The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Way I Feel

Ambivalent. IQ84, Haruki Murakami's 1,000-page (or thereabouts) tome, is out. You'll see that enigmatic cover girl's face staring from every bookstore window. Now I have to decide whether to download it onto my brand-new e-reader or listen to the audiobook. It might be a bit overwhelming to make something that epic in scale the first thing I read on my... thing. On the other hand, I'm not sure if I want to commit 40+ hours to listening to it. That would take more than a month if I just listened while commuting. But I don't know how long it would take me to read 1,000 pages of surreal Japanese-translated-to-English prose, either.

I wish this book was being published in installments, as it was in Japan -- it was divided into three novels there. If I had an IQ of 84, it might make the decision easier.... By the way, the Japanese pronunciation of "Q" is similar to how we English-speakers say "nine". So the title is a play on Orwell's 1984, and in fact, the novel is set in that year. Clever, Haruki.