
1Q84
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Buy Now for £23.99
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Narrated by:
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Allison Hiroto
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Marc Vietor
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Mark Boyett
About this listen
The year is 1984 and the city is Tokyo.
A young woman named Aomame follows a taxi driver's enigmatic suggestion and begins to notice puzzling discrepancies in the world around her. She has entered, she realises, a parallel existence, which she calls 1Q84 - 'Q' is for 'question mark'. A world that bears a question.
Meanwhile, an aspiring writer named Tengo takes on a suspect ghostwriting project. He becomes so wrapped up with the work and its unusual author that, soon, his previously placid life begins to come unraveled.
As Aomame's and Tengo's narratives converge over the course of this single year, we learn of the profound and tangled connections that bind them ever closer: a beautiful, dyslexic teenage girl with a unique vision; a mysterious religious cult that instigated a shoot-out with the metropolitan police; a reclusive, wealthy dowager who runs a shelter for abused women; a hideously ugly private investigator; a mild-mannered yet ruthlessly efficient bodyguard; and a peculiarly insistent television-fee collector.
A love story, a mystery, a fantasy, a novel of self-discovery, a dystopia to rival George Orwell's, 1Q84 is Haruki Murakami's most ambitious undertaking yet: an instant best seller in his native Japan, and a tremendous feat of imagination from one of our most revered contemporary writers.
BONUS AUDIO: Audible interviews the translators of 1Q84, Jay Rubin and Philip Gabriel.
©2011 Haruki Murakami (P)2011 Audible LtdCritic reviews
Story sneaks up on you, so don't give up too soon
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Far too long. Read if you are stuck in a hospital bed for a few weeks.
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Firstly, it's LONG! Really long. Like a lot of audible users who listen whilst commuting, I appreciate long books and collections and in terms of value for money this book is up there in the top 10.
Secondly, the narration is amazing. You'll get a little frustrated at times with the pace of the book and this goes a long way towards explaining why it's so long.
Lastly the story, which unfolds from the perspective of 3 main characters with a different narrator for each. There are some odd moments where characters who pop up in multiple threads end up having three different "voices" and this kind of spoils the immersion a little bit.
Also, there's a whole lot of build up to what is effectively a pretty lacklustre and very abrupt ending. I honestly thought I'd missed a chapter or three when the story ended or that this was part of a trilogy.
I can't help feeling like I've spent several weeks slowly and patiently inching closer and closer to what promised to be an incredible treasure, only for it to turn out to be an empty box... An enjoyable journey to a disappointing destination.
If this is what Japanese literature is like, you can keep it I'm afraid.
Long
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In any case, I didn't enjoy it. but it does get an extra star for having excellent production values.
Occasionally beautiful, but mostly just boring
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I'd also like to point out two minor gripes I had: 1) seemingly too many sex references. I'm no prude but when they are talking about pubic hair and the such every other chapter, it just feels slightly unnecessary; 2) The authors/translators favourite word is "said". Why not exclaimed, gasped, yelled, hollered or the other 101 different words one could list??
In conclusion good, but could be better.
The authors favourite word is "said"
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Never read Haruki Murakami before but I'm hooked.
Enjoyed every minute of it
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If you could sum up 1Q84 in three words, what would they be?
Surreal, slow-paced, enjoyableWhat was one of the most memorable moments of 1Q84?
I haven't finished the book yet, I'm 4/5 of the way through, but the slow reveal of Aomame's character was particularly good.What about the narrators’s performance did you like?
The way the narrator changes between character-centric chapters works well. Unlike some who have reviewed, I thought the narrators were good, and had no complaints about their style (but this is always going to be personal taste). Give the sample a listen if you're worriedAny additional comments?
This book is immensely long, and has been entertaining me for nearly 30 hours so far. It's a slow burner, so you have to be patient, but it's been perfect for the commute to work. I've never read a Murakami novel before, and think I actually like this better on audiobook than I would have done on paper, as you can let some of the longer passages wash over you! Great, really absorbing, and has made my ride to work a lot more interesting!Lengthy, absorbing listen
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A fantastically magical epic
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Perfect story to get lost in - often paused the book to check locations online.
Another World
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I'm not a fan of split narration but here it works well. They are evocative in a way that add real substance to the characters and generates the other-worldly tenor of the book.
Reinforces the idea of Japan's other worldliness
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