#mozart i get he's mozart but rossini girl what are you doing !!!!!

[dolokhoded]

what i really love about figaro being a barber is that it serves absolutely no purpose to the plot. it's such a random ass useless part of the story and it has no reason to be written in. literally none. and on top of it all it's a Big Thing too the entire opera is called the BARBER of seville he has an entire cavatina talking about what an absolutely spectacular barber he is and that's how he's introduced to us. it's not going to contribute to the plot in any way. but you have to know.

[infinitelytheheartexpands]

Il viaggio a Reims (Liceu, 2003): Reactions, Part I

Alright y’all, time to dive in to what may be (please don’t kill me) my favorite Rossini opera. 

I love every Rossini opera I’ve seen but it’s either this, Ory (and a large part of that score was reused from this opera and I promise I will not speak about this further in the liveblog), or Tell for my absolute favorite.

fancy shmancy

Area Director Of The Staff Isn’t Having It

and the staff aren’t having it with her

taking all the delights you can under capitalism

down a sweeping staircase with gentlemen helping you down while grand entrance music plays...that’s how you make an entrance

lovely aria and lovely soprano

not sure how I feel about the dress, though (it looks like something you’d put on a turn-of-the-century doll)

(speaking of which, it looks like this production is...1890s? 1900s? somewhere in there? doesn’t make a whole lot of sense but okay. Nationalism. I can do that)

Folleville is just chilling in the orchestra seats lol

oh so I guess ALL the travelers are just hanging out in the audience

Madama Cortese is a top-notch businesswoman and we love to see it

hey she has a migraine leave her alone

pretty sure that’s...not what that means

Area Soprano Overreacts About Losing Her Luggage

“Mozart!”

*sings 3 seconds of ‘O mio babbino caro’*

“oh sorry”

*sings some ‘Non piu andrai’*

(also that is a very unfortunate choice of mustache)

he did the same thing again except he said Beethoven and then sang some “La donna è mobile” and then “Ode to Joy” lolol

girl PLEASE CALM DOWN YOU JUST LOST YOUR LUGGAGE 

this aria is so beautiful (same music as “En proie a la tristesse”)

congratulations on recovering one (1) very ostentatious hat from it all

also, just...the inherent absurdity of this entire scene

SEE???

fair point

I want that suit

and you’re a tenor

tfw you find yourself caught between a jealous and in-love-with-you bass and a jealous and in-love-with-you tenor

this sextet slaps

I LOVE THIS ARIA SO MUCH (also this lighting is great)

Madama Cortese is so delighted about Corinna’s singing and...same, girl

word on that

you tell ‘em, Corinna

be free little birdie (Corinna let a bird go free because #subtlety)

yes this is subtlety what are you even talking about

everyone just got Religiously Guilted all of a sudden

Alvaro I hate to tell you this but I don’t think self-flagellation with a bath towel is actual self-flagellation

hmm

she is Very Up On All The Tea

we love onstage instrumentalists

you could just tell her how you feel

but then again, you are a bass in love with a soprano in an opera, so...

aww a heart-shaped bouquet

they threw him into the bath lol

“does it look like I know anything about antiquaries, you annoying asshole”

hey Lord Sidney, it looks like EVERYONE knows about your “secret” little crush

friends! <3

and Corinna knows too rip Sidney

she’s so pretty

oh look Corinna has another admirer

Belfiore, you are desperate, not macho

and you are also a tenor

YEAH DON’T LET HIM MESS WITH YOU

this duet bops

(also, before you ask, do not be afraid: the brown stuff they’re putting on is mud [as in ‘mud mask’] because this opera is in fact canonically set in a spa resort/hotel)

I LOVE THIS ARIA

and I love it when the singer whips out some impressive accents

there is a plothole here given that it was earlier established that Folleville’s luggage minus one box with a hat was wrecked in a stagecoach accident but I find it funny that perhaps Luigino was just lying to get a rise out of her

about that...

hahahahahaha

also glad to see Folleville found a very chic outfit

well oops

and that’s why you make transportation plans in advance

we love a good a cappella ensemble (and I couldn’t get everyone in a screencap rip)

some good news

Madama Cortese’s husband (who does not appear in person in this opera) seems pretty cool

that’s nice of you

this hard slaps

group photo!

