently my second favorite, after Wind up bird chronicle. After dark was the first book by him I read and it was what made want to read more by him, but I think I wouldn't have liked it as much if it wasn't my first encounter of Murakami. Can't wait to read more by Murakami :)

[@bookishsabrina]

Maria Leontina There was just something about the Ushikawa chapters that didn't work for me. He didn't seem like that much of a threat, and I didn't really feel any tension from his presence at all. More than anything I found them irritating and very slow, and it didn't really help break up the snail's pace of Tengo and Aomame's plotlines either. I can see what he was trying to do, it just wasn't my cup of tea. After Dark was my third Murakami novel, and it didn't really sit with me very well. I found the magical realism to be a bit sloppy and incomplete. I read it right after reading Wind Up Bird Chronicle, so it felt like a major disappointment in comparison. I didn't hate it though :]

[@RichardCorral]

+Maria Leontina I felt the same way. The 3rd book gave another perspective, and a continuation of the first 2 books would be unnecessary.

[@richardminhla]

I agree with you Maria. Though some parts were a little longer than some in book 3, it set the space for me. Yes some parts could be seen as redundant (perspective), but i think with his vibrant endless imagination, he could've easily taken it far but decidedly not to (at least what I believe). You really start to feel as if you're metaphorically stuck, like Aomame & Tengo was, with the tension pulling you in with each Ushikawa chapter following suit. The pace of book three was slow indeed but maybe that was the distance emulating the feeling between Aomame & Tengo. The realism aspect. Life, ordinary, mundane thoughts and emotions

[@gencoss]

Just finished the book. I am hooked on janacek's sinfonietta now

[@gurpchirp]

murakami and douglas murray got me into mahler. i am obsessed now.

[@rahabosornotorroella3755]

I just began this book. It amazed me that he knows si much about what was happening in the Word. I tried to read it 5 years ago and found it too overwhelming. I am enjoing it a lot know

[@michaelaguirre8155]

spoilers the baby is a dohta and when a dohta is born two moons will appear so in the end are they really safe???? (when a dohta is born the little people will have an entrance to 1984)

[@renegade2592]

You know I thought there was a force going against the little people (given the theme of balance) and it was the one that was bringing Tengo and Aomame along. But no real mention was made in the end so dunno

[@juandiegorosero5585]

OMG yes you are right

[@rahabosornotorroella3755]

Yes

[@swamzymukbangclub]

I totally agree with you. The third book was extremely slow and the plot lines were repetitive and the whole ushikawa tangent amounted to almost nothing ! And so many unanswered questions. Although the book is well written but it was just extremely lose ended...

[@DragAmiot]

I haven't read any other murakami novels. That said, there were so many loose ends left at the end of the novel that it felt incredibly anti-climactic and mostly half assed. The author was building this parallel world that was supposed to be all «logical» and was supposed to gradually «make sense» to the people living in it (Tengo and Aomame) and yet almost nothing is tied up in the end. We don't know where Tengo's girlfriend went at all, we don't know who killed ayumi, we don't really know why tengo's father was knocking on doors, we don't know where Fukaeri went, we don't know if Fukaeri was a mother or daughter as alluded in the conversation between tengo and komatsu as an important mystery. Most of all, we don't know what the purpose of the little people are. We don't know how they fit in the sect and why the leader had to have sex with underage girls because of it - the only thing that's solved is that Fukaeri was a portal to Aomame's womb for one stormy night. We also don't know if Aomame's baby is going to have magical sect powers or something but I could live with that was some sort of cliffhanger «Is it all really over?» sort of thing. It just seems like Murakami had to meet a deadline so he just decided: damn it, I'm going to make them meet now and get out of 1Q84 and make them have hot steamy sex in a hotel as a subsitute for a climax. It just feels lazy and uninspired.

[@CharlesHess]

I read it in 1Q days!

