moving.under.skies

“Such outsized love stories as which Murakami embarks on in 1Q84 must be treated with extreme diligence, as they present sizable problems vis a vis believability, melodrama, and sentimentality. Murakami founders upon all three. It may sound ironic that a writer who indulges in the surreal as casually as Murakami would butt up against the problem of believability, but in attempting to piece together this gigantic love story Murakami relies far too often on chance and coincidence. This is more of a question of ungainliness than suspension-of-disbelief—one simply loses patience with a book that introduces so many eye-roll-inducing devices that serve no other purpose than to prolong the suspense so that Murakami may spin his plot for another hundred pages.” 

At last, the excellent take-down of 1Q84 that I’ve been yearning for. Comes neatly packaged with an overview of Murakami’s career and an explanation of why the despised behemoth is a crushing disappointment within that context. Scott Esposito, I give you my personal thanks for articulating my feelings.