Tengo is a 30
year-old-man who is a math prodigy and teaches at a cram school for students
preparing for college. He is a “gentle
giant” figure and liked, loved, and respected by everyone he meets. He pines for a woman he loved and lost. He also works for a literary magazine. While examining manuscripts submitted for an
important literary prize for new authors, he comes across a wonderful story
titled Air Chrysalis. The manuscript purported to be written by a
17 year-old high school girl, Fuka-Eri, but it is full of errors and omissions,
and it lacks clarity and organization.
Something about the story enchants Tengo, and he takes it to his
editor. Together, they decide to
re-write the story to make it a prize winner.
Tengo is reluctant. He recognizes
the plan amounts to fraud. He agrees to
meet the peculiar young lady and her guardian.
They okay the plan, but Tengo says he will adhere to the voice of
Fuka-Eri. He rewrites the story, it wins
the prize, and quickly becomes a best seller.
Aomame is a 30
year-old woman who has a black belt in Karate, and works as a fitness coach and
a physical therapist. She lives alone,
and dreams about a man she loved who is no longer in her life. Aomame lost her best friend when she
committed suicide as a result of a seriously dangerous husband who constantly
physically abused her. Aomame takes
matters into her own hands and kills the husband. She escapes cleanly, and, because of her
skills in physical therapy, the death appeared to result from a heart
attack. Aomame partners with a woman who
lost a daughter to spouse abuse, and she runs a home for abused women and
children. When one of the husbands shows
up and attempts to cause trouble, Aomame takes care of him. Aomame carries out her last murder of a
powerful figure, and she is in hiding awaiting plastic surgery and escape to a
place far away.
In Part 3, a private
investigator – a most unpleasant man by all and every measure – is hired by the
dead man’s family to find Aomame. They
know who she is, but she has completely disappeared. Ushigawa begins alternating chapters with
Tengo and Aomame.
When Tengo was ten,
he was teased by students, and had no friends.
Aomame was peculiar, and she also had no friends. One day, Tengo was crying, and Aomame held
his hand tightly for a few minutes.
Neither spoke a word. She left
the classroom, and he never saw her again.
20 years later, he begins searching for her. Aomame has not forgotten Tengo either, but she
is in hiding and cannot risk leaving the safe house to look for him. The lives of these three people are closely
intertwined in ways none of them fully comprehend.
Murakami has an
amazing style. His attention to detail can
sometimes put off a reader, but the devil is in the details, as they say, and I
have a clear and full picture of these characters and their habits. He also uses frequent references to music and
literature. My recent review of In Praise of Shadows by Tanizaki stemmed
from this novel. I have two other
intriguing books on my shelf, which I hope will enlighten me as much as Shadows did.
Murakami’s 1Q84 is long, but it as an amazing
story. I was never bored, never had a
moment of hesitation in turning to the next page. I have admired this author for a long time,
and any serious reader who enjoys a complicated story and the patience to make
it all the way thorough the novel will agree.
5 stars
--Chiron, 8/7/14
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