[@MassimoRamaioli]

Thanks for your review. I finished 1Q84 last night and I agree with your take. Besides, not only the Little People, but also the NHK fee collector is left unanswered to me (was he Tengo's father? how and why? what was he doing anyway? was he Sakigake?); the mystery of Tengo's mom and his Freudian dream about her, with which Tengo's character is actually introduced; what about Professor Ebisuno, or Fuka-Eri? Was she just a dotha, as it was suggested a few times? And as someone else has pointed out, what about Aomame's child? Last, if Sakigake was such a powerful and relentless organization, all they could field to pursue Tengo and Aomame was Ushikawa? And what happens at the end when Buzzcot and Ponytail leave in pursuit of Aomame? Do you have any answers on these? And yet, it was so well written, the plot so promising and the characters so cool that I enjoyed it so much. But I was expenting the whole thing to climax on the third part and it was, indeed so anticlimatic.

[@bookishsabrina]

Massimo Ramaioli Hm, with so many threads left hanging, I'm a bit at a loss. That's just how it goes with Murakami novels sometimes, where certain plot points never get resolved and things that you expect to come together never do. In some cases, I think the ambiguity works, but in this case, I feel a bit disappointed. I really enjoyed this book overall, but I don't think you can pick it it too closely or you'll realize how little was really resolved, and that's really frustrating. I do not have any answers for you, and my best advice, as difficult and unsatisfying as it may seem, is to just shrug it off and take it for what it is. But it is difficult to call this Murakami's masterwork when there are so many annoying threads left loose, when in other stories of his it has not been as glaring, nor has it bothered me as much.

[@Tonman50]

So I’m torn on Ushikawa honestly. When I started Part 3, I disliked him and felt that his chapters dragged, yet by reaching the last 200 pages or so, it was interesting to see Ushikawa’s interpretations of the areas that the other characters (specifically Tengo and Fuka-Eri) lived in or around. SPOILERS BELOW: I also grew to pity Ushikawa from his POV chapters. He’s very clearly a pawn to be used by everyone around him. He’s a man who no one, not even his children, care about, and while being suffocated by Tamuro, his last thoughts are of his old life and the dog he owned with his former family. Often throughout the third book, Ushikawa is characterized as a wolf or a ravenous dog on a hunt, yet ultimately his last thoughts are essentially a realization that he and his former dog were not too dissimilar, both of them domesticated by the forces around them. The novel’s ending was underwhelming, there’s some payoff, but deep down you know it should’ve been 200 pages shorter. Personally I thought the scenes in the sanatorium where he’s reading to his dad who’s in a coma, and then decides to smoke fucking hash with some young nurse who works at the sanatorium, could’ve been cut without losing much at all. The scenes of Aomame doing nothing in the apartment could’ve been cut. The end of Part 2 wasn’t very good, BUT, I can still recommend this book because from around pages 1-700, you’re fucking in there. Even some of the writing with the narratives clashing with each other in the third book towards the end, is also fucking superb. Highlight for me though was definitely the chapters with Aomame interacting with the leader, and the meta-narrative mix-ups that Murakami introduces in this one. Also, I’m about 30-40% sure that the Little People don’t exist and that they’re actually elites in the Sakigake who are responsible for raping Fuka-Eri as a child, but then it just doesn’t make sense with how they spliced apart the dog, or how a few of them climbed out of dead Ushikawa’s moss-green mouth towards the end of the novel. Just my thoughts on the book, I would love to hear some other interpretations.

[@sixtofive]

Since he mentions Jung specifically later, I couldn't help wondering if Tengo staying overnight with the younger nurse who is implied to be the reincarnation of his mother without having sex with her is a repudiation of the Freudian trope that everyone wants to hook up with their mother. Regardless, the third book definitely slowed down in pacing. All things considered, I still enjoyed it.

[@rahabosornotorroella3755]

The book sets quesitons and makes me wander a lot. Maybe ir is on purpouse. He is a Psychologist. After a year or two I figure Ushikawa Will become the Main character in My memory. Kind of freaky

[@snowfort77]

wind up bird chronicles ftw!!!!

