Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World
by Haruki Murakami
|
|
| published
| 2001
by Vintage
|
| first published
| 2006 |
| binding
| Paperback |
| isbn
|
0099448785
(isbn13: 9780099448785)
|
| pages
| 416 |
| date added
|
12-14-06
|
|
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Read in February, 2007
recommends it for:
off-tangents
Imagination. Do not read the book if you do not have it.
Hard-boiled Wonderland is an exercise of imagination if you run out of daydream. An imagination that takes you out of your shell but later sets you back grounded. It is a book that requires sheer imagination, so you can understand humor in reality especially the ordinary ones.
Haruki writes 2 stories in alternate sequence - one seeming to be the prelude of the end of the world, another a wonderland - but likely to converge in one plo...more
Imagination. Do not read the book if you do not have it.
Hard-boiled Wonderland is an exercise of imagination if you run out of daydream. An imagination that takes you out of your shell but later sets you back grounded. It is a book that requires sheer imagination, so you can understand humor in reality especially the ordinary ones.
Haruki writes 2 stories in alternate sequence - one seeming to be the prelude of the end of the world, another a wonderland - but likely to converge in one plot.
It is a book of split dimensions of 2 relatively similar events simultaneously narrated at one time but mystically connected by paperclips and animal skull. confusing, but truly playful. It is an arrangement that stretches your imagination.
The book is both boring and amusing - but mostly amusing because it is only here where shadows have a dramatic part and are claimed useless, deadweight. You cant find such strong lines on even children's books. Only on this book that you start to check your shadow and be dramatic for awhile.
If Haruki's good styles were to be enumerated, they would be:1. imagination without displacing reality; and, 2. value of ordinary things;
Haruki perfectly interplayed 2 stories that would led you to conclude: the Wonderland is a dream; an extension of a reality made magical; with random thoughts stitched together, you would end on a rewind on how Pulp Fiction and/or 21 Grams were developed.
Page by page, you are gradually presented with more clues on Haruki's split story. More bizaare things pop and characters of 2 worlds become alike to glue 2 plots together, serving you a conceivable surrealism that is more exciting than mystery, fairtytales and fictionalized facts. It takes you on a hype even at only quarter of the book. Every page is a jumanji of imagination and adventure; When Haruki stirs you, he lets you wonder more and be surprised and infer more: the book is like DaVinci Code (if you have read it). it also attempts to prove long discourses on some weird science and historical myths like unicorn and holy grail to "concretely" connect 2 worlds. The difference, Hard-boiled is really a fiction, not fictionalized. Moreover, the book didnt flare up a societal controversy.
As you further flip each page, you begin to rationalize more similarities and connections between 2 stories.
Haruki indeed must rank among the greatest living novelists. He really places you to a different world, unimaginable yet within the realms of reality. He drives you to his wonderland with precise navigation; describes new things that are instantly vague to the mind with simplicity and clarity. nevertheless, in his course of simple narration, he still manages to preserve the complexities of his worlds
Haruki narrates without even naming his odd characters with odd principles on elevators, shadows, sex, food and anything less discussed.
Youll be delighted with detective stories, mind games and connections between 2 worlds. But as more connections convince you that the 2 worlds are 1, the worlds split apart again. The book resets and confuses you.
all make the mystic in the story, like the Lady in the Water. But what will make you read more are the enumeration of old jazz musicians and novelist like the Doors and JD Salinger. Plus, a long line of wine brands. Haruki indeed is a realist weaving both his poetic emotions and surreal touches. It's a lovely push to let you love a salad of everything.
In the end, when you complete the book with a good grasp of the confusing story, you still are left with wonder and even skim back, trying to decipher one of Haruki's lines particularly the inverted, "gnal tone began, gra."
O yes! read the book even if you do not have sheer imagination. you would need it....less
Read in March, 2008
Novels in which there is more than one narrative line are kind of like the spread offense of literature: It’s been vogue for a while now but it’s still always a little unsettling for the reader (who presumably expects the comforting chronologies of nineteenth-century fiction, which is like expecting your standard run-for-two-downs-pass-only-on-third-and-long type of offense).
A Goodreads “friend” of mine below, called Brian, wrote of how he thought of this book as being like a video g...more
Novels in which there is more than one narrative line are kind of like the spread offense of literature: It’s been vogue for a while now but it’s still always a little unsettling for the reader (who presumably expects the comforting chronologies of nineteenth-century fiction, which is like expecting your standard run-for-two-downs-pass-only-on-third-and-long type of offense).
