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Wow! Are you guys excited yet? What a dramatic, brilliant introduction to this novel. It immediately draws you in and it is engaging, bizarre, mysterious, surreal and a little unsettling all at once. Each character is more bizarre than the next and at this stage of the game we have no idea what we are dealing with, we just know that it is something unknown, something bizarre and most likely, much more than meets the eye.

I have never read Murakami, and I found the items but he chose to focus on him to be very interesting. For example, the music in the cab - why so much detail on that?

So many questions at this point - Why name the first character ‘green peas�? Why describe her mini skirt issues in such detail? Who is she in such a hurry to meet ? Why is the tiny female assassin trying to kill the business man? Why is there any interest in rewriting a high school girl’s story for a literary prize? And is she insane or are there really little people? Komatsu and Tengo - where do they fit into all of this? How do all of the subplots fit together? For some odd reason (based on nothing) I was wondering if the author identifies with Tengo.

I will start today 😀

Great! Welcome Nidhi!

Dianne wrote: "Wow! Are you guys excited yet? What a dramatic, brilliant introduction to this novel. It immediately draws you in and it is engaging, bizarre, mysterious, surreal and a little unsettling all at onc..."

That's why the book is a thousand pages. :)

Murakami often focuses on music, Norweigian Wood was one of his novels, and it was indeed about a boy who "once had a girl, or should I say, she once had him."

Apparently a big music fan in real life.

Yes Kafka on the Shore is a music ( sorry for spoiling, but now I feel that Kafka....had a rhythm which I liked very much).
I finished chapter one and again I like Murakami� s writing.

Xan Shadowflutter wrote: "Dianne wrote: "Wow! Are you guys excited yet? What a dramatic, brilliant introduction to this novel. It immediately draws you in and it is engaging, bizarre, mysterious, surreal and a little unsett..."

Exactly Xan! There is already a lot to unravel!

Dan wrote: "Murakami often focuses on music, Norweigian Wood was one of his novels, and it was indeed about a boy who "once had a girl, or should I say, she once had him."

Apparently a big music fan in real l..."

Thanks Dan! I recommend listening to janacek’s sinfonietta - you tube - You can understand why it was originally intended as fanfare for a gymnastics festival but it is so much more than that. still, an odd tidbit to focus on at the beginning of the novel!

Nidhi wrote: "Yes Kafka on the Shore is a music ( sorry for spoiling, but now I feel that Kafka....had a rhythm which I liked very much).
I finished chapter one and again I like Murakami� s writing."

What did you all make of Chapter 1? We have aomame, or green peas, and while she resents her name I wonder how much her character was built because she lived with it. She seems to be a bold and decisive character - willing to abandon traffic to reach her Destiination which remains unknown in this section of the novel. While fashionable, she wore no accessories - again a minute detail, and why? She know she has a mission and she also seems to think she’s separate and apart from other people � she describes other people as trapped - but not her!

The cabdriver is also quite interesting - he seems to think that the world is made up of lies and illusions and cautions aomame as she leaves his cab. His cab is pristine and high-end it definitely seems unusual. Is the role of the cab driver to set the tone and specter of the novel? Does the author want us to be suspicious from the very beginning? That is certainly the effect it had on me!

Dianne wrote: "What did you all make of Chapter 1?"

Well, I thought chapter 1 had the feel of Murakami all the way. And at this point I thought she was an attorney meeting an important client. Ha! Ha! on me.

The walk down the escape stairwell was pure magical realism, I think. The wind, the height, the view -- all normal yet accompanied by a slight touch of the sinister.

For those who have read Kafka on the Shore, the cab driver reminded me a bit of the truck driver, or he had the potential to be like the truck driver.

Dianne wrote: "What did you all make of Chapter 1?..."

I really enjoyed the way we are immediately dragged into something unusual and offbeat - nothing is quite as it should be.
The expressway should be clear, the taxi should be more basic, even Aomame herself appears slightly distorted (the mention of her deformed ear is a bizarre touch!)