[@BirdUpFR]

1Q84 was my gateway into eastern literature, and omfg is this book close to my heart. I might honestly rack this as my favourite book i have ever read, it's so densely packed, i just love it so much

[@osnapitzwill]

I might be entirely wrong but I think I have an explanation for the 'flatness' of the 3rd installment. My English teacher vaguely touched on the fact that the first two books were written completely out of choice but then a third one was commissioned or hurried by publishers, so where Murakami would have liked to place an ending with perhaps more weight, another book was written. A book that The author was reluctant to write, so by some people, the third in the Trilogy is seen as a form of protest. Again, I'm not sure any of this is true but yeah, thats what I was told :)

[@bookishsabrina]

Interesting! I've also heard that some parts of the book were removed for the translation. Can you imagine it being any longer? I can't even fathom what was left out. But I have heard that a lot of his books are somewhat abridged in the translation process to be more appealing to his western audience. I can't verify if that's true or not, having not read the original, but that's what I've heard.

[@osnapitzwill]

+unmanagedmischief Woah! That's really interesting too. Hopefully someday I'll be at a high enough level of Japanese to read the originals and see for myself :) thanks for your reply by the way!

[@bookishsabrina]

Of course! I wish my Japanese proficiency was high enough, too! My language learning has really fallen off since I graduated college. Japanese is such a beautiful language. 頑張ってね！

[@andrewsokulski8922]

Thank you for taking time in your explanation of your opinion ~

[@mohamedinv1]

i am watching this exactly before beginning of the third book , LooooooL

[@RichardCorral]

I like this book more then Kafa on the shore. For me Kafa was trying too hard to be interesting but didn't work for me. 1q84 I way more low key, 1q84s more out there moments felt more natural. The repetitiveness seems to be from the fact the were released separately with time between the releases, I guess he felt he needed recaps. I guess my defense of the book is to say that it isn't trying to build to something grand, so I get your disappointment. For me the book was more of a long meditation on many different themes, such as cults, loneliness, the creative process, nature of reality, etc. There are so many more amazing observations an insights here. I think it is cuz Murakami is older and wiser. here is a quote that kills me from the book, “He sat for a long time at the bottom of that void, leaning against the wall, smoking tasteless cigarettes. - When that girl left, she left behind this void. No, maybe not. Maybe she just showed me something that was already there, inside me.”

[@abelgarrido2871]

I got to page 900-ish and threw it across the room. I found it so damn frustrating.

[@TheBookBully]

I am deep into your back canon - I am planning on reading this next year and I am prepared to feel the same way about it. But Im surprised you don't like After Dark because I loved it!! What was it you didn't like it about it?

[@bookishsabrina]

Haha if I'm perfectly honest, I have no idea what I didn't like about it. I don't have very strong recollections of many of Murakami's books, just the ones that were my all-time favorites like The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and Kafka on the Shore. But I recently came to a realization for myself that maybe my Murakami era is finally done? I thought about re-reading Norwegian Wood and I just felt like it was maybe something that is better left in my reading past as something I look fondly on. I hope you get on with 1Q84 at least a bit, but I legitimately do not remember what I said in this video lol. It's been too long!

[@mayaanwar8848]

I finished 1Q84 2 days ago, I agree with everything you said, except one thing, somehow, I got attached to Ushikawa and was sad that he died that way, but yes, the third book can be easily reduced to the half and the story won’t be missing anything, too much repetition between chapters, and also repeating information we read in previous books, open ends such as the little people, the pregnancy, Tengo and Aomame catching up, I wanted to see his reaction when he knows that she killed Fuka-Eri’s father, and talking about Fuka-Eri, what the hell happened to her, and to Ebisuno’s plan, the Sakigake, so many things, anyway, I loved it, thank you for your video (4 years after you published it 😊)

[@GorgonDrageil]

I personally think Ushikawa's 3rd book (and trilogy in general) was to leave more and more up for interpretation. In avoiding detail, he progressively left the "meaning" further in ambiguity as if pulling us into a blurred, dreamy, self-reflective context. I feel like the bland, dreary flatness of the 3rd book was a deliberate statement on the futility of expectations, and even the trope of "the story arc" concept itself.

[@AH-rh9eb]

It might be because I devoured it so quickly, and that it was my first Murakami book so I wasn't used to his style of writing, but I adored every minute of it. I loved the Ushikawa character and I loved the ending. I still think about it often.

[@bookishsabrina]

I still think about it, too. This certainly isn't one of my least favorite Murakami novels. I just happen to have enjoyed several of his other works more. I do think it is quite remarkable as a whole work though, even if the Ushikawa stuff didn't really work for me. I'm glad you enjoyed it, and I hope you read some of his other stuff :)

[@rearrda]

What about the guy knocking on doors pretending to be an NHK collector?

