Five Things I (re)Learned From Haruki Murakami's 1Q84 Over the Weekend

1. "True, rewriting the past probably had no meaning, Tengo felt. His older girlfriend had been right about that. No matter how passionately or how minutely he might attempt to rewrite the past, the present circumstances in which he found himself would remain generally unchanged. Time had the power to cancel all changes wrought by human artifice, overwriting all new revisions with further revisions, returning the flow to its original course. A few minor facts might be changed, but Tengo would still be Tengo."

2. "Wakeful nights often give people useless thoughts."

3. "Unfortunately, however, sheer talent is not enough. And depending upon how you look at it, possessing an outstanding talent that is not sufficient may be more dangerous than possessing nothing at all."

4. "Certain kinds of knowledge rob people of their sleep. Green tea is no match for these things. They might take restful sleep away from you forever."

5. "Tengo closed his eyes again, took a deep breath, found the words he needed and set them in a row. Then he rearranged them to give the image greater clarity and prevision. Finally, he improved the rhythm."