4 ms·

I'm about 200 pages into 1Q84, and am not really enjoying it. Is it just not for me, or does it just take a while to get into?

washadjeffmad 2y ago
1Q84 marked Murakami's "Float On" moment, chosen I felt to allow him to cash out his career in a Western market. It wasn't especially superior, just a bit less abstract with a hint of "possible movie adaptation". If you enjoyed his other fiction, check out his nonfiction.
- somedude895 2y ago
  > cash out his career in a Western market. That's funny because one of the plots is about fixing up a book in order to win a literary prize
relaxing 2y ago
I would put that aside for now and go back to Hard Boiled Wonderland & the End of the World. That was an incredible read, and much more accessible.
mindcrime 2y ago
1Q84 is one of the ones I haven't read personally, so it's hard to say. I can just comment that all of the other Murakami works I've read really "hooked" me right from the beginning. After Dark was my first and that was pretty much a "I sat down to 'read a few pages' to see if I wanted to read the book or not, and when I looked up I was 2/3rds of the way done" experience.
FooBarBizBazz 2y ago
I liked some of Murakami's work, but I didn't really like 1Q84. I remember e.g. South of the Border, West of the Sun as being better (that's just the first title that springs to mind).
munksbeer 2y ago
I was once a huge fan of Murakami, but I did not enjoy 1Q84. At the time of first reading his novels, the reason I enjoyed them so much was how different they were to anything else I'd read. They felt like a lazy Sunday afternoon, except weird things keep happening. Sometimes those weird things feel sinister, sometimes not. You just sort of drift through the book, never quite grasping the entirety, but it is soothing enough that you don't care. However, once you've read a few, the forumula becomes more obvious and starts to lose its appeal. I started with Hard Boiled Wonderland, which I recommend, and another that I enjoyed was The Wind-up Bird Chronicle. But after that, it is probably enough.

washadjeffmad 2y ago

1Q84 marked Murakami's "Float On" moment, chosen I felt to allow him to cash out his career in a Western market. It wasn't especially superior, just a bit less abstract with a hint of "possible movie adaptation". If you enjoyed his other fiction, check out his nonfiction.

somedude895 2y ago
> cash out his career in a Western market. That's funny because one of the plots is about fixing up a book in order to win a literary prize

relaxing 2y ago

I would put that aside for now and go back to Hard Boiled Wonderland & the End of the World. That was an incredible read, and much more accessible.

mindcrime 2y ago

1Q84 is one of the ones I haven't read personally, so it's hard to say. I can just comment that all of the other Murakami works I've read really "hooked" me right from the beginning. After Dark was my first and that was pretty much a "I sat down to 'read a few pages' to see if I wanted to read the book or not, and when I looked up I was 2/3rds of the way done" experience.

FooBarBizBazz 2y ago

I liked some of Murakami's work, but I didn't really like 1Q84. I remember e.g. South of the Border, West of the Sun as being better (that's just the first title that springs to mind).

munksbeer 2y ago

I was once a huge fan of Murakami, but I did not enjoy 1Q84. At the time of first reading his novels, the reason I enjoyed them so much was how different they were to anything else I'd read. They felt like a lazy Sunday afternoon, except weird things keep happening. Sometimes those weird things feel sinister, sometimes not. You just sort of drift through the book, never quite grasping the entirety, but it is soothing enough that you don't care. However, once you've read a few, the forumula becomes more obvious and starts to lose its appeal. I started with Hard Boiled Wonderland, which I recommend, and another that I enjoyed was The Wind-up Bird Chronicle. But after that, it is probably enough.