1Q84

1Q84 is the most recent novel by the acclaimed by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. The novel's main characters are Anomame and Tengo. Anomame is a physical trainer. She moonlights as an assassin. Tengo is a math instructor and inspiring novelist who is involved in a complex literary fraud. At first, there is no apparent connection between the two, but their stories eventually intersect dramatically.

The novel is set in a 1984 that is slightly "off" and events become increasingly unusual as the story progresses. Anomame calls the year 1Q84 to distinguish it from the "real" 1984 once it occurs to her that things are not quite as they should be. (For instance, in 1Q84 there are two moons.) Only Anomame and Tengo seem to notice that anything is amiss.

1Q84 is over 900 pages long, so it is a bit of a commitment -- though worth it in my opinion. The plot is complex, the characters are very well developed and engaging, and Murakami writes with a fluid and entertaining style. I found it hard to stop reading once I began.

This is the first of his books that I have read, but I know it will not be the last.

-Paul