A Goodreads “friend” of mine below, called Brian, wrote of how he thought of this book as being like a video game at one point: I can see what he’s saying: the one storyline is like an elaborate real-world Super Mario game, with dungeon villains that are never described, a princess in pink, and a mysterious elder that gives you cryptic hints about things (and you warp to another level by passing through the waterfall). The other storyline is more of a role-playing thing, with more characters roaming around giving you helpful hints; it’s for people who like putting together their own world, like Animal Crossing.
The ideas of HBWEW are zany and just barely make sense. Very little is imparted to the reader via description or a character’s fleshed-out thinking: most everything important is communicated in dialogue. HBWEW is very talk-heavy.
It’s also filled with stray ruminations that could definitely be seen as unnecessary (such as why are there so many paperclips in the world, or how comfortable sofas are nice and worth the money). These tidbits have the effect of being thrown in just to remind you that the people being written about are human beings.
So, yeah, it’s surrealistic, but not in an awful Andre Breton way, in which everyone including the author are confused and having a miserable time; with Murakami, the foundations of the stories are out there and fantastical but the workings within them are amusingly prosaic. Some of the funnier parts in the book work off of people having normalish conversation in insane circumstances.
Sometimes the descriptions seemed flat in comparison to what was described, with the narrator retreating into a Dante-like apology of nondescription—-“What can I say, it looked really crazy….”—-and then briskly moving on to continue conversing with so-and-so.
The movement of the plot is weird because even though plenty is going on in both storylines, things seem really still. That sentence barely makes sense, but I think the reason HBWEW feels this way is because the broad movement of the novel is relentlessly consistent from section to section: HBWEW moves at the exact same pace from beginning to end.
Anyhow, it’s definitely on the macro level that this book is most impressive. There is no one thought/paragraph/description that’s outstanding: it’s all plodded together to build this really impressive edifice. The wild ideas and imagery make it worth it.
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Read in April, 2007
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 fo...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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Read in January, 2008
I liked this book. The plot drives it and there are two of them, plots. They begin as two seperate stories that slowly flirt with and then finally meet each other and then become one at the end, like in a marriage! I liked how the two stories worked together at first, but then I slowly began to dread their actually "coming together", because it really seemed that some sort of cop-out was going to happen to make the stories make sense. But actually it ends in a nice, open way, and t...more
I liked this book. The plot drives it and there are two of them, plots. They begin as two seperate stories that slowly flirt with and then finally meet each other and then become one at the end, like in a marriage! I liked how the two stories worked together at first, but then I slowly began to dread their actually "coming together", because it really seemed that some sort of cop-out was going to happen to make the stories make sense. But actually it ends in a nice, open way, and the ending of the book is probably the most poignant thing about it, and really "made it all worth it". So if you're like me, maybe you'll have that suspicion too, as you're reading the book... but if you're like me, you probably wouldn't be reading this review! Ha!
Also lots of talk about "the mind", but not "the mind" as usually thought of or recognized in our philosophies or stuff like that, but "the mind" as a thing that exists that has unique properties that only scientists in this book understand, like in sci-fi. Like, if I add this memory to your mind, but hide if from you, what would... etc, etc. Or "the mind" as the "the soul."
The writing is, oh, short and simple. Lots of short and simple sentences. Short and simple paragraphs. Short, simple dialogue. It seemed inconsistent, as far as tone and engaging me. One thing about it is that there are a lot of irreverant cultural observations, little jokes going on in the characters head and lots of little one-off sentences that often fell flat. I couldn't help but imagine that maybe Japanese readers laughed their asses off at some of this stuff, and that maybe it's the translation that made the writing so stilted and devoid of comic timing - that just maybe Haruki Murakami is a really funny writer but the translator is really unfunny. That Haruki Murakami and the translator are like the two distinct plots in the book, where Murakami's cool ideas are combined with the translator's bad writing. Or maybe Murakami is just Japan's Kurt Vonnegut.
But the book has a heart that beats despite it's crippling wording, a deformed heart, but a heart nonetheless, god damn it. I had the thought somewhere in the middle of it that it'd make a good videogame but I sort of last that train somewhere near the end.
