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1Q84

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1Q84

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 realises, 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 Ltd
Literary Fiction Fiction Mind-Bending Young Adult

Critic Reviews

"It is a work of maddening brilliance and gripping originality, deceptively casual in style...vibrating with wit, intellect and ambition." ( The Times)
"Eerie, suspenseful and packed full of gorgeous ordinary details and provocative extraordinary events...funny, fresh and intensely surreal. Unmissable." ( Marie Claire)

What listeners say about 1Q84

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

An Interesting Experience

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

not sure? I would recommend it if they were looking for something really different to read.

Would you ever listen to anything by the authors again?

maybe? I think it depends on if im in the right mood to listen to that sot

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

The narrators really gave the book a sense of reflection and tranquility. They really brought the book the 'Japan' feel. I don't know how else to explain it.

Do you think 1Q84 needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

YES!!! SO many unanswered questions!!!

Any additional comments?

I wouldn't call it a bad book - I wouldn't say I didn't like it... lets just say - it was an experience, definitely an acquired taste... but worth a try - its unusual

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

The voices used were irritating. A kind of odd whispered emotionless delivery. The story would I think have made a single book of around 300 pages. The story was very stretched out and by comparison to his other novels less inventive and less puzzling. What I could not determine was whether the performances directly affected my views on the story.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting story, very long but worth it

I did this this story was very long and in some points repetitive but overall I really enjoyed it. The narration was excellent and very entertaining and the story is really intricate and woven together tightly, much like murakami's other novels such as Kafka on the Shore and The Wind up Bird.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

loved it

I loved this story. was disappointed when it finished. Will highly recommend it. thank you

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

Long strange but intriguing

Murakami at his most detailed and strangest. It seemed to go on a bit too much but it was still enjoyable. I found it very well narrated .

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Struggled to finish. Unnecessarily Long.

Too repetitive. The story was interesting but I kept thinking 'I get it already' . His short stories are better. The male narrator was good, the female no so much. I felt that this was a kids story trying to be adult literature. a bit pretentious ..would be a fantastic anime.

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7 people found this helpful

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

Long ride - but worth it.

If you could sum up 1Q84 in three words, what would they be?

Long surreal romance.

What did you like best about this story?

Multiple viewpoints of different characters converging.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

The meeting of Tengo and Aumame.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Beware the town of cats.

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1 person found this helpful

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

Weird but wonderful

This is a long listen, and half an hour in, I wanted to quit. But I'm glad I kept with it. It was my first Murakami novel and I became immersed in the world. There is a lot more sex discussion in it than I expected, by the way. Ending was a little bit weak. But it was a great ride.

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

so long, but worth the time

thoroughly enjoyed the journey but the end felt anticlimactic and like there were some loose ends left unresolved. the narration was very slow so i listened on 1.2 speed. it was a bit repetetive like the other reviews say but it didn't bother me to much because it didn't happen to often. i just wish they wouldn't say "in any case" so often. now that I've pointed it out you won't be able to stop hearing it.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Loved it.

This book and author have been a complete revelation for me.
I loved the unique story and the world it was set in.
The production was spot on.
Can't wait to read more from this author.

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