this got a bit long lol

[janiedean]

Idk if anyone already asked this but: what about ASOIAF/GOT characters and opera? Who are the experts, the casual fans, and the one who don't care but get dragged along anyway? Does anyone relate to a particular character? *cough* Is Tyrion the biggest Rigoletto fan? *cough* And/or, does any OTP relate to a particular opera pairing? :)

OKAY SORRY IT TOOK ME AGES BUT HERE I AM

(spoilers: you can find 80% of the following or will find it in my amazing opera singers au series)

lannisters & partners

tyrion is 100% an opera nerd and he identifies with rigoletto in frankly worrying ways - he’s like me with la traviata and cries at rigoletto’s first aria every single time and then at the ending PERIOD I DO NOT MAKE THE RULES but he also likes unconventional stuff ie russians/20th century germans (TYRION LOVES ALBAN BERG YOU CAN PRY THAT FROM MY DEAD HANDS)

bronn is the friends he drags with but the only character in any opera that he likes is sparafucile

cersei only listens to wagner because everything else is for the plebs and ofc her favorite is the valkyrie YES YOU KNOW THE ONE WITH THE TWINCEST she’s the biggest sieglinde stan

jaime likes it tho not as much as tyrion but he hates both dramas and wagner and tends to like comedies/stuff that ends well better and he and brienne meet bc tyrion set them up and sent them to see fidelio with his tickets and YOU KNOW THAT JAIME AND BRIENNE ARE 100% LEONORE AND FLORESTAN YOU DON’T CHANGE MY MIND ON THAT EVER IT’S THE MOST JB OPERA THAT EVER JB-ED

brienne also likes more the happy stuff than the sad stuff but yeah fidelio is Their Thing okay

tywin went because joanna liked it and then he stopped 

starks & partners

ned & cat are that couple of nerds who goes to the opera for their anniversary and likes just about most stuff except a few single things they find boring but not as much to argue about it. for themselves, cat tends to like those donizetti operas with sopranos who at some point 100% lose it, ned is more into verdi and probably would agree with tyrion on rigoletto because y’know, FATHERS RELATE

but they also wanted their kids to get into it so their family tradition is that all go to see the magic flute together bc it’s kid-friendly and it worked bc all the stark kids love it ;)

robb’s totally into the comedies and hates the dramas and not counting the magic flute which ofc he loves because IT WAS HIS FIRST his fave is 100% rossini’s cenerentola FOR REASONS

addendum to say that theon is the friend he dragged with and thought would be boring but instead loves it and ends up converting and theon’s favorite - bc he’s a nerd - is most likely le comte ory ie THE ROSSINI CRACK OPERA WITH THE THREESOME WHERE THE TENOR IS CROSSDRESSING AS A NUN AND THE MEZZOSOPRANO PLAYS THE GUY AND THE BASS SINGS AN ARIA ABOUT STEALING ALCOHOL

but their ship they see themselves into are carlo and rodrigo from don carlo because lmao IT’S THEM

(robb prob. also have a soft spot for la clemenza di tito bc he and tito are the same person but nvm)

jon’s like 100% into dramas ALL THE DRAMA ALL THE TIME his fave is 100% la forza del destino ie the most terribly dramatic telenovela in history of dramatic opera

(he introduced it to ygritte who ofc is instead into all the rossini comedies with the a++++++ main lead ie italiana in algeri, barbiere di siviglia and so on which is a cause of endless amusement on her side because then they have to compromise)

(sam doesn’t need to be introduced because he’s 100% a nerd who cried over la traviata too but he likes all kind of stuff and who’ll go to both sand and fun operas and HE ALSO LIKES CENERENTOLA BEST THO)

sansa ofc is into THE ROMANCE so her fave is totally la traviata but she and robb totally agreed on cenerentola as well basically she robb and sam are the cenerentola stans cinnamon roll brigade

arya isn’t that much into it but she’ll go to most fun stuff and admittedly she has a soft spot for la fille du regiment because she totally identifies with maria (and tonio’s... well tonio is gendry let’s be real lmao)

