I think you're the first person I heard call it Q-teen-84 which makes a lot of sense!

Love Murakami. Haven’t read this one but added to my shopping cart. Your channel is underrated and phenomenal.

"The Matrix meets 1984, but still feels like an original story." Umm...yes please. 🤩 TBH this book has been on my TBR for several years but I just kept putting it off because it was intimidating. I'm now going to make it a priority read for 2024. So excited! 😊

Great review! I'm glad you loved this book. It's also one of my favourites. Murakami has a great talent for creating characteristically strange and mesmerising fiction. I like the way he incorporates cultural references from music and literature, such as Orwell and Proust.

"That ain't right, pass the chicken." 🤣🤣 I haven't tried Murakami yet, but Norwegian Wood is on my tbr. Great review, as always!

Great review. I've read, and enjoyed, a couple of Murakami novels (Kafka being my favourite so far), he is a great writer and the translations are fantastic. 1Q84 parts1-3 are unread on my bedside table at the moment, and your video was the spur I needed to pick up the first book. Thank you.

I’m about 10% in. I just started it, and I’m not gonna lie I’m a little uncomfortable about his depiction of women. I had major side eye on our male protagonist checking out a teenagers breast. Then going on about how he dated his students after they left the school, and only stopped because he started a relationship with a married woman. He has not endeared himself to me that’s for damn sure. Especially since he has PTSD flashbacks about his mother’s infidelity. How hypocritical can you be? But like I said I’m 10% in and I’ll continue to read in hopes that the character will grow.

that part about objectification of men LMAO apart from that, great video with great insight. i think you made the right choice focusing on a few of the aspects of the book rather than trying to summarize the entire work, it made your review unique compared to a lot of others I've seen. keep up the good work, you've earned a new subscriber :)

Just a minute into your video but wanted to thank you for pronouncing the title the way I thought it was pronounced once I started thinking about it. Didn't start thinking about it until around the end of Part 1 and didn't check the internet until the end of Part 2. I was sure it was going to be Q-Teen, but the concensus was One-Q Eighty Four. I think we are right. I just finished it last week and I was consumed by it for about a month, stressed and depressed a little bit over the welfare of Aomame and Tengo. I was kind of relieved when it was over which means it was having an effect on me, the reader. So I think overall it was an excellent piece of fiction.

Thank you for the review! Totally going to purchase this now 🤩

Glad to hear your thoughts on this one. I've had this book on my shelf for a while now, and I really need to get around to reading it. I have heard some rather poor things about it (mainly pertaining to what you addressed), so I found your commentary enlightening. My only experience so far with Murakami was Kafka on the Shore, which I did like, although I admit the sex scenes in that book were kind of...odd. Very raw and not really artful, so I can understand why a lot of people are offput. Fun fact about 1Q84 though, if I'm not mistaken, the Japanese word for 9 is "kyu", pronounced Q. So the title of the book is actually 1984. I think. XD

fav murakami book. second is kafka, third is wonderland.

I have a copy of 1Q84 waiting for me to get around to it, but I can't because I just started the Brothers K. so I don't want to dip my toes in that water just yet. Now I've watched your review and I know it's gonna have me circling 1Q84 like a shark. Terrific review, I'm digging your channel.

So I just purchased this! I was always intimidated but I just watched a couple mins and stopped the video to purchase. Thank you!!!

Glad to hear you found it well worth the read. I figured it would be, but I've also heard a lot of these negative comments about it, which usually don't deter me either but do make me wonder. I haven't read any Murakami yet though, so this probably still won't be where I start, given the length.

Love the video! I just finished it too I also loved it and agreed a lot of what you said 😂 can’t wait to post my review

You made me want to read this just because of the lack of errors! 😂 I have read most of his earlier novels but stopped after Kafka - maybe I should go for it. I can imagine you might like Hard-boiled wonderland or the Wind-up bird chronicle if you want to try more Murakami.

Well, just bumped it up on my list. There are so many mixed reviews but I think I am willing to give it a go. 😂 "That ain't right, pass the chicken"!!! You are too much! 🤣

It’s next on my tbr, I appreciate the video

You’ve convinced me to read it! Great review

New subscriber here. Love your commentary. I keep seeing the "objectifying women" reviews about his works. I'm currently reading "First Person Singular", and nothing has bothered me yet (someone was mad that he called a woman ugly/plain looking). I read tons of romance and men are totally getting objectified, so the hypocrisy is hypocrisy-ing. lmao Also, I am getting so tired of seeing the Taylor Swift references in these new books. That is cringy lol Going to order 1Q84 now 🤣

I haven’t read Murakami before, but I look forward to reading this book.

