Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

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Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

by Haruki Murakami, Alfred Birnbaum (Translator)

4.15 of 5 stars 4.15 · rating details · 32,827 ratings · 2,118 reviews

'A narrative particle accelerator that zooms between Wild Turkey Whiskey and Bob Dylan, unicorn skulls and voracious librarians, John Coltrane and Lord Jim. Science fiction, detective story and post-modern manifesto all rolled into one rip-roaring novel, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World is the tour de force that expanded Haruki Murakami's international follo...more

Paperback, 400 pages

Published September 28th 2001 by Vintage (first published 1985)

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Apr 04, 2013 Jenn(ifer) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: japanese, mmxiii, 5-f-ing-stars, awesomely-weird, my-reviews-that-dont-suck, own, read-in-2013, the-tops, you-should-read-this

Maybe you’ve heard it said before: in every joke there is a grain of truth. Well, as many of you may remember, I’ve been known to pick on Jay Rubin now and again for what I perceive to be his clunky translations of Murakami’s flawless prose. Because it couldn’t possibly be that Haruki is a clunky writer. Get that thought out of your head right now!! So I like to kid poor Jay and make him the scapegoat, but the more I think about it, the more validity I find in my little quips. You see, dear read...more
Maybe you’ve heard it said before: in every joke there is a grain of truth. Well, as many of you may remember, I’ve been known to pick on Jay Rubin now and again for what I perceive to be his clunky translations of Murakami’s flawless prose. Because it couldn’t possibly be that Haruki is a clunky writer. Get that thought out of your head right now!! So I like to kid poor Jay and make him the scapegoat, but the more I think about it, the more validity I find in my little quips. You see, dear reader, MY top three favorite Murakami novels were translated by this guy:Alfred Birnbaum. Hmmm, coincidence? I’m not so sure…

Translations aside, as I mentioned in my little place holder review, Murakami’s books are like comfort food for my soul. Let me explain this further. Like Haruki, I have a deep-seated love for music of all genres, and as a result I have a rather bloated music collection. Yet sometimes, for whatever reason, nothing I listen to pleases me. It is in these moments that I turn to Wilco. They never let me down. Something about the music is just so … cozy. It doesn't make me mopey; it doesn't pick at my scabs, trying to open a healing wound; it doesn't make me wallow in the murky waters of nostalgia. The music manages to contentedly complement whatever mood or psychic place I’m in.

What does this have to do with Murakami? Well, I feel the same sort of cozy feeling when I read one of his novels. When the experimental fictions are crushing my brain or nothing else is really revving my engine, I pick up a Murakami novel and all is right with the world again. I know I’ll be treated to a delicious, savory meal, a blend of musical delights, many an otherworldly adventure, and a couple of romps in the sack. Better than any date I’ve had in years.

KIDDING!

(Or am I?)

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World was no exception. In fact, in what I’ve come to love about Murakami, it is the rule. Mind bending, thought provoking, dreamlike and just a little bit sexy. Oh, and did I mention? Unicorns!

......

Once, when I was younger, I thought I could be someone else. I'd move to Casablanca, open a bar, and I'd meet Ingrid Bergman. Or more realistically - whether actually more realistic or not - I'd tune in on a better life, something more suited to my true self. Toward that end, I had to undergo training. I read The Greening of America, and I saw Easy Rider three times. But like a boat with a twisted rudder, I kept coming back to the same place. I wasn't anywhere. I was myself, waiting on the shore for me to return.

Here’s a little Wilco song that feels right at home with a Murakami novel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgWJwx...
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Feb 05, 2008 Brooke rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2008, fantasy

I'd previously read two Haruki Murakami novels, A Wild Sheep Chase, and After Dark, his earliest and most recent that have been translated into English, respectively. After hearing about how he was one of Japan's most beloved authors, I was really underwhelmed by those two offerings. Sheep was almost too bizarre to really appreciate, and After Dark was short and enjoyable, but nothing special. After reading Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World, however, I suddenly Got It.

The title refe...more I'd previously read two Haruki Murakami novels, A Wild Sheep Chase, and After Dark, his earliest and most recent that have been translated into English, respectively. After hearing about how he was one of Japan's most beloved authors, I was really underwhelmed by those two offerings. Sheep was almost too bizarre to really appreciate, and After Dark was short and enjoyable, but nothing special. After reading Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World, however, I suddenly Got It.

The title refers to the two portions of the book - Hardboiled Wonderland is about a man who mentally processes information for a living - it's vaguely sci-fi-ish, but not enough to turn off readers who aren't interested in sci-fi. This nameless man finds himself running for his life underground when various groups suddenly decide they want him for their purposes. The End of the World is about a man who suddenly arrives in a unicorn-filled town that is surrounded by a Wall. He doesn't know how he got there or where he was before, and he must have his shadow cut away from him in order to live within the Wall. The novel goes back and forth between each half, which eventually start to tie together.