[@juandiegorosero5585]

rearrda that was Tengo's father (a part of him since he was on a coma) Kumi Adachi said he knocked the wood structure of his bed and then Tengo said that it was him

[@yefratvolozhayev4908]

I can only finish this book because of this mystery NHK collector, I hoped in the end of this story i will know the answer😂

[@renegade2592]

The revelation about Tengo’s past didn’t make sense to me. I mean they set up the mystery but it was revealed in like an offhand comment in an Ushikawa chapter. And no actual resolution was made

[@erikaraeable]

Very interesting that Q kind of = 9. I didn't know that when I read this and if there were textual references I definitely missed them. Also, I read this about 2 years ago, but I do remember it slowing down a bit in the end and dragging somewhat. And I do wish there had been more with the little people, instead of it being hurriedly wrapped up. This was my first Murakami, and I knew very, very little about him or the book going into it, so it was so fascinating to me, and different than anything I had ever read. I can see how if I revisited it now after having read other works of his it might not hold up the same, but it holds a special place for me in terms of my lifetime reading experience.

[@bookishsabrina]

erikaraeable I totally get that. I see this is a major accomplishment in my reading career, that's for sure! I can image this book being extra weird if you had no idea what to expect. Although I guess no matter how familiar you are with Murakami and his works, they're all so different that they are all a bit unexpected. Also, people tend to keep a special place in their heart for their first Murakami read, so that also makes sense. 1Q84 really felt like an epic journey, and I don't think that all of his books pull it off as successfully. I just feel like some of the threads were left hanging in the end, whereas in some of his other works I feel more satisfied. I guess it is a bit hard to explain in words, but it didn't get me in the feels in quite the same way.

[@mozacchi]

something must been happened to Murakami when he wrote the 3rd book, like something pressuring him, the dateline for one

[@MartaMarras]

in my country Aomame has been translated with beans, the round green ones!

[@Azawindam]

So I've just finished reading 1Q84, and the first thing i thought when you mentioned ushikawa was that he's pretty much like Smeagol. I couldnt feel anything for him other than pity, and it disturbs me why he has to meet that kind of fate.. But anyways, the moment I got into volume 3, for the first time, I learned to skim over the unnecessary details because I had to.

[@vacheliiyer5723]

Completely agree with your review. Although it is my most favourite Murakami. I've only read a couple of others. But the characters really appealed to me.

[@runeverydamnday2285]

1Q84 was amazing. Could not put it down. Read it leas than 2 weeks. My friend who gave the book to me read it in three days!! I’m inJapan now and cannot look at the moon the same. Great review here! I subscribed to your channel.

[@girlwiththemagicpen]

When I first read 1Q84, somewhere around 2011, the library I borrowed from didn't have the first and second volumes available so I decided to go ahead and read the third volume first. I enjoyed it so much. To me, it was so much better than the 1st and 2nd volumes, both of which I ended up not liking as much as the third one. But they were all good. It's interesting to see so many different opinions on which of the volumes were better :)

[@wolborg105]

Paper Wings Same! I stormed through the third book so easily. The first and second were so slow

[@SuperFriendofyours]

Also, Fuka Erie has very little role in the third part. I thought the Sakhigakke was using their Fuka Erie (DOTA) to create a new receiver i.e. the baby. I expected the climax to have the MATA of Fuka Erie, Ebi Suno, Tengo, Aomame, Komatsu, and the Dowager team up and act against the plans of Sakhigakke.

[@PedroGamuzza]

Ushikawa as comedic effect????? excuse me?

[@shewouldstay]

This is the edition that I have. I was thinking of making this my first Murakami read. Too ambitious?

[@booksforalltime5083]

Another great review. I also recently read 1Q84 (my fourth Murakami), and pretty much 100% agree with your analysis. Ushikawa's narrative was nearly completely unnecessary and prevented me from giving this otherwise great novel 5 stars.

[@imapenguin84]

If you read this in a month my hat goes off to you. Took me the better part of a year

[@finnjeffrey572]

Took me two weeks

[@freshapplenews5076]

ty for nice review :)

[@TheWolfDogMoon]

Loved the book

[@nightreader1264]

I just finished up the book. I bought it at a garage sale for 2.50. I bought the white book that had the three books in it. I am really going to check out this author for sure. I like your 3 books.