She is an outsider from a different prefecture, even her name sets her apart (and she hasn't managed to find anyone else with the same name), so I guess we should not be surprised when she makes the decision to take the stairway.

There’s something vaguely unsettling about the first chapter. I’m guessing that Aomame is not what she seems. There’s something singular and decisive about her.
I’m intrigued.

Like Xan said, chapter one is totally Murakami. I love all the bizarre details he zeros in on, and the mysterious elements are so much fun. You just never know where his stories are going to take you, but they are always puzzling and mysterious, yet still somehow in an every day world.

The mention of Aomame's ear reminded me that I like to post this Murakami Bingo card whenever I read one of his novels with a group. It's quite fun. :)

I'm also wondering how the two story lines will come together or how they are connected. Will Aomame and Tengo meet at some point? Or, I started speculating that perhaps Aomame's story line could be the story that Tengo is asked to rewrite - and there we might have the reality (Tengo) and the fantasy (Aomame).

Xan Shadowflutter wrote: "And at this point I thought she was an attorney meeting an important client. Ha! Ha! on me. "

Lol. :)

Chapter 3 Aomame is defintely not what she seemed. But I thought that her character development was reflective of Murakami's style, taking us somewhere unexpected.

Chapter 4 Fuka Eri was mysterious. I had my own assumptions about her very similar to Tengo's editor Kwamatsu. But I think that she too will take us somewhere very different to our initial assumptions.

Linda wrote: "I'm also wondering how the two story lines will come together or how they are connected. Will Aomame and Tengo meet at some point? Or, I started speculating that perhaps Aomame's story line could b..."

Interesting idea Linda

Awesome! I take the taxi drivers line that nothing is as it seems like a pointer or warning to the reader to bear in mind the whole way through this book. We've been put on notice! So many possible ideas about who these people are or might be. Is Aomame the character in the Air Chrysalis that I'm not sure the Fuka-Eri even wrote. Is there some parallel/other existence/ reality that Aomame his slipped into only just which left her ear deformed? Interesting long game that Komatsu has been playing waiting to pull the strings like a master puppeteer when it suits him. This could go some many ways and I am really excited to see how this develops.

Aomame is obsessing over the policeman wearing a dated uniform and carrying a gun whose model has been decommissioned. A fingerpost leading us where?

Just from the first chapter, Murakami has me fascinated with the minute details of this woman's life. It took a lot of pages to describe a busy woman stuck in traffic deciding to get out and walk, but I was still hanging on every word. Even the cab driver seems like an oracle that might reappear later in the story. Tengo's chapters are a little more boring so far, but I think with the addition of Fuka-Eri, things are about to get a lot more exciting for him.

I'm enjoying the chapters with Aomame more than those with Tengo, although I am slightly curious to see what happens with rewriting the Air Chrysalis story.

Although I'm enjoying this so far, I'm not sure I'm going to feel the same way in 500-800 pages time. I fear this could become a bit repetitive (Linda's Murakami bingo has me worried on this score too - spotting recurring bizarre elements can be fun, but you can have too much of a good thing!)

Xan Shadowflutter wrote: "Aomame is obsessing over the policeman wearing a dated uniform and carrying a gun whose model has been decommissioned. A fingerpost leading us where?"

Ah yes, I thought this was an interesting thing too. Things aren't what they seem and he is certainly not a real police officer. So who is he?

This also reminded me that I also thought that how Aomame doesn't know how she knows some things like in relation to the music and its composer in the cab - is there a tech answer to this with a chip implant that downloads info straight into the brain without the person being aware. Or can she also be some type of bot? Too many possibilities!

Bron wrote: "Or can she also be some type of bot? Too many possibilities!"

I like this. I like this idea a lot.

Linda wrote: "Like Xan said, chapter one is totally Murakami. I love all the bizarre details he zeros in on, and the mysterious elements are so much fun. You just never know where his stories are going to take y..."

