Mirkat Always Reading

It took me a while to get going with this book, only because I knew that once I committed to it, I'd need to start lugging it around (and it's quite a chunky book). Once I resigned myself to that, I started to carry the book in its very own little backpack. Once I was about a quarter of the way in, I knew that I had to keep reading and reading until I found out how the plot resolves itself, while at the same time realizing that once I'd finished the book, I would miss it and its characters.

What if a small, albeit unusual action that you took somehow caused you to slip into an altered reality? You begin to notice that certain details have changed suddenly, but others seem to believe these changes happened years ago. After a while, bigger things appear to have changed as well. This is what happens to Aomame, a fitness instructor and sometimes assassin. Her small act is to climb down an emergency-access ladder when her taxi is stuck in highway traffic.

Meanwhile, Tengo, a part-time math teacher and aspiring novelist, allows an editor friend to talk him into being the ghost (re)writer of Air Chrysalis, a strange, fantastical manuscript that a 17-year-old girl who calls herself Fuka-Eri has submitted for a literary magazine's prestigious prize. Tengo, too, finds himself facing unintended consequences stemming from this act.

Before long, I realized that the two narrative threads would intersect, and part of the suspense was to discover how exactly that would unfold. The novel takes place in 1984, though Aomame renames her new reality (in her own head) as 1Q84 (Q = "question"). Although the novel makes references to the iconic Orwell novel, this ain't your George's 1984. This novel is complex, magical, a little bit metaphysical, and beautiful. Resign yoursel to lugging around a big book and strap yourself in for a glorious ride.