Author:Haruki Murakami
Book Two of 1Q84 ended with Aomame standing on the Metropolitan Expressway with a gun between her lips.
She knows she is being hunted, and that she has put herself in terrible danger in order to save the man she loves.
But things are moving forward, and Aomame does not yet know that she and Tengo are more closely bound than ever.
Tengo is searching for Aomame, and he must find her before this world's rules loosen up too much.
He must find her before someone else does.
Murakami's magnum opus
—— Japan Times1Q84 has a range and sophistication that surpasses anything else in his oeuvre. It is his most achieved novel; an epic in which form and content are neatly aligned... So like Murakami himself, I'll borrow from Orwell: 1Q84 is quite simply doubleplusgood
—— Independent on Sunday1Q84 reads like a cross between Stieg Larsson and Roberto Bolaño... In its bones, this novel is a thriller
—— Daily TelegraphIt is a work of maddening brilliance and gripping originality, deceptively casual in style, but vibrating with wit, intellect and ambition
—— Richard Lloyd Parry , The TimesWhich other author can remind you simultaneously of Fyodor Dostoyevsky and JK Rowling, not merely within the same chapter but on the same page? Viewed through the "post-modern" lens, his exemplary blend of a light touch and weighty themes, of high literature and popular entertainment, ticks every box. Posh and pop, sublimity and superficiality, history and fantasy, trash and transcendence: they switch positions and then fuse
—— Boyd Tonkin , IndependentEerie, suspenseful and packed full of gorgeous ordinary details and provocative extraordinary events, Murakami takes weighty themes and delivers a compulsive tale that is funny, fresh and intensely surreal. Unmissable
—— Marie ClaireA postmodernist mélange of fantasy worlds, dystopias, alternate realities and genre pastiches, all overlaid on an unsuspecting contemporary Japan. They are the sort of fiction that usually attracts a cult following, but Mr Murakami's cult spreads across the globe
—— Wall Street JournalA surreal twist on the formula of David Nicholl's One Day; fate preventing two soulmates from getting together from getting together for decades... Stieg Larsson enthusiasts may enjoy the novel too as Aomame could be Lisbeth Salander's Japanese cousin... What makes Murakami cool as well as popular is has metaphysical mischievousness, his playing around with the idea of alternate realities... Every time you open 1Q84, you get the sensation of falling down the rabbit hole, into a unique and addictive world
—— Sunday ExpressThe novel of the year... such are Murakami's gifts, both in terms of his imagination and his skills as a writer, that the near-magical world he conjures seems real and tangible
—— WordHis default setting as a writer lies in documenting a muted alienation - Kafka with an iPod - and solace, in his books, tends to be found in the sudden human connection of sex and longing, but mostly his characters, like his readers, are left to figure things out on their own with shifting and partial information to go on
—— Observer1Q84 is an extraordinary feat of sustained imagination
—— Evening Standard[One of] .. the best books to really get your teeth into this winter... Part thriller, part love story, the first print run sold out in one day in the author's native Japan
—— GraziaA whole host of Murakami icons from talking cats to one-way portals all contribute to this rich and often perplexing mix. But ultimately, 1Q84 is a simple love story that ends on a metaphysical cliff-hanger... a delicious paranormal stew
—— Independent on SundayIt is natural that his work should enchant younger readers, to whom the problems of being are still fresh, as well as others who never grew out of such puzzlements - that his books should send an outstretched hand of sympathy to anyone who feels that they too have been tossed, without their permission, into a labyrinth
—— GuardianAn extraordinary love story. Murakami is renowned for his exceptional imagination and this book does not disappoint; he weaves a myriad of worlds, beliefs and themes together in a moving combination. Compelling and bewildering, there's nonetheless something profoundly human and stark in simplicity at the heart of this love story: the power of true love.
—— AestheticaFans, however, will recognise many elements in this fantastical tale, which at its twisted heart is another boy-meets-girl love story but which encompasses the ominous power of cults, a teasing preoccupation with quotidian mundanity, a sackload of music and literature references and a healthy dose of the downright bizarre.
—— Siobhan Murphy , MetroMasterful… Nine hundred and twenty-five pages of riveting, intriguing, irresistible journeying through the characters’…interior worlds
—— David Carless , PsychologistWeird and wonderful characters…the prose is beautiful, moving and the story is fascinating. Highly recommended
—— Helena Lang , Sainsbury's MagazineOne of the year’s most talked about books.
—— Mail OnlineGiven McEwan’s ability to make riveting fiction out of English politics (not easy), it would be hard to imagine anyone better equipped to write such a story... Delicious... Gripping
—— James Lasdun , GuardianHis assumption of a female persona is pitch-perfect
—— Michael Arditti , Daily MailNo contemporary novelist is more enthralled by what goes on inside the human skull than Ian McEwan... Doubling back and forth across genre boundaries, Sweet Tooth takes risks...this acute, witty novel is a winningly cunning addition to McEwan’s fictional surveys of intelligence.