Thank you for this bingo card. How hilarious! When Aomame mentioned seeing the balconies while she was crossing the freeway and wondered why balconies were built facing a road; would that fit urban ennui?

Xan Shadowflutter wrote: "Aomame is obsessing over the policeman wearing a dated uniform and carrying a gun whose model has been decommissioned. A fingerpost leading us where?"

I thought for sure this was foreshadowing. This is the first clue of a new dimension.The whole time I was reading I kept thinking Aomame was entering a different dimension. Now that Linda and Bron mentions, it makes sense that Aomame's and Tengo's lives will be intertwined.

Fuka-Eri reminded me of Lisbeth from the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - not subtle, very blunt, and asocial in a way. A very neurodiverse character in my opinion.

Pamela wrote: "I fear this could become a bit repetitive (Linda's Murakami bingo has me worried on this score too - spotting recurring bizarre elements can be fun, but you can have too much of a good thing!)"

I've found a lot of these bingo squares show up in many of Murakami's novels, so in that regard his novels are a bit repetitive. However, I always seem taken in with each one of his books that I read. Kind of odd, but even in his repetitiveness and attentiveness to mundane details his books tend to entrance me.

Tammy Dayton wrote: "Fuka-Eri reminded me of Lisbeth from the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - not subtle, very blunt, and asocial in a way. A very neurodiverse character in my opinion."

Yes, in some ways. Aspergers? I ike that comparison. I was wondering if half her mind was in another dimension, or perhaps she was communicating with the "little people' during her silences.

Tammy Dayton wrote: "I thought for sure this was foreshadowing. This is the first clue of a new dimension."

Yep. Me too.

When Aomame mentioned seeing the balconies while she was crossing the freeway and wondered why balconies were built facing a road; would that fit urban ennui?

Good eye! Yeah, I think that would fit the square.

Fuka-Eri reminded me of Lisbeth from the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - not subtle, very blunt, and asocial in a way.

I would never have thought to compare these two characters at this point, but you're right. I do see those same characteristics that you pointed out.

When do we open up the next thread, chapters 5-9?

A late arrival. I was finishing another book.

Only my second Murakami book. After four chapters we have a hot hit(wo)man, an unpublished writer who teaches math, and a hot high school girl who can’t write but can see things.

Hmmm.

Dan wrote: "After four chapters we have a hot hit(wo)man, an unpublished writer who teaches math, and a hot high school girl who can’t write but can see things.

Hmmm. "

Lol.

I was not expecting the janacek sinfonietta to sound like that. I was picturing something more like swan lake or more fairy tale like. But, this piece sets a very different tone. Almost like an abstract fairy tale or a dark comic fairy tale feel.

I’m glad I got to listen to it. I wouldn’t have thought to do this if I hadn’t seen the comments about this. It is a good suggestion.

I thought the taxi driver was a trip. He reminds me of the Cheshire Cat in Alice and wonderland. It’s cool that Murakami is so subtle about the change that happens when Aomame goes down the fire escape. So far, the police outfits are the only change in her reality. I can’t wait to see what else has changed. I love this book so far.

I’m jumping in late (thank you, Marie and Linda!). This is my first Murakami book.

I love the Aomame chapters and have the feeling that Tengo will grow on me rather quickly, but I am also wondering if/when the stories will merge.

Tammy, I made similar parallels to “The Girl w/the Dragon Tattoo� (I love that series).

I appreciated reading the comments on music� I too was wondering why that was so much a focus.

Onto the next chunk of reading! I am in my last semester of grad school, so while I hope to catch up quickly, I’m not sure how quickly it will actually be :)

About the taxi driver and his statement that things aren't what they seem. I've read ahead now and yes, that cab driver knew the staircase was odd, or rather, 'wrong' in some way. I see the book ending with the cab driver issuing the same warning again to another rider.