(gendry is the friend she brought with once bc she likes that one and he immediately noticed)

bran goes with the others and he’s fine with it but he’s more into symphonic and not opera but he does like the family magic flute xD

rickon at some point got dragged to see the firebird when he was like six and everyone thought he’d sleep through it and instead he comes out of it like ‘guys I want to play the drums when I grow up’

baratheons & partners

robert thinks it’s boring af and wouldn’t set foot inside an opera ever, he just went once with ned to see don giovanni as a compromise

renly thinks it’s boring af and never went, then turns out that loras is 100% into it especially ACTUAL older stuff ie gluck and he totally dragged renly to see iphigenie en tauride BECAUSE ORESTES AND PYLADES ARE THE TWO OF THEM and renly had to relent and actually liked it

stannis is The Opera Nerd. he has a subscription to the local theater, he knows everything there is to know, he has a knowledge of minor baroque authors that would scare music professors, he also always goes alone because robert and renly wouldn’t go with him IF they cared, and his favorite is 100% rossini’s guillaume tell but only in the original french version WITH THE BALLETS or it’s a travesty

and he realizes davos is His Guy For Real when he shows up for their anniversary with tickets and then realizes that maybe someone who never went won’t want to see SIX HOURS OF FRENCH GRAND OPERA but davos just blinks like ‘k sure I’m open to everything’ and actually likes it (spoilers: davos’s fave becomes rossini’s la gazza ladra after he gets into it bECAUSE HE TOTALLY RELATES TO THE GIRL’S FATHER WHO SHOULD GO TO JAIL BUT IS ACTUALLY A GOOD GUY but he also likes le nozze di figaro bc YOU FEEL THE LOVE FOR THE LOWER CLASS)

tyrells

all of them used to go with olenna so all four are into it

loras as stated is into early-mid 18th century stuff ie gluck/handel/the likes (he’s the only one who actually likes julius caesar)

willas totally is into romcoms he cried the first time he went to see l’elisir d’amore and he’s been mercilessly mocked since

garlan is a sane person and likes more or less everything except extradramatic stuff

margaery is into bellini don’t tell me norma isn’t her fave

tullys

lysa never was into it bc cat was and so she always refused to go

brynden totally introduced cat to it but he’s a man of not much taste for EXTRA DRAMA so while he likes his verdi he just wants to relax with his mozart gdi but his fave is something totally overlooked ie PROBABLY IDOMENEO BECAUSE WHY THE HELL NOT HE’D LIKE IT

edmure totally went with cat & brynden and also was more into comedies turns out that his favorite is eventually falstaff and he’s always grumbling that verdi shouldn’t have made just ONE comedy ffs

targs:

viserys prob is a nerd but just of his favorite stuff and he’s either into countertenor stuff OR obscure shit or french grand opera AT BEST, he’s probably the only person other than loras who likes julius caesar

dany’s into it but very casually, she probably likes il trovatore because fire imagery everywhere tho

rhaegar is 100% into verdi drama like jon took ONE thing from him and that’s it, he probably is the kinda person who likes othello best for the Sheer Drama Factor

greyjoys:

balon and victarion legit hate it

euron is the only person other than cersei who actually willingly would go to see the ring and loves wagner

asha only goes with theon but she doesn’t mind it also bc alannys is 100% crazy into it that said she hates drama

alannys loves it her fave is la traviata I don’t make the rules

martells:

oberyn’s the hugest don giovanni stan in existence I DON’T MAKE THE RULES HE IS HE IDENTIFIES TO A T

elia’s chiller but the martells have the best taste and so they’d all like mozart she’s prob. into le nozze di figaro best because she totally relates to the countess

arianne likes così fan tutte and would punch anyone who says it’s sexist

other ppl:

sandor was dragged by sansa and he had been like WHAT DO I EVEN DO IN A THEATER HELP but then she picked something like gounod’s faust which he would like, turns out that then he ends into the most obscure SAD stuff and likes boito’s mefistofele best lISTEN HE’D BE INTO FAUSTIAN DEALS OPERA

lf is the kind of person who says they love opera but then criticize every single thing in every single staging and keep on saying opera should have died with maria callas

pyp/grenn/edd/the nw crowd went with jon once to watch something REALLY fucking sad TBH IT’D BE ERNANI and they’re like ‘jon wtf this is the worst’, then when sam learns it he goes like GUYS NO LET’S RECTIFY THIS and he brings them to l’italiana in algeri or SOME rossini fun opera and they change their mind

... okay I think I got MOST OF THE RELEVANT ONES IF I FORGOT ANYONE/YOU WANT ANYONE ELSE PLS ASK ;)

[leporellian]

good news a good 25% of my social interactions are answering this question so here goes.

