Friday Book Beginnings & The Friday 56 | #23

Friday Book Beginnings is hosted by Rose City Reader and the Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice.

So Friday Book Beginnings you choose the book you are currently reading or the one that is closest to you and share the first few sentences. For the Friday 56 you simply turn to page 56 or 56% on your e-reader and share a sentence or two that you enjoy. Then just add maybe a synopsis about the book in case others are interested. That’s it!

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1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
Published on: April 16th, 2010

Goodreads | Amazon | BookDepository | Indigo

Synopsis (from Goodreads): 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.

Beginning: Chapter 1 Aomame – Don’t Let Appearances Fool You

The taxi’s radio was tuned to a classical FM broadcast. Janacek’s Sinfoietta – probably not the ideal music to hear in a taxi caught in traffic.

Page 56: “You’re a teacher and a writer,” Fuka-Eri said. She seemed to be asking Tengo a question. Apparently, asking questions without question marks was another characteristic of her speech.

“For now,” Tengo said.

“You don’t look like either.”

“Maybe not,” he said. He thought of smiling but couldn’t quite manage it. “I’m a certified instructor and I do teach courses at cram school, but I am not exactly a teacher. I write fiction, but I have never been published, so I’m not a writer yet, either.”

“You’re nothing.”

Tengo nodded. “Exactly. For the moment, I’m nothing.”

Thoughts: These two snippets are not the greatest in showing how great this book is. I’m only about 10%-15% through this massive book but I can assure you that this book is becoming one of my favourites. It’s a love story, a mystery and there is fantasy. There is also a dystopian aspect that gets compared to George Orwell’s 1984. A novel in which I loved when I read it. I can’t wait to finish this one.