Wow this sounds so good!😃

I loved 1Q84, because of the themes and because there’s something about the way Murakami writes that just transport you in his world. I love that plot wise not a lot is happening sometimes but just the routine of the characters make them feel so real. But he is problematic when he writes about women. In this book he focuses on Tengo’s member a LOT, but in all of his other books the female characters are usually sexualised to the max. It doesn’t bother me that much cause he is a solid writer and I am still gonna enjoy his books but I do find sometimes disturbing how he talks about women and what he imagines them being like (I really hated the part where Aomame is almost going to kill herself and apparently she thinks about her best friend tits, cause that’s not really realistic honestly). Btw amazing review

Please review this with spoilers.🤣 I need to hear more discussions about it because I've read this twice, and I love it more and more in reflection. I'd also be interested in hearing your review of Kafka on the Shore. There's a lot of ambiguity in that one as well that sits with you after reading.

I haven't read a single Murakami work I did not absolutely adore.

I read part 1 and 2 and thought the book was bizarre but in good way. I did get a bit lost with the story at the end but....as soon as I started reading this book I was instantly seduced by Murakami's writing and couldn't put it down. I also loved his cast of vivid and very unique characters. Would recommend!

For me my difficulty now that I have read 3.5 Murakami books is that so far the majority of the female characters (in what I have read) have been sexually assaulted/raped or uncomfortable age gaps between his characters. I understand this unfortunately happens in our society but why is he using this over and over again in his character’s story arcs. Also I did read and really enjoy 1Q84.

I just discovered this video. I love 1Q84. I read some more Murakami and I loved every one of them. I consider him the David Lynch of literature. Lynch, too, has been accused of misogyny in his films. I just think both Murakami writes books and Lynch directs films that show strong women ground down by unjust systems.

This was my first Murskami book and I felt spellbound.

At a first moment, I liked this book, especially the volume 1… but in my opinion the volume 3 could be better… this volume was the review of volume 1 and 2… Murakami could explain more about little people, Ebisuno, the leader… Anyway.. It was just my opinion, probably I need to reed again to give another chance for this book By the way, congratulations for this channel!!

I think we should have a contest in each new video to see who can spot the "burping" parts. LOL! I'll chime in first and say it's at 10:06.

ive only read norwegian wood by murakami and I also didn't mind the portrayal of women. there was one woman character that I despised but the others weren't anything crazy. I think I didn't mind because I've met women that act the way those characters did in the book. I personally felt he portrays the men in Norwegian wood the same way.

I think you should look up mieko kawakami's interview with haruki she asks him about his portrayal of women

this was such a weird book for me. i really liked the dreamlike atmosphere and the how wild everything was--almost like an lsd trip or something. i just feel like he uses his characters as automatons (at least in this book) to explore that world, which isn't something i love in a novel. i also really didn't like the way he wrote about women. i know you said you don't mind it but a certain line sticks out in my mind and it was something like "she mourned most of all that the breasts of her friend weren't in the world anymore". i just......cmon man. i can understand objectification of women from the perspective of a man or woman to characterize them, but it was out of character for a character that didn't have much characterization to begin with. i'm about to start killing commendatore because i did enjoy his writing/the atmosphere, and i'm hoping that one of his books that seems to focus more on a single character will be stronger for me.

It doesn’t bother me either because it doesn’t read as him revelling in it, just seeing through less explored eyes

I know this is a weird thing to notice, but I wondered if the title was meant to make people think IQ84, meaning, like every highly intelligent people have days when they feel like nothing else can go in. I wonder if it's a comment on our society that even smart people are so stressed that they can't retain anything and feel like their IQ is below 100. I wonder if we'd be smarter if we used more meditative techniques. Also, a good Japanese novel I liked was A Personal Matter, if you ever have the time. It was excellent. I still have it and might reread it. This was a great review.

Nope, can’t do Murakami but I appreciate your perspective.

I love you lady

BEYONCE DOES NOT MAKE GOOD MUSIC!! SAY IT LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK Also I'm so mad this book was written in Japanese so I can't read it 😭😭😭 I refuse to read translated works on principle