It's kind of similar to Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, but that comparison will only take you so far. Murakami's nameless protagonists are more introspective than Gaiman's Richard Mayhew, and in the end, the focus is on what's going on within, rather than the action outside.

Despite flipping back and forth between the two halves, the novel flows very well. It kept my attention so well that I was eagerly looking forward to picking it up each time I had a chance to read, which is something I haven't felt about the last half-dozen or so books I've read. The novel was written in 1985, but other than the mention of cassettes, there was no sign that it was written over twenty years ago.

I'm really glad I didn't give up on Murakami after being disappointed by his first two that I read. Hopefully the rest of his books will hold some of the magic that Hardboiled Wonderland has, because I'll really feel let down if I go back to being underwhelmed again.(less)

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Apr 30, 2007 Andrew rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Fans of Murakami or fans of duality/dichotomy

This is your brain (an egg). This is your brain on Murakami (an egg sprouting arms and legs and attempting to hump other eggs while doing the Electric Slide and attempting to save the world to a killer soundtrack).

If you like Murakami, you'll like it, although it doesn't blend the two twisted sides of Murakami's writing as well as a book like "Norwegian Wood" or "Kafka on the Shore." In each of those novels, the reader gets transitions within chapters, and his talents for myth-telling in both t...more This is your brain (an egg). This is your brain on Murakami (an egg sprouting arms and legs and attempting to hump other eggs while doing the Electric Slide and attempting to save the world to a killer soundtrack).

If you like Murakami, you'll like it, although it doesn't blend the two twisted sides of Murakami's writing as well as a book like "Norwegian Wood" or "Kafka on the Shore." In each of those novels, the reader gets transitions within chapters, and his talents for myth-telling in both the mystical and mundane worlds is woven together like two different colored pieces of yarn, fraying and blending at the end. A depressed hippy juggles his daily life - student and record-store shop employee who occasionally trolls for women with his amoral college roommate - with his intensely personal life - a boy growing into a man, learning about love, heartbreak and death. A talking cat accompanies a small boy on his adventures, the boy eating a lot of diner food and not really doing much but hanging out at the library. These are the things you get with Murakami, but they usually coexist fairly nicely, driving toward a space where fantasy and reality decide to have a nice conversation.

"Hard Boiled Wonderland And The End Of The World" is aptly titled, because it really is two separate stories - the "And" is paramount - they are woven together, but more like two noodles can be woven together, but never quite mesh. Oddly, the formal structure of the book - one chapter in reality, one chapter in myth - lends itself to reading the two stories as each lending to the other, but one could almost (until the very end) read each one as independent of the other. Murakami's "reality" is far-flung and outlandish, but it obeys its own rules, and takes the reader for a nice tragic ride. The "myth" is much more prosaic and sedate, but is clearly too serene to be reality. Perhaps it is Murakami's commentary on life: truth is stranger than fiction, especially when the fiction is based on the truth is based on the fiction...

The novel could be an ouroboros, but instead it is a little like the hospital symbol of a serpent wrapped about a knife. To understand this, read the book. I can't describe it any better than this. It gets a four, because it's frankly a little too self-reflexive for me - no main character should really ever say, "Stuff like this only happens in novels," as far as I'm concerned - but it is a stylistic precursor to Murakami's most famous and best work (that I've read), "Kafka on the Shore," so you get to see how Murakami's style evolves, a dualistic peek into the development of a dichotomous author.

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Jan 21, 2012 Kristin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: i-own-it, read-in-2009, favorites, manic-murakami-madness

This is a complex novel, one that required two reads for me. It tells two stories in alternating chapters. In the first we meet a mild-mannered data processor, only all his "processing" is done inside his head. See... he can do this thing, or he had this thing done to him that allows him to access both hemispheres of his brain simultaneously yet separately. He gets recruited for some top-secret government project led by some mad scientist type, who lives holed up in a cave (under a waterfall) wi...more

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Oct 12, 2011 Chris rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Glass-eyed, marbled prison stare,
Functionless form that with will
Would coldly rend limb from limb.
Toothy gates, e'er sealed against
What would gnash and tear, strongly
Aflow with the crimson blood
Of a savaged savage god.

Dooby, dooby, do.

No exit, the maze.
The jazz, it plays.
Dress yes, no stays.
Eat meat, greens graze.

Tunnel-tied dust interludes abound.

Fat girl wrangled.
Grandpa mangled.
Outside dangled.
Inside strangled.

Such are the days when the spring winds down.

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Oct 08, 2012 vivliovision rated it 5 of 5 stars

"Some books are fast and some are slow, but no book can be understood if it is taken at the wrong speed"
Mark Van Doren [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Van... ]

"Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World" is captivating novel comprised of two disparate narratives, which bleed into each other. The gradual convergence of these story-lines, although it does not exactly pull an attentive reader up short, does have some dramatic effect on the perception of the story as a whole. In other words...more

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Jan 12, 2012 Stephen M rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: obras-maestras, thinking-of-a-dream-i-had

Right Brain

Upon the fields, yet of no snow,
frolic an acquiescence we yet to sow,
brilliant beasts, their golden fleece ready to unfurl,
trod this place, the end of the world.

