Tree

    

At midnight December 31st my Christmas tree turns into a New Year's tree. 

Disco

Finally I have a disco ball in my bathroom. 

Xmas REALLY?

Ha, just because this is a blog that is basically about things I like, doesn't mean everything is sunshine and kittens. 

Here's some kittens anyway. Well, uh, cats. 

WHY am I not feeling the Xmas?? why? Isn't that the most hideous linoleum you've ever seen? I kind of like it, it keeps me humble. How great can I be with linoleum like that? Puts me right in my place, that linoleum. 

Le Sigh. Quasi-stepchildren coming over later and we are making cocoa and decorating the tree while a yule log video plays in the background. If that doesn't put me in the holiday mood, I officially give up on myself. 

Testing Blogger iPhone

I have to say, this is a proud moment.

I've been meaning to do this for months. 

1Q84

Well, Hello.

I am finally ready to get started here at Enthusiast HQ. So what will I be enthusiastic about today?

It's not very useful to you for me to recommend the weather, and the delicious blackberries I just ate are probably not available to you either, so it will have to be 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami.

More portable than sunshine and easier to find than perfectly ripe berries, 1Q84 is a pleasure that I would recommend to any Murakami fan. I even think it wouldn't be a terrible place to start for anyone new to Murakami, although really to start at the very most accessible place, I would pick up Norwegian Wood. For god's sake, do not start with Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, like I did. I love WUBC, but I had to be patient with my own inability to understand what was going on more than I would like.

1Q84, by contrast, is really pretty clear cut. I mean, there are parallel worlds and what-not, but you'll be able to follow along. Besides, the narrators don't always know what's going on, why should you? They figure it out eventually, and you will too, just be patient. It's not one of those books that you read just for the beautiful descriptions or the insight into those small human moments that make us more intelligible to each other. There is plenty of both, but what actually happens or doesn't happen becomes very important to the reader. I think this is what my English teacher used to call "plot," so looked down upon in our post-modern literature. I guess the element of an alternate world might also find disapproval, but that's one of things I love about Murakami. He doesn't care. It works and it works beautifully, so he allows it in, and it's great.

Murakami is fantastic at building ambiguous worlds and people. Aomame the controlled hit-woman, Tengu the quiet math teacher/writer, Fuka-Eri the seemingly inert catalyst, even Ushikawa the amoral private investigator all reveal a complexity that is fascinating to anyone who has ever tried to understand another human being. They are as familiar and strange as eating peanut butter and jelly on the moon. The scene with Aomame and the cult leader alone is worth the price of admission and every minute of time you have spent reading to get to it.

1Q84 may be my favorite Murakami novel, and I am delighted to have spent the hours it required. I recommend you give it a chance and allow yourself to visit its world of air chrysalises, secret ghost writers, and two people who may or may not ever meet.