At my interest in both grew, it got to the point where I was dreaming about how awesome it would be to read Murakami’s novels in their original Japanese form. I had originally selected his first novel without much relation to him being a Japanese author, and at that time I was only just beginning to get into Japanese language. Many of the other books just seemed like uninteresting or uncreative cookie-cutter stories, whereas there was something fresh and unique about his works. I used to visit book stores quite frequently and as many people tend to do, I’d read the marketing blurb on the back of various books, looking for something which caught my interest. I really enjoyed it, and ended up reading several of his other works after that. During that time, I happened to stumble on Murakami’s novel “Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World”. I consider myself a avid reader, and have read many books over the course of my life, especially during my high school years.

Before I dive into the review of Haruki Murakami’s first of three books of “1Q84”, I’d like to talk a little about my experience with this author to give you some background on where I’m coming from.

1q84 book review