story of my life

i survive, if only because i know that waiting for me in my bedroom at home is murakami’s latest novel, 1Q84.  ever since i first heard that this was to be the title of the book, i have been dying to get my hands on it and read it.  1984 is one of the greatest books i have ever read, and i love that underlying theme.  no, that was not a typo.  for those of you who do not understand, i will explain.  it is wordplay at its finest!

the japanese have many different systems of counting things.  there is no simple solitary “one, two, three, etc.”  instead, they have two main counting systems (the native japanese counting system, and the one derived from chinese), and subsequent counters for other things, such as people, round things, etc.  it is the chinese derived system we look at now.  ichi, ni, san, shi/yon, go, roku, shichi/nana, hachi, ku/kyuu, juu.  that would be 1-10.  pay careful attention to nine: ku/kyuu.  Q, pronounced kyuu —> 1Q84 —> 1984.  clever, right?  im sure now you can see why i have been dying for this book to come out!

today, i read this article about that that murakami posted: http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/12/04/how-to-read-haruki-murakami.html

and its kind of true.  when i read murakami and i try to think about what hes getting at, it just perplexes me because i honestly cannot figure out the deeper meaning (if one even exists).  but when i read my to date favorite novel (the hard-boiled wonderland and the end of the world), i read it without really looking for deeper meanings, instead i just got really engrossed in the story (which is amazing, btw.  if youll allow my digression: the odd chapters tell one story, and the even another, and at first youre like wtf is going on but then slowly they start intersecting and it makes so much sense and by then you cant put the book down until you know everything!!!  i think ill reread this over break for kicks), and i enjoyed it so much more.

murakami is brilliant.  there is no doubt about that.  his other works are much shorter than this book is, so im definitely excited to see how he fares with such a significantly longer tome.  the guy in the article enjoyed it, so im certain it will be good.

anyway, go out and buy the book yourself!  lets talk about it!!!