—— Peter Kemp , Sunday TimesPlayful, comic... This is a great big Russian doll of a novel, and in its construction – deft, tight, exhilaratingly immaculate – is a huge part of its pleasure.
—— Julie Myerson , ObserverA thoroughly clever novel...a sublime novel about novels, about writing them and reading them and the spying that goes on in doing both...very impressive...rich and enjoyable.
—— Lucy Kellaway , Financial TimesGave us another of his delightful posh-totty narrators, young Serena Frome, who is recruited into the intelligence services in the 1970s.
—— Kate Saunders , The TimesWhat you see is not what you get, and the twist at the end reminds us of how many of this author’s works confound readers imaginations... A well-crafted pleasure to read, its smooth prose and slippery intelligence sliding down like cream.
—— Amanda Craig , IndependentSimultaneously a tongue-in-cheek riff on his own early stories, a typically assured spy novel with a sting in the tail, and a meditation on the relationship between reader and writer.
—— Justine Jordan , GuardianThe true subject of this smart and tricky novel, set inside a cold war espionage operation, is the border between make-believe and reality.
—— New York TimesA wisecracking thriller hightailing between love and betrayal, with serious counter-espionage credentials thrown in... This is ultimately a book about writing, wordplay and knowingness.
—— Catherine Taylor , Sunday TelegraphA triumphant shedding of genre limitations.
—— Adam Mars-Jones , London Review of BooksFor most of its length, this account of a young woman's adventures in the British secret service of the 1970s reads like Le Carre-lite, but with McEwan nothing is ever quite as it seems and towards the end the reader is asked to re-examine what's gone before. Real-life friends and acquaintances of the author have walk-on parts, which you may find fascinating.
—— Irish IndependentGiven McEwan’s ability to make riveting fiction out of English politics (not easy), it would be hard to imagine anyone better equipped to write such a story... Delicious... Gripping.
—— James Lasdun , GuardianParallels and contrasts between the mind-sets and mind games of espionage agents and writers of fiction are deftly teased out... acute, witty, cunningly crafted and full of fascinating autobiographical insights.
—— Peter Kemp , Sunday TimesGloriously readable and, at times, wickedly funny.
—— Arminta Wallace , Irish TimesHad McEwan, through Serena’s benefit of hindsight in narrating her life, planted the clues? Let every reader have the pleasure of finding out.
—— Ion Trewin , Sunday ExpressA curious piece of autobiographical fiction.
—— David Sexton , Evening StandardMcEwan’s prose is controlled, his observation forensic as ever... McEwan carries us with irresistible momentum to a surprise ending.
—— Maggie Ferguson , Intelligent LifeHighly entertaining.
—— John Lanchester , GuardianThe great thing about McEwan is that, despite his success, he continues to work hard, producing ever more accessible and entertaining stories.
—— Henry Sutton , Daily MirrorAn artful game of distortion... Clever handling.
—— Anthony Quinn , Mail on SundayCarefully researched.
—— John Scarlett , Daily TelegraphI loved it. It reminded me of his most successful novel, Atonement.
—— Harpers Bazaar OnlineAdroitly done...highly diverting.
—— D.J. Taylor , Literary ReviewMcEwan’s mastery dazzles us in this superbly deft and witty story of betrayal and intrigue, love, and the invented self.
—— GQFans of Ian McEwan should rejoice with this arrival of this novel, because Sweet Tooth is McEwan's finest work since 2001's Atonement.
—— Kevin Power , Sunday Business PostHis assumption of a female persona is pitch-perfect.
—— Michael Arditti , Daily MailMust read... Intrigue, love and mutual betrayal by a master of the art.
—— The LadyGripping.
—— Evening Standard ES MagazineFull of ideas.
—— Claire Allfree , MetroCleverly metafictional.
—— Sam Leith , ProspectOne of the most hotly anticipated novels of the year...it’s brilliant.
McEwan, as always, presents an engaging narrator... The plot is fantastic... McEwan plays with the readers expectations, and surpasses them all with a fabulous ending that makes me itch to re-read this superb novel all over again. Sweet Tooth marks another triumph for a brilliant British author.
—— Bookgeeks.co.ukA pleasing, tricksy beast with a subsumed sense of metatextuality likely to be pleasing to his fans.
—— BookmunchThis most cunning of authors entertains and manipulates his readers. Sweet Tooth is a masterclass in the art of fiction.
—— Paul Sidey , Book OxygenIan McEwan proves he’s still the master penman with his twelfth novel.
—— GraziaDazzling.
—— Essentials