Murakami’s fans snap up “secret” new novel
By Marjorie Kehe | 05.28.09
They don’t know what it’s about but they insist that they don’t care. All Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami’s fans need to know is that he is the author of the mysterious new book named “1Q84.”
Murakami is one of the best known Japanese writers in the world. (And he is considered by some to be one of the world’s best living novelists.) The mystery surrounding his new book, to be released in Japan tomorrow, has been deliberate.
When Murakami’s earlier work “Kafka on the Shore” was released, fans complained that their response to it was dulled by too much advance press coverage. So this time around absolutely everything about the book – except the author’s name and the title – has been kept secret.
And secrecy, it would seem, has only fueled book sales. “It is amazing. People are craving his latest novel,” Takashi Machii, spokesman for the book’s publisher, Shinchosha, told the Associated Press. Shinchosha has increased the book’s first printing to 480,000 copies from 380,000 after orders “flooded in.”
According to one theory, the book’s title is a reference to George Orwell’s “1984,” because the number nine in Japanese is pronounced like the English letter Q. Others speculate, however, that the title is an homage to the novella “The True Story of Ah Q” by Chinese novelist Lu Xun.
The AP says “1Q84″ is “a complex and surreal narrative” that “shifts back and forth between tales of two characters, a man and a woman, who are searching for each other” and includes exploration of “social and emotional issues such as cult religion, violence, family ties and love.”
It is not known when an English-language version of the book will be released.
Comments
3. John | 05.30.09
It’s funny because m rissa would rather pre-judge.
The CSM is one of the finest newspapers out there, and aside from it’s name is quite secular.
4. Lynn | 05.30.09
I’m really sorry about the commenter above me. I know your publication to be widely reputable and one of the foremost sources of educated debate and opinion. I too am largely agnostic, but then, I’m also moderately well-informed so of course I’ve heard of and respect The Christian Science Monitor. Regardless…
Thank you for the article! This is the first I’ve heard of Murakami’s new novel. Really enjoyed his “Wind-Up Bird Chronicle” but I might have to wait for some more spoilers to leak out about the plot before I settle down and read this one.
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1. m rissa | 05.30.09
The Christian science monitor. Never heard of it. I suppose anything I write will be read and reread by your filters. Can’t let anyone stir up the mindless flock of the christ cult. This is really for the lone sheep reading it. Not the masses. Free yourself from this prescribed nonsense. Think for yourself. It’s all just one big lie.