THE UNNECESSARY PART II | 1Q84

1Q84 (1Q84 #1-3)
by Haruki Murakami
Vintage International | January 22, 2013
Status: Part 1+2 complete

      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 realizes, 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.

I love Murakami's writing style, but the plot and pacing were very slow. If you read my review of the first part, you learn that Murakami has this intricate, really descriptive and beautiful writing style. It's great, but I started getting tired of it because it's so intricate and overly detailed. The second part wasn't as magical, and metaphorical as the first part. Reading this book became a lack luster and boring. It's a lot bumpier and not as dream-like. The flow starts to diminish. I started getting caught up on questionable word choice and road bumps instead of the story.

I found the first part of 1Q84 to be the exposition and rising action of the whole story. We meet the characters and a glimpse of the conflict. The first part didn't have a solid conclusion for me. Because it didn't really end, I expected part 2 to continue where part 1 left (continue rising and climax). But, part 2 was another exposition and rising action. It also doesn't have a good conclusion. The conflict became more prominent, but it was generally boring. Part 2 is long and unnecessary. It copies/drags out part 1. The book can easily be split in two, but it's split in three. If you added the revelations in part 2 and scrapped something from part 1, it would make a lot more sense and it'll probably be better.

When Aomame read Air Chrysalis, the whole story started to click and make sense. It took almost two books for everything to make sense... It explains the plot and history indirectly and it's the subplot! It's ridiculous that the sub-plot reveals more than the main plot. The narrative also starts to suck.

In conclusion, part 2 suffers from serious SBS - Second Book Syndrome. The plot repeats, but it's not enjoyable this time around. The writing loses appeal. It becomes washed down and old. You start getting aggravated by the purple prose.

On another note, I'm not looking forward to the new point of view because I thought this character talks in circles and he's really shady.