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1Q84

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1Q84

Written by: Haruki Murakami, Jay Rubin - translator, Philip Gabriel - translator
Narrated by: Allison Hiroto, Marc Vietor, Mark Boyett
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About this listen

The year is 1984 and the city is Tokyo.

A young woman named Aomame follows a taxi driver's enigmatic suggestion and begins to notice puzzling discrepancies in the world around her. She has entered, she realizes, a parallel existence, which she calls 1Q84 - "Q" is for "question mark". A world that bears a question.

Meanwhile, an aspiring writer named Tengo takes on a suspect ghostwriting project. He becomes so wrapped up with the work and its unusual author that, soon, his previously placid life begins to come unraveled.

As Aomame's and Tengo's narratives converge over the course of this single year, we learn of the profound and tangled connections that bind them ever closer: a beautiful, dyslexic teenage girl with a unique vision; a mysterious religious cult that instigated a shoot-out with the metropolitan police; a reclusive, wealthy dowager who runs a shelter for abused women; a hideously ugly private investigator; a mild-mannered yet ruthlessly efficient bodyguard; and a peculiarly insistent television-fee collector.

A love story, a mystery, a fantasy, a novel of self-discovery, a dystopia to rival George Orwell's, 1Q84 is Haruki Murakami's most ambitious undertaking yet: an instant best seller in his native Japan, and a tremendous feat of imagination from one of our most revered contemporary writers.

BONUS AUDIO: Audible interviews the translators of 1Q84, Jay Rubin and Philip Gabriel.

©2011 Haruki Murakami (P)2011 Audible, Inc.
Dystopian Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Science Fiction Young Adult Mind-Bending
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What the critics say

"Murakami is like a magician who explains what he's doing as he performs the trick and still makes you believe he has supernatural powers.... But while anyone can tell a story that resembles a dream, it's the rare artist, like this one, who can make us feel that we are dreaming it ourselves." ( The New York Times Book Review)
“Profound . . . A multilayered narrative of loyalty and loss . . . A fully articulated vision of a not-quite-nightmare world . . . A big sprawling novel [that] achieves what is perhaps the primary function of literature: to reimagine, to reframe, the world . . . At the center of [ 1Q84’s] reality . . . is the question of love, of how we find it and how we hold it, and the small fragile connections that sustain us, even (or especially) despite the odds . . . This is a major development in Murakami’s writing . . . A vision, and an act of the imagination.” (David L. Ulin, Los Angeles Times)
1Q84 is one of those books that disappear in your hands, pulling you into its mysteries with such speed and skill that you don’t even notice as the hours tick by and the mountain of pages quietly shrinks . . . I finished 1Q84 one fall evening, and when I set it down, baffled and in awe, I couldn’t help looking out the window to see if just the usual moon hung there or if a second orb had somehow joined it. It turned out that this magical novel did not actually alter reality. Even so, its enigmatic glow makes the world seem a little strange long after you turn the last page. Grade: A.” (Rob Brunner, Entertainment Weekly)

What listeners say about 1Q84

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Lovely story

Simply amazing, I throughly enjoyed every moment.
I hope to listen to more works by Murakami

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

One of the best books I’ve ever read (listened to)

I can’t remember how IQ84 ended up in my wish list…. I don’t think it was the description. Perhaps I found the cover compelling… and I was definitely lured in by the audio clip sample (I wanted to know what happened next!). This was a very long listen, and I was transported not only to Japan, but to the year IQ84 in the time of two moons. It was unlike any other book I’ve read. There is a great interview with the two translators at the end, and I realize perhaps it was the high quality translation of a book written in another language that so mesmerized me. This has created a new interest in translated works. An absolutely lovely book, highly recommended!

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1 person found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Intriguing story,rather long, unsatisfying ending.

It is a story of two people connected across time and dimensions. I don't want to give too much away but that much is obvious from the chapter titles. The characters are engaging and the narration is quite good. This is actually three books that make up one story. Although after listening to it I could not see any of the books standing alone. There is some interesting mysticism hinted at but not fully explored, which actually makes it more interesting. Nobody really knows who or what the little people are, what they can or can't do or even what their agenda is.

I enjoyed the whole story but the end felt rushed and a bit unsatisfying. I guess it both allows the listener to draw their own conclusions as well as leaves room for a follow on story but I guess I would have prefered a more concrete ending.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

My new gold standard for audio book performance.

I had read some other reviews prior to listening the 1Q84 and all I can say is, grossly under-rated! Outstanding story with best in class narration all around. I loved this audio book!

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6 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic book - 3 books!!!

I have had the physical book for a long time, meaning to read it. I got the audible and it was heaven to listen to. This is a very unique story. It would be interesting if they ever do a mini series on this book. Maybe they have in Japan. This author has a great imagination and the characters are very fully developed. It is a long book but one which is well worth the time. The narration is well done - clear and interesting.
Thank you for a great book.

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    5 out of 5 stars

a glimpse of another world

accepting without understanding is sometimes necessary, it creates this powerful form of trust and will - the author created this incredibly different yet similar world for me to wonder in, and I've learnt this with an incredible tour in his world. I've been reading this book everyday in the transportation in between locations, and time passed by like an instant.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Sometimes adventures are a waiting game

This one's a long, strange haul. It's a good example of a book much different when read from the page, because of the intonation of the narrators, but I'm glad it exists; I'd never make it through the books on my own.
I like the main characters, and several of the sides, and was invested in their futures.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

great book, well worth the credit.

Murakami's work is stellar as usual. A captivating work of fiction. It's philosophically stimulating, and utterly absorbing

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

No saggy middle.

An entertaining story that holds the attention throughout. Sometimes the characters, though well developed, make extraordinary assumptions that too conveniently advance the plot and are hard to believe.

Great performances of voices that do not tire the ear, even after so many hours.

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Great listen, entertaining.

First Murikami I've listened to, slow in the start but was awesome after I got into it. Looking forward to the next novels.

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