Upon this fantasy, comes one of two
unnamed narrators who works in lieu
of status, volition; vagueness washes his mind,
all Kafkaesque, he becomes a dream-reading blind.

On a lost elevator in the counterpart plane
all events are concurrent and faintly the same;
the dyadic complement of the twin conscious
is a tech-savvy tokyoite obs...more

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Jan 11, 2013 Kay rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: people willing to suspend reality

Recommended to Kay by: a white rabbit

Shelves: all-time-favorites, here-and-now, japan, literary, mind-fuck, quirky, science-experiments-gone-wrong, touched-the-soul

Some people, myself included, just don't completely get Murakami. His storytelling style is in turns psychedelic and wildly unrestrained, but also carefully directed. It works for some people, and it falls miserably short for others.

There is so much contention on what Murakami's "best" and "worst" novels are. One person will claim one novel completely turned him off Murakami, while others will point to that same novel as what drew them to Murakami in the first place.

What I can really draw from...more

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Nov 06, 2009 RandomAnthony rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: murakami

The Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World gets my vote the most unique and frustrating book in the Murakami catalog. I got the feeling that there’s a little bit of the fan in Murakami in this text; his love of PK Dick, Vonnegut, etc. seems present, and I imagine passages of the book were great fun to write as a tribute, if you will, to his influences. However, the cold, metallic neurophysiology, whether accurate or not (I don’t know much about brain chemistry, so I can’t say one way or...more The Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World gets my vote the most unique and frustrating book in the Murakami catalog. I got the feeling that there’s a little bit of the fan in Murakami in this text; his love of PK Dick, Vonnegut, etc. seems present, and I imagine passages of the book were great fun to write as a tribute, if you will, to his influences. However, the cold, metallic neurophysiology, whether accurate or not (I don’t know much about brain chemistry, so I can’t say one way or the other) left me, for the first time in my long history with the author, hoping a long, clinical section near the middle of the book would end quickly. Luckily, the material bracketing that extended passage was strong although perhaps not coherent enough to place this book amongst Murakami’s best.

The book focuses in some ways on the conscious/unconscious reality/perceptual ground familiar to readers of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and After Dark. Murakami changes the context from the isolation of the well or mysterious rooms one can only sometimes enter to a place where brains are modified in ways that bridge or fail to bridge the conscious and unconscious minds for strategic purposes. In other words, Murakami places this book’s world, for better or for worse, firmly in the land of science fiction. The “other” realm, full of unicorns, retired generals, and demure librarians, is a rich, thoughtful meditation on the ways in which different parts of our consciousness interact. College students looking for term paper fodder related to fiction and Jung/Campbell would have a field day with this book.

But does that make for a great Murakami novel? No. While (in my eyes, and I know Murakami is one of those “love/hate” goodreads authors) most of the author’s work is transcendent and inspiring, The Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World earns those descriptors on rare and brief occasions. The book is good, interesting, even, but serves more as an intellectual exercise than a fun, “this is why I love books” read. For fans only.

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Jun 30, 2010 Jimmy rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: japan, male, novel, year-1980s, and-a-half-stars

I have a long history with Murakami. I first read him about eleven years ago. I read The Elephant Vanishes, and loved it. Then I read a couple more. I don't remember the order: Dance Dance Dance, A Wild Sheep Chase, South of the Border West of the Sun, maybe a couple more. I loved them all. Then I tried Wind-Up Bird Chronicles and I just hit a wall. I had finally overdosed on Murakami. I couldn't get into it no matter how I tried, even though I didn't see anything objectively wrong with the book...more I have a long history with Murakami. I first read him about eleven years ago. I read The Elephant Vanishes, and loved it. Then I read a couple more. I don't remember the order: Dance Dance Dance, A Wild Sheep Chase, South of the Border West of the Sun, maybe a couple more. I loved them all. Then I tried Wind-Up Bird Chronicles and I just hit a wall. I had finally overdosed on Murakami. I couldn't get into it no matter how I tried, even though I didn't see anything objectively wrong with the book. It was just as good as the others.

I think Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World was next on my list, but I never got around to it, because of that block. I had heard a bunch of good things about this book, so I was excited about it, but I couldn't take anymore lonely male protagonists taken on a mysterious ride where he himself didn't know what the mission was, but knew it involved a woman in his life disappearing, or some such variation on that theme.

If I'd went ahead and read this book then, I might have liked it a lot, because it doesn't follow that mold as closely. It's the only one I've read with alternating chapters/storylines and it's the only one where things get weird from the very start instead of starting normal and slowly getting weirder.