EDIT: Actually, I do remember that in the last third of the book there were some beautiful passages that brought up these great images of loss and of memory and life, that combined with the mayhem and hi-jinks found throughout a lot of this book sort of created something unique. Even though gave it 3 stars, I would generally recommend this book to any of my friends....less
Read in January, 2008
Well this book is written by the same author as Kafka on the Shore. I wasn't really surprised at the technique the author used. He does tend to shift from one character and back to the other. Like usual I don't exactly know how the two characters relate during the beginning and middle of my reading but somehow when I finish reading I figure it out. This book contains the two main characters: the Dreamreader and the Calcutec. This book is written based on first person narration from both characte...more
Well this book is written by the same author as Kafka on the Shore. I wasn't really surprised at the technique the author used. He does tend to shift from one character and back to the other. Like usual I don't exactly know how the two characters relate during the beginning and middle of my reading but somehow when I finish reading I figure it out. This book contains the two main characters: the Dreamreader and the Calcutec. This book is written based on first person narration from both characters. The characters alternate in each chapter. It's pretty interesting yet confusing. This book was actually a bit confusing. Some parts I either didn't understand the language (writing style, diction) or I just couldn't imagine the story based on the words. This author can be extremely descriptive(sometimes to a point where I want to stop reading. ex: In one chapter the author describes a brief step by step of how the Big Boy destroys the Calcutec's home and how Junior cuts a line about 6 centimeters on the Calcutec's skin, the belly area)and since I have a good imagination, I can imagine the story while I'm reading it. I do admit that sometimes I do get chills from the descriptions and freak just a bit. Overall I really liked this book. I hope to look forward to reading more of his writing. Like the previous book I read, I am still amazed at how this author can shift from one character to another and still find a way to give the reader suspense; it lures me in the book. And also how the author can intertwine these two different yet similar characters but in an extremely confusing way that it can't be figured out until the end.
The two characters in the book were similar yet very different. At first I thought it was just the same character but in different dimensions. They both had a connection with the unicorn's skull. The Calcutec has something embedded in his brain called "the End of the World". He's the launderer and the shuffler. When he does shufflig he isn't conscious. He just listens to a specific tone to activtate "the End of the World". He gets into that conscience and writes the shuffled data. When he's done he comes back into his right mind.
The other character is the dreamreader who lives in a place called "the End of the World". He has been separated with his shadow and he's attempted to get it back. In this place nobody has a shadow. Apparently it's not needed and it will only cause trouble. This place is also not escapable. There's a wall that blocks people from going out. he does see the shadow once and the shadow asks for a map. The dreamreader makes one....less
Read in December, 2007
I had to think about whether or not I loved this book, which, I ultimately decided, must mean I didn't.
It's always hard with translations because you never know if the book's wonderfulness or awfulness is the fault of the author or the translator. This is an interesting case, as it is really two books in one and I do not feel the same about them.
"Hardboiled Wonderland" is narrated in an overly detailed, unemotional, almost computer-like way. I believe the author's intent here w...more
I had to think about whether or not I loved this book, which, I ultimately decided, must mean I didn't.
It's always hard with translations because you never know if the book's wonderfulness or awfulness is the fault of the author or the translator. This is an interesting case, as it is really two books in one and I do not feel the same about them.
"Hardboiled Wonderland" is narrated in an overly detailed, unemotional, almost computer-like way. I believe the author's intent here was to show the narrator—his job being what it is—as a very no-nonsense, analytical type—almost part machine in a way. I understand this reasoning, but good reasons don't always make for good writing. I found myself skimming these chapters because I just couldn't take so much of, "I awoke at 7am, went to the refrigerator, opened the door and took out a beer. I walked to the table and drank the beer. When I was done, I removed another beer from the fridge and drank that as I dressed to go to the liquor store for more beer. On the way to the store, the cute chubby girl in the pink skirt and gold earrings came rushing up to me. There was something wrong with her grandfather, the scientist."
There were other parts of "Hardboiled Wonderland" that made it hard for me to really get into it, like the way the grandfather/scientist spoke. Rarely do I like speech written in dialect and this was not an exception. I could also have done without the INKlings, which totally threw off the believability of this book for me. I think it could have been more terrifying and more believable had the shadowy villains been zombies. That said, without "Hardboiled Wonderland" the lovely and dreamlike tone of "End of the World" would perhaps not been as lovely. So, it serves a purpose after all.
"End of the World" delighted me, even though it had mythical creatures just as "Hardboiled Wonderland" did and was overall much more unrealistic. I liked it, though, because the things which the narrator seemed to be unable to explain and the mysterious ways of the town were so dead-on the way dreams really are, that I was actually really impressed with the author's ability to recreate that feeling of everything being that way because it just IS.
I liked the ending because it was exactly what I didn't want the narrator to do, which would have been dumb and boring. On the whole, I have to say that this was not one of my favorite books, but I appreciate it anyway. I do intend to read more Murakami, though this work of his has made me put up my guard....less
bookshelves:
2008
Read in February, 2008
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, howeve...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
bookshelves:
adultfic,
fantasy
Read in January, 2006
I heart Murakami. He can write one character so well that combined with his thoroughly fantabulous imagination, he can make reading about that one guy engaging every time. I booktalked this one in library school, and reproduced the talk below.
Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, by Haruki Murakami
Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World are two stories in one book. This isn’t so unusual, nor is the fact that they’re related. What is strange is that they’re told ...more
I heart Murakami. He can write one character so well that combined with his thoroughly fantabulous imagination, he can make reading about that one guy engaging every time. I booktalked this one in library school, and reproduced the talk below.
Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, by Haruki Murakami
Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World are two stories in one book. This isn’t so unusual, nor is the fact that they’re related. What is strange is that they’re told simultaneously, and seem to be about the same person. I say seem because we don’t know his name.
The odd chapters take place in Tokyo. Our hero is a Calcutec – a human data shuffler.. He works for the System, an agency dedicated to keeping information scrambled and safe from the Factory, an agency dedicated to exploiting that information. One day his job takes him to the secret office of a scientist, a seeming madman whose research into sound vibrations in skulls has yielded shocking and dangerous results. So dangerous, that he fears both the Factory and the System. He gives our hero 4 days to safeguard his data.
“Don’t be late, if you’re late, something terrible will happen.” (Stern)
“World going to fall apart?” (Fluctuate voice, more incredulous)
“In a way, yeah.”
The even chapters take place at the End of the World. A small, peaceful place. Every resident has a specific duty. Our hero is the dreamreader. He doesn’t remember how he came to be at the End of the World. There is a wall around the town. And every person’s shadow has been taken away. Our hero wants to save his. He feels incomplete without it. He feels his will to leave slipping away a little each day they are apart. Each day he is sent to the library, to read dreams from the skulls of unicorns. Each day he becomes more attached to the End of the World, and each day his shadow grows weaker.
Both of our heroes is in a race against time. But what they don’t know is that there’s more at stake than just the End of the World. Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, by Haruki Murakami.
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bookshelves:
existential-canon
Read in April, 2008
The following is a chronological ordering of my reading of Haruki Murkami's novels to date:
The Wind-up Bird Chronicle (March-April 2006)
A Wild Sheep Chase (April 2006)
South of the Border, West of the Sun (April 2006)
Sputnik Sweetheart (June 2007)
After Dark (June 2007)
Kafka on the Shore (July 2007)
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and The End of The World (April, 2008)
Of these novels, Kafka on the Shore is a wondrous marvel and has the most fully-integrated plot, The Wind-up Bird Chronic...more
The following is a chronological ordering of my reading of Haruki Murkami's novels to date:
The Wind-up Bird Chronicle (March-April 2006)
A Wild Sheep Chase (April 2006)
South of the Border, West of the Sun (April 2006)
Sputnik Sweetheart (June 2007)
After Dark (June 2007)
Kafka on the Shore (July 2007)
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and The End of The World (April, 2008)
Of these novels, Kafka on the Shore is a wondrous marvel and has the most fully-integrated plot, The Wind-up Bird Chronicle achieves the greatest psychic eminence, and After Dark and A Wild Sheep Chase are well constructed and enjoyable books. I look very much forward to reading Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World - it has been sitting on my shelf for over a year and I believe the time is nigh. I expect the book to be on par with A Wild Sheep Chase in terms of narrative range, metaphysical insight and relative fun.
*
I've heard Murakami's writing referred to as "pop surrealism" - and I think that this is generally apt, so far as designations of that sort are like the Dogen "finger pointing at the moon" (where the "moon" is enlightenment and the "finger" is language or religion, etc) - but something that needs to be underscored is that the 'pop' aspect of Murakami's voice does not make the surrealism any less authentic. It doesn't not diminish the fact that the sometimes extreme violence that punctuates his novels is mythy and metaphorical, and that these metaphors work in a web, or rather, like light in a series of refracted mirrors, alternately illuminating and obscuring meaning in the narrative.
I enjoy these books not because they "make me better" but because they provide some of the most well-rounded entertainment available. Makes one believe, even for the duration of a novel that our dreamlife is our true life.
*
In the end, "Hard-Boiled Wonderland and The End of the World" is a lucid though psychologically disturbed account - a testament to the consequences of memory and decision making, interspersed with the deep, humane pleasures of food and music.
A terrific book....less
Read in July, 2007
I can't say much about Hard-Boiled Wonderland without reiterating what's already on the back of the book jacket. Yes, this book is a "hyperkinetic" and "relentlessly inventive" "narrative particle-accelerator." And yes, I highly recommend it.
