Author: Haruki Murakami.
1Q84 is a character-driven epic magic-realism fairytale.
As such, it's hard for a cynical person like myself to get emotionally invested in it. The main reason is that I couldn't relate to the main characters.
Basically it's a story about a man and a woman who loved each other since elementary school and since then, they are looking for each other.
This plot anchor felt to me very naïve. It's the type of heteronormative fairytales our culture pushes to the mainstream in order to promote a certain hetero-capitalist lifestyle.
The magical aspect of the book is interesting and i wished Murakami had developed it more. But as it stands, it's very flat and an obvious metaphor about love and procreation.
The male character (Tengo) is a boring character-less bro who has no quirks or unique personality attributes (besides his cauliflower ear).
The female character (Aomame) is much more full of character and unique attributes, maybe even too much.
I didn't really cared about them during the entire book.
My favorite are the side characters like Fuka-Eri, Ushikawa, Tengo's father (and his ghost) and Tamaru.
I also got the feeling Murakami is more interested in those side characters (because they are much more fun to read)
Anyway, if you believe in destiny, and true unconditional love from first sight, you might enjoy this book trilogy.
I didn't.
Verdict: 1 / 5 ★ - Not for me.