But I didn't read it then. I read it now, in 2010, and I feel like I've gotten over my Murakami phase. Many passages fell flat to my ears, especially the dialogue, perhaps because of the translation? Or maybe it was flat as well in the original language? Also, the conceit felt sci-fi in a bad way, like vague and unconvincing, (INKlings?) and everything revolved around twists and turns of the plot instead of character development. These characters didn't have any depth at all, or were totally unbelievable (a 17 year old who wears all pink all the time, down to her undies?) or had totally inexplicable motivations for their actions, and even the narrator didn't feel real to me even though I'm in his head reading his thoughts.

On the positive side, there were some ideas that were interesting to me. Like this one (please try to ignore the professor's phony accent...that's not the "positive part" I'm trying to show):

"The encyclopedia wand's a theoretical puzzle, like Zeno's paradox. The idea is t'engrave the entire encyclopedia onto a single toothpick. Know how you do it?"

"You tell me."

"You take your information, your encyclopedia text, and you transpose it into numerics. You assign everything a two-digit number, periods and commas included. 00 is a blank, A is 01, B is 02, and so on. Then after you've lined them all up, you put a decimal point before the whole lot. So now you've got a very long sub-decimal fraction. 0.173000631... Next, you engrave a mark at exactly that point along the toothpick. If 0.50000's your exact middle on the toothpick, then 0.3333's got t'be a third of the way from the tip. You follow?"

"Sure."

"That's how you can fit data of any length in a single point on a toothpick. Only theoretically, of course. No existin' technology can actually engrave so fine a point. But this should give you a perspective on what tautologies are like. Say time's the length of your toothpick. The amount of information you can pack into it doesn't have anything t'do with the length. Make the fraction as long as you want. It'll be finite, but pretty near eternal. Though if you make it a repeatin' decimal, why, then it is eternal. You understand what that means? The problem's the software, no relation to the hardware. It could be a toothpick or a two-hundred-meter timber or the equator - doesn't matter. Your body dies, your consciousness passes away, but your thought is caught in the one tautological point an instant before, subdividin' for an eternity. Think about the koan: An arrow is stopped in flight. Well, the death of the body is the flight of the arrow. It's makin' a straight line for the brain. No dodgin' it, not for anyone. People have t'die, the body has t'fall. Time is hurlin' that arrow forward. And yet, like I was sayin', thought goes on subdividin' that time for ever and ever. The paradox becomes real. The arrow never hits."

"In other words," I said, "immortality."

"There you are. Humans are immortal in their thought. Though strictly speakin', not immortal, but endlessly, asymptotically close to immortal. That's eternal life."

Towards the middle of this book, I was convinced that there would be a plot twist at the end where you would find out that the "real" world was the End of the World and the "world in his head" would actually be the one where the professor and the chubby girl lived. This ending never came to pass (I'm thankful, cause I hate guessing endings correctly), but reading another reviewer (Eccentric Muse), I realized a related and cogent point: the unicorn world was written in a much more believable way than the sci-fi tokyo supposedly real world. If this was a conscious decision on Murakami's part, he wasn't able to pull it together to make it look intentional. Instead, it just felt like some really bad writing. What gives?(less)

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Jun 07, 2008 Tosh rated it 4 of 5 stars

For the Murakami fan, a great essay by him in today's Guardian about writing and running. A must read for the writer and runner.

http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/w...

Murakami is a rare type of writer for me. If one describe his novels, I would probably not be interested in them. But the thing is he is such a fantastic writer (as well as the translations) that one can't help but be caught up in the dual-narrative of his novels.

And not that strange my favorite Murakami is his one non-fiction bo...more

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Oct 22, 2012 Rob rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: all-time-favorites, own, 2008, 100-paperbacks, 2012

This book was just a mind-blowing read through and through. It's like packaged brain damage. In a good way.

--- upon 2nd read: ---
Obviously not as surprising on the second but equally potent. Great extended metaphor for mechanisms of learning and memory. And its craft does not diminish.

--- Murakami meta-commentary: ---
ALSO: Does anyone have any idea what is up with Murakami's apparent fascination with juvenile female supporting-perhaps-even-central plot characters? E.g., Dance Dance Dance ; e.g.,...more

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Jan 08, 2013 Nuno rated it 5 of 5 stars

I'm speechless, and I can bet professor didn't cut my sound off, but that's a whole other story, except that it actually isn't.

This is Murakami at his best. I've now read the majority of his major works, being this, doubtlessly, his foremost. Well, I won't lie, saying that I didn't roll my eyes out of exasperation and annoyance whilst reading the first chapters with all of these particularly unfamiliar characters. The basic thoughts of 'oh-my-god-not-this-I'm-a-middle-aged-guy-caught-in-the-midd...more

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Apr 02, 2011 K.D. Oliveros rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to K.D. by: Dra. Ranee

Shelves: asian, sci-fi

This is an OK Murakami. My 8th and still counting. I will always admire his imagination, creativity and passion in writing. He will always be in my Top 10 Favorite Novelists list. But I am rating this as an OK book. Not my favorite Murakami. The reason? It just did not excite me.

