Book - Kafka on the Shore, 1Q84 (Book 1-2 & 3)
By Haruki Murakami
I am observing a trend here. Last to last year, I finished the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov, three books in total. Last year, it was Ursula K. LeGuin's Earthsea - 5 books in total. And this year, it has been Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore and now 1Q84. While the first two can be seen as a series, Murakami's works are different. Yet, my pattern is this - if I am liking an author, I would like to read more.
Kafka On the Shore - 4/5
I loved it. Kafka On the Shore is a part journey story mixed with magical realism and a great protagonist written in a way that you have to like him - Nakata. The other story, Kafka, on the other hand, is a sleek, stylish, sexually charged story which is a treat to visualize. Murakami's easy flowing language creates a world that is at one end believable, even though some very strange things keep on happening but also at the other end extremely magical which makes it very strange from reality
It is a world where cats can talk, creatures fall from the sky and there is a stone that opens the door to another world. The signature style of Murakami is to go in depth of music symphonies, artist histories, cooking recipes are all there. But it is baked in a world where time does not move as fast as in the world that we live in. Is it because the setting is in Japan? By moving a significant portion of story inside a library, which gets very few visitors, the novel itself feels like a calming experience to read.
This book must be read while sitting at the window seat of a train and watching the world go by. Things happen but they do not at the same time. Friendships are formed, meaning of life is figured out, people find purpose, love is gained and lost, again. All while a teenager is also finding his foot in this world.
1Q84(1&2) - 3.5/5, book 3 - 2.5/5
Why did I pick this one by Murakami next? Its description mentioned "dystopian". It said his magnum opus. This seemed like a logical choice.
Truth be told, I liked book 1&2. It had the same language flow, characters which are detached from the treadmill life, magical realism, detailed background on musical pieces and very likeable characters who are very self aware.
But, the dystopia was very limited. The leap from 1984 to 1Q84 seems very absurd here. It does not fit. Lets say, if I find that something exists in world that I was not aware of, or that I had expected otherwise, I am not going to assume that I am living in a parallel timeline world and rename it. Bizarre. When I read it, it felt that it is fitting a circle in a square. While, there were real things that he could have chosen to create this parallel timeline - say two moons for example. Yep, there are two moons in this parallel timeline world.
It becomes visible only to the active participants of this world. There are lots of pulp fiction elements here - cult organizations, one religious, one organic, another one which is militia-organic, there is mafia. Normal people doing fraud but with right intentions and an absurdist magical creatures called Little people in the middle.
Murakami does well by not dwelling into Little Creatures. They continue to maintain a mystic nature about their existence. In the middle of all of it, there is a love story going on in which protagonists only know about that it is a love story in last 50 pages of this book. Love story where the couple does not even meet. Book 2 ends at a cliffhanger.
Book 3 is just a drag. The third story line of Ushikawa in book 3 does not add much value. You could remove that and may be add 100+ pages to book 1&2 and be done with it. It closes few ends but does a very long winded way to go about it.
