1Q84 - Haruki Murakami

Yes, I did it! I finally finished this monster book.
It has been such a long time since I've last read such a big book, probably over two years and I wonder why it has taken me so long to do so. I noticed that I quite enjoy reading books with at least 600 pages as it allows me to really dive into the story.

But now about the content.
I have to admit that I bought this book without knowing what's awaiting me and I didn't know for a long time even reading it.
People kept asking me what it was about and I had to keep answering that I didn't know which caused a lot of confusion by the way ('How can you buy a book without even knowing what it's about?').

Anynway, 1Q84 is narrated by two protagonists, Aomame and Tengo who live in Japan. They went to primary school together but then lost track of each other.
In 1984, when the story takes place, they both are 29 years old and spend their days mostly on their own but their lives are somehow interconnected.
All of a sudden the world doesn't seem to be the same anymore and they find them themselves in the middle of something surreal, something very dangerous.
They both fight for themselves to survive in this new, different world but for some reason they can't forget about each other. Although they haven't met since they have been ten years old.

The first chapters this book seemed to tell a totally normal story and it felt like reality.
But then all of a sudden Haruki Murakami throws surreal occurences at you and when I was about 200 pages in I just sat there with my mouth open.
I don't want to say anything about what happens because everyone should have the chance to be as amazed as I was.

Despite the book being so big it didn't feel like a long time reading it because mostly it was fast-paced and exciting so I just had to keep reading. I haven't read this much of a book in one day for a very long time.
The plot just absolutely absorbed me and especially the ending was totally satisfying.

I have to say that there isn't much left that can surprise me in a book but 1Q84 did it all the time.

Haruki Murakami's writing style is really fascinating and I will most definitely read more of his books in the future.
Maybe I will even reread this one because I can imagine that it adds a lot to the book if I already know what I have to expect. I probably have missed al lot of hints at the beginning because I was just confused and didn't grasp the meaning of sentences that would make sense to me now.

I absolutely recommend reading books by Haruki Murakami, although perhaps it would be easier to start with a shorter book.

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