SOME GOOD STARTER OPERAS FOR THE DISGRUNTLED WARRIOR CATS FAN:

carmen by bizet was my first opera when i was but the tender age of seven, and it's one of the most beloved operas of all time for a reason- reason being it's damn good, when played right. essentially imagine an extended version of the ashfur mr. brightside pmv. don jose, a sevillian soldier, abandons his duties and identity when he meets carmen, a wild woman who listens to her own mind. as time goes on, his possessiveness over her gets worse and worse, until it naturally ends in tragedy (and something of a cliffhanger).

the barber of seville by rossini is a more fun intro to opera; its three hours of looney tunes ass shenanigans. a (rather selfish) young spanish count falls in love with a girl, and hires figaro- the titular barber- to pair them together and stop the advances of dr. bartolo, who wants the same girl for himself. (the girl takes a more active role in the plot than you'd think don't worry.) this ones funny as hell and it has....

AN EVEN BETTER SEQUEL! the marriage of figaro by mozart is the barber of seville's sequel, and it picks up three years later, being about figaro and his bride susanna trying to beat the odds and marry in peace. this one is better than barber of seville but also complicated as hell on purpose (youre SUPPOSED to not know what's really happening the whole time bc its funny like that). if you watch this one i recommend for the best viewing experience that you don't read about anything in the plot beyond act 2, there's a plot twist that has to be seen to be believed.

tosca by puccini is fucking crazy. political drama, banger songs, one of the most badass murders ever witnessed on the opera stage, this opera has it all. just balls to the walls crazy curtain to curtain. in some way it's what the broken code should have felt like, LOL. i usually dont like puccini but tosca is an exception. (content warning for implied attempted rape + suicide on this one)

'what if the new prophecy was good?' have il trovatore, by verdi! trovatore is ostensibly yet another love triangle, on the surface; but it's really about the fight between two brothers, manrico and count di luna, who don't know they're brothers. (this happened because of a very strange backstory involving setting the wrong baby on fire. oh yknow. normal stuff, for opera.) it's an opera really about the cycle of abuse and what it is to kill the people you are trying to avenge, and familial cycles and fratricide that is neither intentional nor unintentional. if you liked that post @/harriertail made with hawkfrost and the cain and abel poem watch this

wanna watch a silly thing that's also sort of a psychological horror? check out the rake's progress by stravinsky! (no it doesn't sound like the rite of spring LOL it sounds more like mozart in a funhouse that gets gradually more disturbing.) tom rakewell, a young and naive man, is told he has inherited his mysteriously-deceased uncle's fortune and is whisked off to the city, alongside nick shadow, his uncle's old servant WHO DEFINITELY ISN'T A DEMON. over time, however, tom loses it all- and there's the unsettling realization that the characters know they are in an opera, and are trying to escape their own narrative destinies, oh god the terror of being at the whim of a narrative you can't control or understand LOL!

i have to mention it here because it's my favorite ever. don giovanni by mozart is an opera with no real plot and yet a very real set of character arcs. don giovanni is a horrible, horrible person, and the opera is about the people he affects- particularly leporello and elvira, his servant and ex-lover respectively, who still care about him despite knowing he is an awful person (loving an abuser will do that to ya). over time, they must learn to let go- after all, the man will die at the end of the show, won't he? (tw for sexual violence on this one- don giovanni is... well... yeah.)

i should note opera isn't perfect. carmen and il trovatore, depending on the production, can lean into xenophobia towards romani people, and it should be noted many operas were written by white men hundreds of years ago so take that as you will. i highly recommend watching new productions of these operas, check out the met opera ones if you can find them (or... dm me...). heed the tws i give if you're sensitive to certain topics. however, with opera part of the activity of the work is to dissect and deconstruct it, and opera is always reinventing itself and deconstructing its own issues- something warrior cats, frankly, lacks. you are always meant to question opera. you are always meant to look it in the eye.