[@TAMCPF]

Dance dance dance and colourless Tsukuru Tazaki are my favourites

[@rahabosornotorroella3755]

Why did Ishikawa fell in love with fukaedi? And in which world was the first murdered man? All intriguing. He knows so much about sicology

[@billkeon880]

Funny, though I loved the unnerving atmosphere of the first 2/3 of the book, but it took me months and months to get through because it was slow. And then the end of the novel went quickly. I admit I read this section along with the audiobook. Murakami often leaves things unresolved in other novels like this one. There is a link in the themes of religion, cults, little people, Tengo caving in to the fraud of ghostwriting, alternate reality of two moon, and the two lovers trying to reunite.

[@joeomalley2835]

Thanks for the review. (Sorry only 8 years too late). I have read 4 other Murakami novels and loved them all (Kafka on the Shore, Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, The Wind Up Bird Chronicle, and After Dark). That being said, this is completely my least favorite and think it suffers from too much superfluous nonsense despite having moments of insight and intellectual brilliance. And I don't really care too much for two lead characters either. I enjoyed your thoughts and commentary though and that is impressive that you read all of those Murakami books in such a short time.

[@AdirondackRuby]

I wish more lengthy books were split up in such a manner. It is much easier to read a smaller book and also much less intimidating. 1Q84 sounds interesting. I may give it a shot, depending on how I feel after Colorless Tsukuru.

[@bookishsabrina]

RubyLovesRocket I anticipate 1Q84 and Colorless Tsukuru being like apples and oranges. It is really hard to judge any of his books against each other, and I don't think that Colorless Tsukuru really has much going on in terms of magical realism, whereas 1Q84 has a ton. I certainly wouldn't recommend 1Q84 as your first Murakami. If you don't like Colorless Tsukuru I would recommend something like Sputnik Sweetheart.

[@AdirondackRuby]

unmanagedmischief I shall add that one to my list. :)

[@renatalopes8690]

I agree with EVERYTHING you said. It would have been much better if the book were 500 pages long.

[@kahwaoupodcastdz]

Same!! I thought it was 400 pages too long. The repetitions at the end killed me. I loved the beginning. There's always such a strong atmosphere in Murakami's books. I forgive him but won't read it ever again.

[@HollyDunnDesign]

Spoilers ahoy! I know what you mean about part 3. It's interesting because initially he didn't plan to write a third part, but after finishing the first two he felt like he had more to say. Knowing that going into it I was worried that the third part was going to be really superfluous, so I was actually pleasantly surprised by it. I guess I was expecting the third part to veer away from Aomame and Tengo, but instead we just got the extra bits. I guess Ushikawa's part added tension to the plot, but I agree that it went into way too much detail and stuff that we already knew. The ending was better than I thought it would be though. I was expecting it to finish unresolved (I honestly thought that Aomame and Tengo would never meet), but it had a nice closure to it, apart from the lack of explanation about the Little People, but I didn't have my hopes set too high on that front. What I really appreciated in this novel was the female presence and the fact that we get to hear directly from Aomame's point of view. We're not seeing her through the eyes of others (at least for most of the book) as we do in Sputnik Sweetheart. I also really enjoyed reading her relationships with the other women in the book. It seemed that the women in this novel were really diverse and interesting rather than almost celestial mysteries (something that really gets on my nerves when it comes to Murakami). For once there are as many interesting female characters as there are male ones, if not more. The main thing that I didn't like in Aomame's plot line was the mystical pregnancy trope. That's something that annoys me whenever I see it, but I'll admit that it was reasonably well handled.