Since I became an voracious reader and that happened partly because of Goodreads, I only religiously watch two shows: news (whichever I catch upon coming back home at night) and American Idol. Reading Hard-boiled Wonderl...more

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Aug 07, 2009 Lori (Hellian) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Rating to come.

First impressions on finishing:

I found this book so different than anything else Murakami has written. Oh yeah, it's Murakami all right - the aloneness and isolation of people, the stillness even in the craziness of what's going on. But this one was foreboding, very heavy as in pressure building in my brain while reading. For some reason it was very hard for me to read, not in the actual process of reading which was very flowing and simple, but it made me feel like I wanted to imp...more

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Apr 19, 2008 Yulia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: by-and-of-japan

It's been two years or more since I read this, but in that time, my regard for it has only grown. It's unfortunate Jay Rubin didn't translate it, as there were several awkward passages that I'd hope he would have done differently than Birnbaum, but not knowing Japanese, I have o way of knowing what Murakami intended or which translation takes more artistic license in his work. But these small lumps aside, it was a great feat to mix or go between a more recognizable world and an alternative reali...more

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Mar 31, 2013 td Whittle rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites, td-whittle-reviews

So here’s the thing about Haruki Murakami that turns my brain into fairy floss: how is it that this 60ish Japanese guy writes in such a way that I feel he is exploring not only his own psychic underworld, but also mine? (I should mention here that I am not likewise a 60ish Japanese guy.) Given his rampant popularity across cultures, I am assuming I am not the only one who has this experience. His fans seem to return to him like … Well, like whatever the 2013 version of a crack whore returning to...more

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May 25, 2010 Jennifer (aka EM) rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Jennifer (aka EM) by: Ben

Shelves: read-only-coz-of-gr

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. My last status update for this book claimed that it redeemed itself in the end, but I'm having second thoughts about that, hence the 2-star rating.

My two stars should not put anyone else off this. It's more a reflection of the sense of disappointment I have overall when something doesn’t live up to its early promise. (In some ways, an average book that turns out to be average has an advantage over a high-potential book that disappoints.)

Since this is my first Murakami, the 2-star rating also do...more

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Dec 18, 2008 Julia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: literature lovers

Recommended to Julia by: my daughter

Shelves: magical-realism, my-top-ten

Murakami is one of my top 10 authors, and this is my favorite book by him. He's part of the magical realism world, with the emphasis in this book on the "magical". The story alternates chapters that have 3 word titles (the "real" world) with those having 1 word titles (the world of the protagonist's core consciousness). The "man" is never named, but has been part of an experiment in the "real" world where he can "shuffle" data (sort of like Keanu Reeves in "Johnny Mnemonic"). However, he gets tr...more

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Sep 11, 2010 Bucletina rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Incipiente muestra de aquel estilo que Murakami habría de llevar a su máxima expresión en "Crónica del pájaro que da cuerda al mundo" y "Kafka en la orilla". Al leerlo conviene dejarse llevar y expandir el pensamiento para poder disfrutarlo. No da respuestas acabadas, no posee una estructura tradicionalmente lógica ni cierra nada. Quizás por eso mismo es que, quienes nunca hayan leído a este autor, puede que encuentren esta novela un tanto psicodélica y confusa. Para mí es Murakami puro.

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Dec 08, 2012 Jason Coleman rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: greatest-hits

Blew my Thanksgiving break and plenty of free time afterwards (I'm a slow reader) on this thing, struggling to stay engaged but determined to push on because I had already dropped out of it once before so I figured it was now or never with this book, and because I've read a ton of Murakami and I'm a believer.

In the end, my highly subjective opinion is that it is...okay. The dual-narrative structure sucks the book a little dry, I feel. There is an austere fantasy set in a snowy mountain village (...more Blew my Thanksgiving break and plenty of free time afterwards (I'm a slow reader) on this thing, struggling to stay engaged but determined to push on because I had already dropped out of it once before so I figured it was now or never with this book, and because I've read a ton of Murakami and I'm a believer.

In the end, my highly subjective opinion is that it is...okay. The dual-narrative structure sucks the book a little dry, I feel. There is an austere fantasy set in a snowy mountain village (echoes of Kafka's castle) that is consistently compelling—I particularly like how the gatekeeper severs the hero's shadow from his body with a knife, and the shadow continues to live on its own—but the bulk of the pages are taken up by a cyber-noir plot that is far too drawn out. The novel is from 1984, so Murakami was way ahead of the curve with the hacking, encrypting, and information warfare of this main story, I'll give him that. There's a nice scene in which the hero is roughed up by a couple of thugs searching for data, and the librarian girlfriend, who represents the free flow of information (and who spends much of the book naked), is one of the author's more endearing heroines. But the uncanny blend of gripping story and flat-out mindfuck that made A Wild Sheep Chase such a trip is not repeated. The various themes—thought persisting beyond physical death, evolution as a contemporary force, the duality of the body and the mind—fail to gain much traction, and there is little suspense: the thugs never return, and even the subterranean monsters on the hero's heels ("We can't stop here. If we stop we'll be dragged off and liquefied," he is rather memorably warned) turn out to be of little threat. Murakami's heart doesn't seem to be in it. His love for the mundane keeps gnawing at the story. (Only in a Murakami novel would a man faced with just 24 hours to live spend part of that time in a laundromat.) The author has not yet hit on the surreal lyricism that will blossom in The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. Plot is having its way with him, and is being its usual tiresome self.(less)