IF YOU'D LIKE PRODUCTION RECS also dm me!!! i know my way around :)

hey wc fans this is another reason you should get into opera bc none of the characters (even those who are under copyright) are really actually owned by anyone. if someone says some dumb shit abt your favs you can just ignore them because they have no power EVEN IF they’re a director or dramaturg or something. food for thought (COME WATCH OPERA YOU WILL BE SOOOOOOO NORMAL ABOUT IT)

[chicagoindiecritics]

New from Every Movie Has a Lesson by Don Shanahan: MOVIE REVIEW: Love Wedding Repeat

LOVE WEDDING REPEAT— 3 STARS

I am starting to become convinced that there will never be a movie wedding that goes off without a hitch, as they say. It’s cinematically impossible not to have something, anything, or everything go wrong. But, that’s the fun of all those movies, including the new Netflix film Love Wedding Repeat. There is always comedy to be had when a springboard event of enduring love can survive in every cringe, surprise, fumble, flub, and fail executed by the doting newlyweds on down to the drunk ne’er-do-wells. 

LESSON #1: WEDDINGS NEVER GO AS PLANNED— Brides and grooms alike may beg, pray, and downright will these festivals of matrimony into the “perfect days” they say they always dreamt of. The wild truth is a zillion things have to align out of any couple’s control. The beauty, if anything, is in the luck born from imperfection that happens before one’s eyes. No one remembers perfection. They remember the unorchestrated happenstance that still turned out great, even out of embarrassment.

That said, we’ll always remember the truly mortifying too, and a dish of that awaits here. Love Wedding Repeat chalks up its minefield of mistakes to cosmic chance. A divinely voiced female oracle hammers that horoscope home, reminding viewers that “all it takes is one moment of ill fortune for our hopes and dreams to go right down the shitter.” Lady, you nailed it. The unique amusement of this movie comes from the “repeat” portion of its title. Just when you think what transpires can’t be recovered, writer-director Dean Craig rewinds to a crucial moment and tries it all over again.

Our narrative keel listing back and forth in the waters of kismet is brother-of-the-bride Jack, played by Me Before You’s heartbreaker Sam Clafin. For him, his sister Hayley’s (Eleanor Tomlinson of Jack the Giant Slayer) wedding is a chance to meet “the one that got away.” Three years earlier, he spent a dreamy night in Italy with Hayley’s American friend Dina, played as a fetching bullseye of attraction by Olivia Munn. A bad moment of that aforementioned chance derailed his momentum of sealing the evening with continuing connection and, more importantly, a kiss. She’s coming to this gorgeous Italian wedding and is stupendously single. Naturally and nevertheless, pitfalls of many forms block that prospect of renewed magic. 

Jack has to avoid his bitchy ex Amanda (Freida Pinto) and her jealous boyfriend Chaz (TV actor Allan Mustafa), dodge the chatty trap of the third-wheeled idiot Rebecca (fellow TV mainstay Aisling Bea), compete with his kilted wannabe lady-killing buddy Sidney (standup comedian Tim Frey), and practically babysit his unreliable best bloke and the “maid of honor” Bryan (Yesterday’s scene stealer Joel Fry). The worst danger of all is the uninvited and coked-up Marc (Poldark’s Jack Farthing) who has been obsessed with pursuing Hayley since they were teens. The catalyst that starts colliding these amorous asteroids is a wrongly-placed roofie at the “English Table” where all of these characters are assigned. 

LESSON #2: MISTAKES NOT MAKE AT A WEDDING— Oh my, this list could go on for days beyond the sleeping medicine that is already in play. The movie will tally new haircuts, inattention, kilts, “wedding buddies,” lies of infidelity, and over-drinking on that thick list. What always makes it funny to watch is the safety in knowing this is not your wedding from the comfort of your Netflix-receiving couch. 

Much of the deranged dither of these bumbling Brits is a hoot to watch. An array of physical expressions of delight, determination, hate, abbreviation, revulsion, concealment, embarrassment, and more emanate from the cast. Ahead of that body language, lines are pushed through gritted teeth and pensive smiles while the proper classical strings of Rossini, Verde, and Mozart orchestrate the chaos. The actors are given the space and the scenarios to have a ball. Eleanor Tomlinson’s f-word-laden frazzle through the facade of necessary pleasantry might even top the wincing unraveling of rooting for Sam Clafin to win the girl. 

