1Q84
by 村上春樹
★ Top 25 book of 2009 · #20 on Best Books of 2009
Set in an invented world where two moons hang in the sky, this novel blends a sentimental love story with cults, assassinations and disturbing sex. Its title riffs on Orwell's 1984, and it earned a Man Asian Literary Prize longlisting.
Best for: Readers who enjoy genre-blending stories with love, danger and a strange alternate world
1Q84 is #20 on BookWard's Best Books of 2009, out of 42 2009 books that cleared our data bar.
What 1Q84 is about
Two moons hang in the sky of a world that looks almost like our own, and the year is nudged just slightly off its usual name. Haruki Murakami's novel mixes a love story that plays with the nature of fiction itself with a darker thriller thread of cults, assassinations and grotesque sex. The title is a wink at George Orwell's famous year, spoken the way it sounds in Japanese. The mood is surreal and haunting, with a melancholy ache of loneliness running beneath the strangeness. It was longlisted for the 2011 Man Asian Literary Prize. Readers who enjoy dreamlike alternate realities will find a long, absorbing book here.
1Q84 on the Best Books of 2009
1Q84 came out in 2009. Of the 42 books first published in 2009 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #20 on our Best Books of 2009 list.
Why it made the list: 458 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.8 out of 5 (66 ratings). The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
Nearby on the 2009 list
- Fallen (Fallen #1) Lauren Kate, #18
- Where the Mountain Meets the Moon Grace Lin, #19
- The Magicians Lev Grossman, #21
- Too Big to Fail Andrew Ross Sorkin, #22
See all Best Books of 2009 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 2008 Best Books of 2010.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 349 want to read it, 8 are reading it now and 101 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 3.8 out of 5 from 66 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 74 | 55% |
| Reader love | 26 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 24 | 20% |
Questions about 1Q84
When was 1Q84 published?
1Q84 by 村上春樹 was first published in 2009.
Was 1Q84 one of the best books of 2009?
1Q84 is #20 on BookWard's Best Books of 2009, out of 42 2009 books that cleared our data bar. 458 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.8 out of 5 (66 ratings).
Why is 1Q84 on the Best Books of 2009 list?
458 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.8 out of 5 (66 ratings).
More of the best books of 2009
- The Last Olympian Rick Riordan, #1
- Catching Fire Suzanne Collins, #2
- The Maze Runner James Dashner, #3
- The Help Kathryn Stockett, #4
- Dork Diaries Rachel Renée Russell, #5
- I Will Teach You to Be Rich Ramit Sethi, #6
See the full Best Books of 2009, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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