[@bookishsabrina]

Library at the Edge of the World I didn't know that about the third part. I would have never guessed that it wasn't planned out, and that does change my perspective on it a bit. I too am very glad that we get some sense of resolution, because oftentimes it is much more ambiguous. For once, it is nice to walk away knowing, or at least believing, that Tengo and Aomame are going to have a happy ending. I definitely appreciated the female presence, and that should not be taken for granted. I think that generally Murakami handles female characters well, and that while they often feel tropey, the same can be said for his male characters, so I don't think it is intentional or that Murakami can't write women. It is nice to know that he can write women from their own perspectives, and I wish that we had seen even more of Aomame's friendship with the female police officer because it is a perspective in Murakami's universe that we almost never get to witness. I hope that he writes more women-focused stories in the future because it was refreshing to see Aomame as more centerstage and less of a sidekick or a plot device. That being said, some of my favorite Murakami characters have been the women in the stories, even if they aren't necessarily getting their own voices. Sputnik Sweetheart has been the most problematic in that regard. I still don't quite understand why it needed to be a woman's story framed in a male narrative. Unique? Sure, but totally unnecessary.

[@HollyDunnDesign]

Absolutely. That ending was a real relief! Usually I'm not too bothered about endings being happy, but in this case I really wanted it to happen. And yes, while Murakami's male characters are also often tropey, they usually have much greater agency than the women, who are pushed to the periphery. I hope that he continues along the same lines as 1Q84 too :) Maybe a spin-off featuring Ayumi and Aomame in the world of 1984!

[@lalalalala235]

Very nice review despite the fact that i dont agree with multiple points. Hopefully this doesnt offend you, but i would be very intrested in your reevaluement now that that you are a bit older. Have a nice day!

[@wolborg105]

I can't help but completely disagree. The third volume was incredibly refreshing and the Ushikawa chapters were brilliant in bringing an alien perspective into what Murakami had established in the first two volumes, allowing us to feel just how strange things had gotten to anyone that wasn't the main characters. It felt much more brief than the first two volumes because the pacing and build up were much better. The structure of time in it was great as well

[@juandiegorosero5585]

I share your opinion

[@GrothendiecksWish]

10k pages in kanji

[@rahabosornotorroella3755]

The book 3 lacks something. You are right about that. I did like the book though. It seemed to me that a lot happens without explanation. Did Tango hace sex with his mother? Was she murdered? The characters are selfconscious and strong. Why are the. all like that? In real life people are not like that. Maybe that is common in all Murakami s books.

[@LetsReadSFF]

Crud, I am unable to watch the spoilery portion of the video. I must resist. Now...to overcome my fear of reading this book.

[@bookishsabrina]

Let's Read You can do it! I know that you are really busy, but it is a really flowy, easy read. The size is intimidating, so I totally understand. I only read it because I obligated myself to do so with the project haha. It had been on my shelf for almost a year.

[@frankfeldman6657]

I revere Murakami, and consider him the greatest living writer of fiction. That said, it’s lazy, dirty pool for any author to dick his readers around for four hundred pages-four hundred pages in which, basically, NOTHING HAPPENS. To subject them to endless, pointless descriptions of various foods, articles of clothing, misc. aphorisms that read as if they’re philosophical, but which, upon rereading, reveal themselves as truisms and clichés. It makes one angry at the both the characters themselves and the author, for narcissistically spinning their wheels for SO FREAKING LONG. Get on with it, for chrissakes. Another description of a meal??? Really???!!! I was expecting one hell of a payoff, after having been asked to endure close to 400 pages of basically NOTHING, but was seriously, SERIOUSLY underwhelmed. No passion, no revelations, just a boring' ass "happy ending".

[@ryugarai2668]

1 Q 8 4 (Ichi Kyu Hachi Yon) 1 9 8 4

[@CharlesHess]

Should have been titled 1q84

[@charlottehollingsworth9125]

I feel like SUUUUUCH a douche but, I did a two part review on this book and I think we have so many many things in common about how we feel about it and also I am very impress by your whole... deal. Anyways. Likes and likes, don't watch my video unless you want to feel SO GOOD about yours. ANYWAYS YEAH MURAKAMI YAH.

[@evaggeliatseliou9329]

I never believed the connection between Tengo and Aomame. It was all so anticlimactic and boring to be honest. I did love the first book, was freaked out by the second one and BORED in the third so yeah.... pretty disappointed 😥

[@kelvinacemg5039]

I agreee. The 3rd book was my least favorite among the trilogy

[@rahabosornotorroella3755]

I read it three times. I do not know but the 3rth book was somehow frightening. The loneliness and self awareness of Ushikawa reminded me of My father