LESSON #3: GET YOUR MOMENT— For as much as each of the ensemble has their twirl in the spotlight, their characters got there either stumbling to the front or seizing it for themselves. Either way, they rolled with it because, as the movie professes, “chance is success or failure in love.” It’s always quick to note “chance can be real bastard,” so be careful. The best route remains the latter one with confident initiative. Tell people in the way of your moment to f–k off and keep you from missing it.

Standing as a remake to the 2012 French film Plan de table, the unpredictability is what keeps Love Wedding Repeat quite lively. For the movie to freeze, turn on a dime, and take us back to the front of the roller coaster is a deft little dalliance. Bravo to Dean Craig, the double Death at a Funeral screenwriter of both the Franz Oz British original and the Neil LaBute American remake, making his debut as a feature director. He took the French’s concept and the ironic tropes of movie weddings and bent enough kinks to make something devilishly delightful.

LOGO DESIGNED BY MEENTS ILLUSTRATED (#869)

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[barnhartcamero5]

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[bentchcreates]

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

Seemingly unimpressionable Aomame finds herself living in a world that is almost unchanged except that there are now two moons in the sky. A writer, Tengo, notices the same, and notes its similarity to a fantasy book he has secretly ghostwritten. As the fine line between reality and fantasy blurs, a unique love story between the two blossoms and in time, they must find a way out of 1Q84 to escape the clutches of a mysterious religious cult that pursues them for something neither wants to give up.

I had put off starting this for so long because look at it! Haha! To say that I was intimidated by its size is an understatement. But like what my cousin – who absolutely adores all Murakami stories – said, this was such an experience. 

*also, I loved my cousin’s gorgeous hardcover copy so much, it’s graced my IG a bunch of times. heehee

This is my second Haruki Murakami book after Colorless Tsukuru so I was somehow familiar with his subtle integration of fantasy elements in a seemingly contemporary setting. I also know very little about Japanese culture, especially in the year 1984 so I will admit that there were parts of it that I didn’t fully grasp, or have completely flown over my head. Still here’s are my thoughts (also, mild spoiler alert!):

The femininity and sexual fluidity of Aomame. I will use the term sexual fluidity loosely here because Aomame is straight for the most part of the narrative, but as the blurred reality unravels around her, the readers are shown more of Aomame’s background and preferences. I didn’t want to point it out too much –because love is love, and I feel like Aomame’s lesbian trysts were borne out of love – but this book’s nonchalant presentation of it, of a woman comfortable with her sexuality like this, is notable.

Tengo’s complacence and his eventual longing to break the monotony of the life he had built around himself. As with Colorless Tsukuru, Murakami’s male lead here isn’t dead but isn’t actually living. He’s going through the motions. And Murakami shows in this story that it isn’t particularly bad if one chooses to live like this. There’s a reason why people would choose this and although boring, it makes sense. Ultimately Tengo makes a choice to leave it behind, to risk it, and I’m happy it doesn’t all go to waste in the end.

Complexity of characters. Tengo and Aomame’s depth of character were magnificently portrayed in this book. As well as  the supporting characters like the dowager, Tamaru, Ayumi (huhu), Komatsu, Fuka-Eri and Ushikawa. I also felt that Buzzcut and Ponytail were distinctly Japanese but maybe that’s just because they remind me of anime goons a lot.

Magical realism.  I will admit that I’m drawn more to books/stories where the magic is straight up fantastical and flashy, but the subtleness of the magic here is an artform. I can’t claim to understand and make sense of everything (i.e. what are the maza and dohta and what exactly do they do???)but maybe that’s how the author wants it to be? Reality is whoozy in the world of 1Q84 so my real-world logic must not apply.

Ushikawa. I was ready to sympathize with him because Murakami have drawn out his character so much, even giving him his own POV in the third book and then ~the end~ happens!? Argh. To this day I don’t know what I feel about that.

