1Q84

Slowly but surely, after a month of steady reading, I finished Haruki Murakami's  giant turtle of a novel. It's actually an amazing read--something that I've often found in a lot of long novels, oddly enough. Though the plot swells slowly with every progressive chapter, each page is rich with sensory details and intrigue that pulls me in further to the world with Tengo and Aomame, our two protagonists.

The basic plot of the novel follows the experiences of our protagonists as they enter this alternate version of 1984, and how their journey through this world (dubbed the title by Aomame) brings these two together. Both are drawn into the world unwittingly, and learn of the apparent secrets that few ever come to know: magical "Little People" that are neither good nor evil, two moons hang in the sky, and people who aren't real. It's difficult to explain the intricacies without giving too much away (admittedly, learning as you go along is a part of the fun--and let's face it, a 900+ page novel does not have much re-readability to begin with) but gradually we're drawn from the real world and into this strange magical one--but it's hardly a happy place. Tones of authoritarianism permeate the religion of the Little People, and Tengo and Aomame's most deeply held secrets are found out by complete strangers. People die horribly.

The greatest thing about 1Q84 is how the prose pulls you in so deep you end each chapter gasping for breath. Murakami presents a story so rich in detail, the long slog is more of a scenic route, as with every page we uncover an enticing bit of information about a character or how 1Q84 works as its own world. Each character conceals a fascinating history, full of "aha!" moments where the reader can make connections between the two storylines. The primary challenge of a long novel is keeping the reader interested, and Murakami has no problem with that.

But we don't learn all the answers to all the questions that arise as a result of our visit to this world. This doesn't bother me too much, however. It's fitting that we pretty much know only what Tengo and Aomame know. In fact, the novel ends with the possibility of a sequel, leaving enough unexplored material for another installment. While the point of conclusion may have been somewhat arbitrary (it wouldn't be 1Q84 forever) the novel's long enough that Murakami could have simply decided to stop there. And the ending, while it was great that Aomame and Tengo could finally be together, felt underwhelming. Fo so long we were teased that something major was going to happen--and while Tengo and Aomame finally meeting and escaping from 1Q84 was pretty major, I was expecting something a little more... bombastic? Like the ending of Janacek's "Sinfonietta," which is referenced frequently throughout the novel. Kind of like how in Revolutionary Girl Utena they keep on talking about an impending revolution, but it never happens (though the climax is quite exciting, if confusing because that anime is just one big allegory).  So it really just led to the couple meeting? That's what disappointed me the most.

A few other little things bothered me throughout the novel, though they were quite minor. Well ok, the mystical pregnancy thing put me off at first (and this is why we need a sequel--does the kid have any special powers or what?); that's pretty major. Mainly Murakami's fixation with boobs (and the female body in general) definitely annoyed me; and it was always the women who were objectified--even Aomame, a straight lady, would comment on how nice another lady's boobs were. But it didn't surprise me. There was also a lot of repetition in the beginning--not just to how small or nice a lady characer's boobs were: Tengo's "older girlfriend",  the fact that Tamaru is gay, and Ushikawa is ugly, among other details repeated ad nauseum. This stops mostly in the third part, and I suppose it's helpful to remind readers of important facts in a long story when there's a lot to keep track of, but it was a bit too much. Oh, and the phrase "from the bottom of my heart" popped up in the last three chapters at least twice as many times, appearing nowhere before then (and I HATE HATE HATE that saying! Like, it doesn't even make any sense! If you care so much why do you keep it at the bottom???) though I'll chalk it up to translation goofs, since there's no way the original text literally translates to that super-cliche saying.

But overall, it's an enthralling story. The characters are infinitely interesting, the alternate world intriguing, the love story cute and squee-worthy, the details that tie these together fascinating to find. I would suggest lovers of literature that is immersive, suspenseful, and a little bit weird to take the time to read it--and go slowly. 1Q84 is a lovely place to wander. 4 stars out of 5.

(Not) The Best American Short Stories

Thanks to Jennifer Egan and George Saunders, I picked up a copy of last year's Best American Short Stories from the library to read. I've occasionally perused through the series' previous volumes to get a sense of who got published, and where they were published. Unsurprisingly, the bulk of the selections come from the likes of The New Yorker, Tin House, and McSweeney's. Well la-di-da. I actually did try to read through an entire volume once, and I liked some of the stories, but I've forgotten all of them already. I think there was one about an old Jewish man, one with a married couple in Paris... or I could be mixing them up with some other collection. So yeah, they were good all right.

More like Best American Bedtime Stories!

So I don't know why I decided to read more than just two or three of the stories in here. I was setting myself up for disappointment. But Geraldine Brooks made them sound so good in the introduction! (though I guess that's the point). Most of them were well-written, and from an objective point of view I could appreciate them, but for the most part I found them either annoying or boring. I was this close to not even finishing the way-too-long "Bridge Under Water," which did sort of pay off at the end--but even that was a shallow satisfaction.  Many of the stories smacked of the artful literary pretension that pervades this sort of fiction, which I've already discussed before. What is the magic here that I'm not really seeing?

Granted, I did like some of them: namely, the ones that toyed with reality. "Phantoms," "The Sleep," and "ID" were my unequivocal favorites. I also didn't have that much negative thoughts on "Peter Torelli, Falling Apart:" that story was moving and engaging in all the right ways, and was at least a little bit different from the literary mainstream. There were only two Holocaust-related stories included this year: "Free Fruit for Young Widows" presented an interesting moral question regarding a man's murderous tendencies bred by captivity in concentration camps; the other story, "The Hare's Mask," was about rabbits or something (guess which one I liked more?). Jennifer Egan's story "Out of Body" presented NY teens in a realistic light, though I'm not sure if the "you" narrative was really the ticket; and this, like a lot of the other stories, gets big-picture at the end (and maybe someone dies?). You can't really get more cliche with a short story (or any story) than having somebody die. George Saunders' piece, "Escape from Spiderhead," starts off too silly and ends too sentimental; I liked "The Call of Blood," but didn't get it until I read the contributor blurb; I also liked "To the Measures Fall," but it's pretty pretentiously meta. "The Dungeon Master" and "Soldier of Fortune" reek of the melodrama of Oscar-winning films, even if the funny moments are redeemable. The rest were worthy of bedtime--they'll put you to sleep in minutes! I don't even want to waste my time going over them; the thought makes me want to nap.

Still, I think it was worth reading these stories; as always when reading as a writer, I've got to keep in mind what kind of stories I want to write--and if this hipster bullshit is not what I want to write, I got to know what it looks like so that I can stay the hell away from it... and if I catch myself writing like this, stop before I shoot myself.

Overall, then, I actually enjoyed slightly less than half of the stories, many of which are pretty memorable--a far cry from the other Best American collection I read. I might even read more stuff by the select authors that I actually liked. Other than that, I'm going to continue sniffing out anything that seems new and different--a nigh impossibility in this age, but it's out there! for example, I'm intrigued by this Flame Alphabet book...