Japan Navigator

Follow the posts by Daniel Morales (How to Japonese) about Murakami’s latest novel Q184 which will hit the shelves coming Friday: here and here – plus the upcoming ones in which he will write about his reading experience.

I am very curious, too, what the new novel will be like. It is apparently something very big, published in two volumes. I hope Murakami has stopped experimenting with form, which led to the mechanical and boring structure with alternate chapters about two different protagonists in Kafka on the Shore, or the telling from the perspective of a TV camera in After Dark. I hope he connects again with what made his earlier work so wonderful: the ordinariness of daily life shot through with sudden mystery. I may start reading 1Q84 this weekend, English and other translations will probably still take many years. But for the first comments you have to check out the liveblog on How to Japonese coming Friday.

Postscript May 29: The novel has been an instant hit in Japan:

Like many of his previous works, “1Q84″ is a complex and surreal narrative. It shifts back and forth between tales of two characters, a man and a woman, who are searching for each other. Through their thoughts and experiences, which include murder and historical references, the book explores social and emotional issues such as cult religion, violence, family ties and love.