The romance. This is not in the same alley as the romance books I normally devour but it is successful in making me root for the characters and feel what they’re feeling. Murakami also painfully teases the reader, putting a lot of situations where they should’ve already met, and then twists it so they won’t meet yet. Agh! I actually had to cheat at one point and skimmed the last few pages for me to know the outcome. I’m not going to say what happens but for someone like me –who absolutely hates spoiling the story by getting to the end first – to take a peek at the endings, I have Murakami’s compelling writing skill to blame.

I understand why people tag this as a difficult read. It took me 8 months to finish all of it and I had to read other books in between for breaks. It’s not so much because the narrative is boring or is particularly bad, it’s just so long and winding. There’s a part here where Tengo was reading something from an encyclopedia (or something) about a group of indigenous people, I don’t know, and I skipped it. It might have something to do with the story, and underlying theme or what not, but I got so frustrated that I felt like I was reading it too slow so I did away with it. No regrets.

5 of 5 Stars. Why a perfect score, you may ask. Well, why not? I don’t think I will ever understand why it had to drag for so long, for a bunch of subthemes to just suddenly be there without direct importance to the plot, but there is no denying that Haruki Murakami has worked on this artfully. Maybe the reader’s frustration is deliberate to express the craziness of the parallel world; maybe it was there to distract us from the fact that Tengo and Aomame’s worlds are converging under our very noses. But when it starts to fall into place, when you’re at the edge of your seat at full attention to what is happening to the characters (this is after you power through 75% of the trilogy, I’m sorry to say) then it becomes clear why Murakami is such a prolific writer with fans all over the world, despite the mixed reviews this book is getting.

Blurb:

The year is 1984 and the city is Tokyo. A young woman named Aomame follows a taxi driver’s enigmatic suggestion and begins to notice puzzling discrepancies in the world around her. She has entered, she realizes, a parallel existence, which she calls 1Q84 —“Q is for ‘question mark.’ A world that bears a question.” Meanwhile, an aspiring writer named Tengo takes on a suspect ghostwriting project. He becomes so wrapped up with the work and its unusual author that, soon, his previously placid life begins to come unraveled.  As Aomame’s and Tengo’s narratives converge over the course of this single year, we learn of the profound and tangled connections that bind them ever closer: a beautiful, dyslexic teenage girl with a unique vision; a mysterious religious cult that instigated a shoot-out with the metropolitan police; a reclusive, wealthy dowager who runs a shelter for abused women; a hideously ugly private investigator; a mild-mannered yet ruthlessly efficient bodyguard; and a peculiarly insistent television-fee collector. A love story, a mystery, a fantasy, a novel of self-discovery, a dystopia to rival George Orwell’s — 1Q84 is Haruki Murakami’s most ambitious undertaking yet: an instant best seller in his native Japan, and a tremendous feat of imagination from one of our most revered contemporary writers.

Buy Links:

Kindle EBook: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004LROUW2/

Print copies are available in leading bookstores worldwide.

About the Author:

Murakami Haruki (Japanese: 村上 春樹) is a popular contemporary Japanese writer and translator. His work has been described as 'easily accessible, yet profoundly complex'. He can be located on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/harukimuraka... Since childhood, Murakami has been heavily influenced by Western culture, particularly Western music and literature. He grew up reading a range of works by American writers, such as Kurt Vonnegut and Richard Brautigan, and he is often distinguished from other Japanese writers by his Western influences. Murakami studied drama at Waseda University in Tokyo, where he met his wife, Yoko. His first job was at a record store, which is where one of his main characters, Toru Watanabe in Norwegian Wood, works. Shortly before finishing his studies, Murakami opened the coffeehouse 'Peter Cat' which was a jazz bar in the evening in Kokubunji, Tokyo with his wife. Many of his novels have themes and titles that invoke classical music, such as the three books making up The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: The Thieving Magpie (after Rossini's opera), Bird as Prophet (after a piano piece by Robert Schumann usually known in English as The Prophet Bird), and The Bird-Catcher (a character in Mozart's opera The Magic Flute). Some of his novels take their titles from songs: Dance, Dance, Dance (after The Dells' song, although it is widely thought it was titled after the Beach Boys tune), Norwegian Wood(after The Beatles' song) and South of the Border, West of the Sun (the first part being the title of a song by Nat King Cole).