1Q84

Now, this book isn't actually on the list but I thought I would talk about it anyway. Not least because my next read is Bleak House, and I suspect it may take some time. However, this is THE LAST DICKENS I WILL HAVE TO READ. Excuse the capitals, but I am excited. Bleak House may, in fact, be the last Dickens I ever read - I have improved on my previous record of struggling to finish anything but Oliver Twist, but have not been converted.

Anyway, I digress. 1Q84 is the new work from Haruki Murakami, a cult Japanese author and one of my all time favourites (I should thank my brother for introducing me to A Wild Sheep Chase, still my favourite, and giving me many happy hours of reading). Murakami writes in Japanese but works with two very good/sensitive translators and his novels are a joy to read. This one is broken into 3 volumes, volumes 1&2 published together, and 3 published slightly later - a week apart in the UK, but I think slightly longer in Japan.

I pre-ordered this on Amazon - one of the great joys of reading on a Kindle is that, as long as you leave the wireless connection switched on, a pre-ordered book is delivered automatically overnight, direct to the Kindle, allowing you to wake up in the morning and dive straight in. Or, wake up in the morning, see it's there, and spend all day desperately wanting to read it while you care for the baby...same difference!

The reviews of 1Q84 talked about this as having reference to Orwell's 1984 but I didn't really pick these up, other than the fact that it was set in 1984. Murakami is on his usual fine surreal form, exploring the story of Aomame, Tengo and Fuka-Eri who, through their contact with the world of the Air Chrysalis, find themselves in an alternate reality, which Aomame labels 1Q84 - Q standing for question. As ever with Murakami, there are recurring themes through the book - the preparation of food, ears, a lonely but attractive young man with an older married girlfriend, an unexpected role for sex in the drive of the narrative...

It's very difficult to describe this - if you haven't read any Murakami before, read Wild Sheep Chase or the Wind-up Bird Chronicle first, to get an idea of his style. Or Norwegian Wood or Sputnik Sweetheart which are still surreal but slightly easier to relate to. However, I would thoroughly recommend this as a very readable, intricate work. I couldn't put it down, and I'm sure I will go back to it more than once to appreciate the full intellectual achievement that it represents!

Next - Bleak House. < sigh >.