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Sep 13, 2011 Jason rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2011, e-books

4 Stars

I am giving this book four stars solely on the merits of Murakami. Their simply is no other author remotely like him. Couple this with the fact that these are translated works, I am blown away at the quality of his writing. The prose in his novels is delectable, lyrical, and at most times a bit magical too. His novelization is bold with structures that match. This is my 4th Murakami novel, I am an enamored fan.

In this bookThe Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, Murakami has c...more 4 Stars

I am giving this book four stars solely on the merits of Murakami. Their simply is no other author remotely like him. Couple this with the fact that these are translated works, I am blown away at the quality of his writing. The prose in his novels is delectable, lyrical, and at most times a bit magical too. His novelization is bold with structures that match. This is my 4th Murakami novel, I am an enamored fan.

In this book The Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, Murakami has created a pseudo sci-fi story that involves reality and a made up reality. We get alternating chapters that move both story lines forward without actually crossing one another. The plot is unclear for most of the novel as the characters struggle to comprehend their place in their worlds. Only by the end do the stories touch each other. Murakami explores some major themes some cross boundaries into religion and the time space continuum. There is a bit of cyberpunk and other science fiction fun too.

I enjoyed this book. I was swept away into the fantasy land that Murakami has created. I loved the writing, the description, and the prose. I am a fan of alternating chapters and POV's. This is not a long novel, and I liked that too. There are many things left unsaid, questions not answered, and reasons not told, but together these things make his novel work.

I was a little let down in that I never got the emotional attachment to this book like I did to Kafka on the Shore or The Windup-Bird Chronicle. The book often felt a bit sterile to me which left me feeling unattached.

Haruki Murakami is one of the most unique authors to ever pen a book. In my opinion he is one the greatest living today. His books will move you, stay with you, and be part of you long after you finish a read. Classes could focus on dissecting his books and never run out of material or new ideas. I highly recommend Murakami to all readers. The Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World is a very accessible start into the wonderful world of Murakami.(less)

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Feb 03, 2009 Art Noose rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Art by: Pittsburgh dystopian science fiction club

This is the first book I've read for my dystopic science fiction book club. I'm not sure if I enjoyed it so much because it's amazing or if it just resonated with me at this moment, like the sound of a dream being tapped out of a unicorn skull.

It took me over half the book to realize that this is really two books in one, each one with a different running header (a term introduced to me by my housemate). I do like books that jump back and forth, whether between stories or in time. These ones star...more

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Apr 16, 2013 Mark rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bleak-ass-ice-box

Some vases, some situations, some emptiness, some longing, some fulfillment, some musings, some randomness, some music, some sex, some eating, some reading, some sleeping, some driving, some climbing, some INKlings, some organizations, some Turgenev, some Dylan, some water, some snow, some pink, some cassettes, some underthings, some deviance, some sincerity, some e.d.

All these ingredients, all the praise, I may've put too much weight on Murakami's shoulders. M is a big fan of Raymond Carver, on...more Some vases, some situations, some emptiness, some longing, some fulfillment, some musings, some randomness, some music, some sex, some eating, some reading, some sleeping, some driving, some climbing, some INKlings, some organizations, some Turgenev, some Dylan, some water, some snow, some pink, some cassettes, some underthings, some deviance, some sincerity, some e.d.

All these ingredients, all the praise, I may've put too much weight on Murakami's shoulders. M is a big fan of Raymond Carver, one of my favorites too, and that also put a lot of unnecessary weight on this, my first time out with Murakami's work.

The ingredients listed as above would have had me jumping up and down to read this, no matter what configuration I found them in. The one I found lacking is the one that I appreciate most in a good novel or short story: characters. As I read I felt fleeting moments of connection to the folks I met. I like to feel like I'm a little bee riding on the characters' shoulders, living their lives with them. Quite a bit of the time (say, 60 to 70 percent) I felt like I was viewing the characters from the wrong end of a pair of binoculars. I could see them. I could sorta make out what they were doing. But I felt no real connection to them. That still left at least 30 percent of the time that I did. Those were nice little glimpses of what folks who really dig M's work must see, and it makes me both envious of them and eager to try another, later novel.

