TOKYO (AFP) — The new novel by Japanese cult author Haruki Murakami has become an instant bestseller with its latest print run pushing it over half-a-million copies in less than two weeks, the publisher said on Tuesday.
The two-volume work "1Q84" is Murakami's first novel in five years, and the publisher said it was working hard to rush out its eighth print run on only the 12th day of its Japanese-language release.
The run will push publication to a combined 1.06 million volumes -- 560,000 copies of part one and 500,000 copies of part two -- Shinchosha Publishing Co. said.
"It is the fastest pace to the 500,000 mark for any book published by our company," said a Shinchosha editor.
Murakami, 60, a former Tokyo jazz bar owner often mentioned as a Nobel literature prize contender, has struck a global chord with his sensitive tales of the absurdity and loneliness of modern life.
The publisher and Murakami, who rarely gives media interviews, kept a veil over "1Q84," which can be read as "1984" in Japanese, after many readers asked not be told about the plot before reading the novel.
"It wasn't a sales strategy. But we are glad to see readers enjoying the novel more in that way," said the editor, who admitted that the mystery around the book had helped boost sales.
Murakami's novels, which have drawn international acclaim and been translated into almost 40 languages, include the titles "Norwegian Wood," "Kafka on the Shore" and "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle."
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