"It's not so easy for people to end their own lives. It's not like in the movies. There, they do it like nothing, no pain, and it's all over, they're dead. The reality is not like that. You lie in bed for ten years with the piss oozing out of you."
— 1Q84, Haruki Murakami.
Reading this book so by far has been a very weird ride.
I'm not a Murakami enthusiast by any means. This is only my second book of his, and as I'm only just getting into the heart of the story 1q84 has painted, I'm really not capable of writing up a solid review about the novel itself.
But I must say that it's quite vivid. Murakami and his world-building are detailed in their own way, with him occasionally giving out pristine descriptions about things that hardly matter and then leaving out things that do, which in return makes everything look and feel more natural.
As I'm a reader who tends to feel more than see the surroundings, the subtle hit of complicated emotions, the smell of certain things and places are highlighted in my head more than anything else. But what is coming as a surprise— and a delight— is the sense of taste I'm facing, which is something new.
The taste of black coffee, the sights of deep forest and mountains with the moss-covered ground, wrapped around in an earthy smell, the metallic taste of having a gun barrel in your mouth, mixed with fear, helplessness and acceptance; these are something I'm experiencing for the first time. And I'm enjoying it tremendously.
Murakami writes about death in a way that actually has me fascinated. It's not the usual grim atmosphere that surrounds death in his writings. Instead, I found these little snippets and scenes where he brings in death just as natural as any other scene from the novel. With simple words and flow of actions, he presents death as it should be presented, as a part of our lives. We are all born to perish in the vast oblivion that awaits us. There is no 'oh shit' moment that defines death. It comes in silently. And silently, it is shown in Murakami's writing.
For now, this is all that I have to say about 1Q84. It's a fascinating novel, and I'm sure I'll have much more to say when I'm done with the book. But for now, I'll just stay as a silent wanderer in the vast, mysterious world of the Little people, gazing up in wonder at a sky with two moons.
[A very fast paced art of two moons since I couldn't find anything worth posting from the internet. Could I have done a better job at it? Yes, of course. But meh...]