Monday, May 7, 2012

1Q84

So I've finally gotten around to reading 1Q84, Haruki Murakami's latest tome, and I've got to say: it's everything I thought it was going to be and more. Think of taking a trip to the dentist after one has ingested a handful of hallucinogens and you're on your way.

Bizarre. Right?

As a 'novel,' the whole thing is pretty straightforward -- on the face of anyway. Man meets girl, falls in love with girl (who loves him, too), world tears them apart, and somehow or another finds a way to get them back together. There are no gimmicks in plotting, narration, etc., and not one psychedelic passage stands out. Restraint is paramount. Which brings me to how excitingly weird the book is. Think of a filthy joke told dead-pan by a zen master, and you're on top of the thing. The love story, as simple as it is, takes place in the midst of two realities -- one has two moons, is laden with inch-tall Little People (these mystical beings, who may or may not control this alternate reality), and the other is the world which we know. Like a tea bag in a hot cup of water, the dream only intensifies with the passing of time, though thanks to Murakami's (and his translators') gift concise, plain language this is a dream which we feel to be our own. DO NOT miss this book if you've got the time.

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