There's one book that was making headlines recently – Haruki Murakami's 1Q84. There is a lot of publicity surrounding this book; some argue it is because this in-demand author had taken a long time before releasing a new novel while other argue that it was due to the secrecy surrounding the actual story of the novel. Whatever the case, there was quite a buzz when the book was released. The book itself is a two-parter with a third part set for release in 2010. The English version of this novel will come out in 2011.

The synopsis of this story has been shrouded in secrecy. I mean, the book has been released for a while and readers are still quiet about revealing details. This in itself is refreshing as it prevents the story from being spoiled for others. Judging from past controversies regarding his stories (more on that below), I am guessing that this is a deliberate move by readers.

So far, here's what I gathered about the novel. The plot is basically a love story. There are other events, rather mysterious seemingly unrelated events. I say seemingly because folks almost hint that it just might be important later. Oh and while I am at it, readers have pointed out that the year 1984 is significant to the plot. A lot of the turning points or significant events occur in this time period and most of this involves rather unusual characters. In fact, folks imply that there is a bit of fantasy/sci fi theme going on involving an alternate universe. Then, there is a weird religious cult, a writer and a PE instructor, to name just a few elements worth noting.

On to the controversy regarding the author. It seems that a few spoilers of one of his earlier works were revealed. It would appear that it negatively affected fans who were upset about such revelations. The gist of it was that there was supposed to be a lot of mystery involved and someone somewhere might have made a few references to the proverbial butler did it phrase.