The language both intrigued me and sometimes left me wanting. There's either a kinship in Murakami and Carver's writing styles, or Murakami was influenced by Carver's style. I'm not sure which. The simplicity and directness of M's sentences made Wonderland a fast, if not always impressive read. The difference between M's and Carver's simplicity is that, to me, Carver could pack so much into his sentences. There were moments when Murakami pulled this off as well, but I often felt that the weight was more thin-air than substance. It felt overly sincere in some places, devoid of emotion in others.

Being unfamiliar with M's work prior to this, I'm unable to say what sort of "Murakami tropes" (is that what they're called?) show up in this novel. There was a winking hokeyness in some of the characters' dialog. It was as though it was there for the ironic quality, the nod to hipsterdom, but more often than not all of these instances felt flat to me and took away from a genuine moment Murakami managed to create. One of the characters is a typical mad scientist who, in his mad sciencey way, sometimes took things too far. The way this character speaks, he sounds like he belongs in a hill-folk novel set in eastern Tennessee. Lots of "eh?s" and "bubs". I could not help rolling my eyes every time this character spoke.

There's something that happens a ways into the novel and it's a kind of revelation so I hesitate to mention anything about it, but since I'm already typing I'll dance around it. There's this revelation and after it happens I lost quite a bit of interest in the story. It felt like it was a revelation revealed to soon which didn't give me much incentive to see what happened next. Really, I would have preferred this to be left out completely. If one were fully connected to the characters, I suppose this revelation would not matter so much, and may even be welcome.

This seems like a weird place to stop, but I'm sleepy. If I think of more to tell you, Goodreads Review Box, I'll tell you later. Been nice talkin to you. Oh, oh, and I am curious to try more of M's work; maybe something where his vivid, kitchen-sink imagination is more coalesced (less)

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Sep 04, 2011 Matt rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-fiction, fantasy

In Franz Kafka's often-overshadowed novel The Castle the main character is a land surveyor, who spends the entirety of the story trying to gain entry into a big walled castle to do his job. His efforts are basically to no real end, until he is finally told he is going to be allowed in while he is on his death bed. Haruki Murakami is often compared to Kafka, and I would say that Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World is the first of his novels that I have read in which this influence is...more In Franz Kafka's often-overshadowed novel The Castle the main character is a land surveyor, who spends the entirety of the story trying to gain entry into a big walled castle to do his job. His efforts are basically to no real end, until he is finally told he is going to be allowed in while he is on his death bed. Haruki Murakami is often compared to Kafka, and I would say that Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World is the first of his novels that I have read in which this influence is on the forefront.

There are two stories being told in the novel. One of them follows an unnamed narrator as he works for a mysterious professor cracking codes, only to suddenly find that government agents and various groups of not-so-nice people want something from in. He basically gets dragged into the middle of an information war that seems to be straight out of a cyberpunk novel. There are moments throughout this arch that had me thinking of the ridiculous bureaucracy and government tomfoolery of Kafka's The Trial.

The other story, and in many ways, the other side of the same coin, has another unnamed narrator who comes to a strange walled city giving away his shadow for the gift of being able to read dreams from animal skulls. The Town in which he resides is completely walled around, and only the birds are able to escape. It calls back to the aforementioned The Castle in that the narrator essentially finds himself in the completely opposite situation.

It took me a long while to get into this novel. Actually, I didn't even realize it was two different stories until about a quarter of the way, so spent the early part confused. It wasn't until a little more than halfway through that everything started to come together in my head, and I started to appreciate the brilliance and, for lack of a better word, how Kafkaesque it really was. Being a fan of Kafka, I appreciate this, and ended up really enjoying the novel as it went on. I was convinced early on that this was going to be my least favorite of Murakami's works, but in the end I was really into it. It's no Kafka on the Shore or Norwegian Wood, but is certainly another mark in Murakami's ever-growing win column. (less)

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Jan 19, 2009 ari rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: idealists, cynics, and everyone in-between

Hardboiled Wonderland is my third Murakami novel and fourth book over the course of the last six months, and my admiration for his writing has developed from a puppy love to a mature one. Gone are the expectations of flawlessness and romanticism because I feel like I now know what to expect, but what remains is even more compelling and significant to me.

There are still aspects of Murakami (and/or his translations) that really irk me, much like moving in with a significant other only to find tha...more Hardboiled Wonderland is my third Murakami novel and fourth book over the course of the last six months, and my admiration for his writing has developed from a puppy love to a mature one. Gone are the expectations of flawlessness and romanticism because I feel like I now know what to expect, but what remains is even more compelling and significant to me.

There are still aspects of Murakami (and/or his translations) that really irk me, much like moving in with a significant other only to find that they load the dishwasher the wrong way, but his offerings are so numerous and fascinating that I have never even considered putting down one of his books for good.

I would group Hardboiled Wonderland with Kafka on the Shore, and I find myself resisting to call them contemporary fables. Perhaps I am tempted to find some sort of moral insinuation in his writing, but then again it was the lack of moral pontificating that drew me to his books in the first place. He may write with them in mind, but he hides them well enough as to warrant multiple interpretations, which is the most you can hope for in any piece of artwork. Even more significant is that I was able to use his writing to reflect on my own life in this moment, without much effort.

His imagination is so foreign to mine, that I am wholly and completely consumed by it. Both Hardboiled Wonderland and Kafka remind me of Spirited Away in the way that they could meld such existential darkness with the true, small (and possibly fleeting) pleasures of life: food, records, maintaining company with friends and acquaintances, helping others in times of need, the occasional drink, finding satisfying work, and extraordinary adventure, all socially-constructed inventions of the human condition. There are others I have omitted, I'm sure, but they differ for everyone.

My only significant gripe with Murakami (the verbal tick, the facial blemish, the object of disdain one maybe later come to love) is his obsession with cultural specifics. Such a characteristic part of his work, I find his penchant to describe his Nike bag or Toyota car so incredibly distracting that I almost threaten filing for divorce. But if you can get through that, I would hope that your marriage will have been as successful as ours is, blemishes and all, coming to terms with my own faults while learning to love theirs. To quote the great Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting, if I may, "the question is not whether you're perfect or she's perfect; it's whether you're perfect for each other." The ring stays on. (less)

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Dec 03, 2008 Rachel rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone

It was a very interesting book. Kept you guessing and the sci fi factor was very well done.

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Jun 10, 2009 Marvin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Another amazing novel by Haruki Murakami. The book is actually two stories told in alternating chapters: "Hardboiled Wonderland" is a Chandleresque science fiction detective tale about a sort of cyber-empath that is caught between two factors, The System and The Factory which are fighting for dominance. "The End of the World" is a Kafka influenced fantasy about a town in which unicorns exists and the inhabitants are separated from their shadows. The main protagonist comes to this world with no m...more

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Apr 09, 2013 Mary rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: murakami-melancholia, fiction, bleak-ass-ice-box, japanese-authors, 2013

This book contains (view spoiler).

Approximately.

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Apr 23, 2013 Jinan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: translated-into-english

This is the third novel that I’ve read by Murakami, and my favorite so far. Though I have yet to delve into any of his other works, I can see a common trend between the narrators of his stories: usually an isolated, 30-ish bachelor with surprisingly Western tastes in music and literature, and who is less than satisfied with his job and life. That being said, I really liked the narrator of Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. His meticulous descriptions and cynical, dry outlook and re...more This is the third novel that I’ve read by Murakami, and my favorite so far. Though I have yet to delve into any of his other works, I can see a common trend between the narrators of his stories: usually an isolated, 30-ish bachelor with surprisingly Western tastes in music and literature, and who is less than satisfied with his job and life. That being said, I really liked the narrator of Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. His meticulous descriptions and cynical, dry outlook and responses to the outrageous happenings in his life often had me chuckling to myself or cracking a smile—I really enjoy dry humor. The other characters were just as intriguing, if not more so: from the eccentric Professor with his collection of animal skulls, to the Chubby girl shrouded in pink from head to toe, all added more color and depth to the overall craziness of Murakami’s world. Oh, and another thing: none of the characters are given formal names. I had noticed the same thing when I read A Wild Sheep Chase, and though I found it strange at first, it made me wonder about the true nature of names. I mean, in the end, I still grew attached to the characters either way—names wouldn’t have made a difference, other than for easy identification.

But anyways, about the story itself, I found myself truly enchanted by it. The alternation between the two worlds—“Hard-boiled Wonderland” and “The End of the World”—added a sense of mystery that made it nearly impossible to put down. I loved how they balanced each other out as well. “Hard-boiled Wonderland” was fast-paced and where all of the action took place, within a somewhat-futuristic Tokyo, while “The End of the World” had a more solemn, dream-like atmosphere—a calming break from all of the action. The symbols within The Town, such as the removal of shadows, the Wall, and the Beasts, among others, raised deep questions about the concept of the human mind, identity and consciousness, and I loved that there was something sinister underlying this seemingly perfect world.

What really stuck with me were the beautiful images and insightful quotations in this book. For example, golden wisps of light emanating from unicorn skulls may sound a bit creepy to some, but I felt that this made the experience more surreal. Murakami is an outstanding writer with an unparalleled imagination, and any who appreciate good prose and descriptions can at least enjoy this book on that level, though “magical realism” may not appeal to everyone.

Though I’ve only skimmed over the surface about this book, I would recommend it to anyone and hope that they find it as enjoyable as I have. Oh, and there were unicorns! Unicorns are reason enough to want to read this.(less)

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About Haruki Murakami

Haruki Murakami (村上春樹) is a popular contemporary Japanese writer and translator. His work has been described as 'easily accessible, yet profoundly complex'.

Since childhood, Murakami has been heavily influenced by Western culture, particularly Western music and literature. He grew up reading a range of works by American writers, such as Kurt Vonnegut and Richard Brautigan, and he is often disting...more

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