I enjoy this read and I enjoy it more than A Wild Sheep Chase, although, same idea: a nameless protagonist leading an otherwise average life is swept into a fantastic, jarring and curious adventure (apparently ...more
I can't say much about Hard-Boiled Wonderland without reiterating what's already on the back of the book jacket. Yes, this book is a "hyperkinetic" and "relentlessly inventive" "narrative particle-accelerator." And yes, I highly recommend it.
I enjoy this read and I enjoy it more than A Wild Sheep Chase, although, same idea: a nameless protagonist leading an otherwise average life is swept into a fantastic, jarring and curious adventure (apparently recurrent in Murakami's novels, but I'd have to read more before saying so for sure). This book is set in alternate-reality Tokyo, in the midst of the information wars between the System and the Factory. The protagonist is sent on a journey that leads him, among other places, to the office of an oddball scientist and his chubby granddaughter (decked in pink), to an aqueous subterranean world of wretched INKling-monsters, to the library, to a mythical pastoral world of horned beasts and dreamreading, and right straight inside his own mind.
Phewf. And my, it's beautifully written. Poetry (she kisses her hand). Pure poetry.
A month before reading this book I had named A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" my favorite-ever-best Bob Dylan song. I was tickled by Murakami's homage to Dylan (and his later reference of that song):
"I can tell Bob Dylan in an instant," she said.
"Because his harmonica's worse than Stevie Wonder?"
She laughed again. Nice to know I could still make someone laugh.
"No, I really like his voice," she said. "It's like a kid standing at the window watching the rain."
After all the volumes that have been written about Dylan, I had yet to come across such a perfect description.
Oh, ps - I don't know much about graphic novels and I don't know much about Anime, but this book would do good as either one. Very visual. Lots of action....less
Read in September, 2006
I don't think I have ever read a book that that I have initially understood so little of and yet felt so strongly compelled to keep reading. This is the kind of book you wish you didn't have to put down, and, unlike Dan "Cliffhanger" Brown, Murakami grips your attention in a very good, genuine way, not in the "artificial" way that Brown does (if you know what I mean, no you probably don't, but oh well...). It took time to put the pieces in the puzzle together. But it was wort...more
I don't think I have ever read a book that that I have initially understood so little of and yet felt so strongly compelled to keep reading. This is the kind of book you wish you didn't have to put down, and, unlike Dan "Cliffhanger" Brown, Murakami grips your attention in a very good, genuine way, not in the "artificial" way that Brown does (if you know what I mean, no you probably don't, but oh well...). It took time to put the pieces in the puzzle together. But it was worth every second!
The copy that I read is in English, in fact I don't think Murakami has been published in Swedish yet. It took a while before I really got into it (thank you very much, language barrier) but that obstacle was soon overcome and the words just flowed before me. Aside from a short part in which the protagonist discusses complex mathematics with some sort of professor (a part that I don't think was hard to follow because of the language but rather because of the intellectual content), the language feels so easy to understand that I often almost get an urge to start translating this work into Swedish, and I am a little surprised how few words I didn't know.
The disposition of the book is interesting. There are two separate plots going on at the same time. At first it seemed like the two had nothing to do with each other, but gradually I understood that this is not so. I'm certain this is not a mistake made by the writer but done deliberately. More and more connections between the two seemingly separate stories pop up.
Reading this book will excite you, it will confuse you and it will frighten you, and if you give it an honest chance, you will not regret it!...less
Read in July, 2007
I left the book I was reading behind on my desk in Vientiane, so I found this unread copy of this book by Murakami in my house in Xieng Khouang. I had planned to return to Vientiane after a meeting but fate intervened again so I'm staying for a meeting on Monday, meaning lots of free reading time on the weekend. Obviously, fate was working to make sure I finally read this book. Very Murakami-esque.
The book starts off with parellal stories - one about a calcutec, like a human encoding machi...more
I left the book I was reading behind on my desk in Vientiane, so I found this unread copy of this book by Murakami in my house in Xieng Khouang. I had planned to return to Vientiane after a meeting but fate intervened again so I'm staying for a meeting on Monday, meaning lots of free reading time on the weekend. Obviously, fate was working to make sure I finally read this book. Very Murakami-esque.
The book starts off with parellal stories - one about a calcutec, like a human encoding machine, and the other about a lost soul in a town with unicorns. This book is one of Murakami's earliest, setting out his fascination with lives within lives. He returns to these themes in his stories and novels, with hints that are more carefully crafted and hence, terrifying. His archetypes of the Town out of Time (Kafka on the Shore) and the Detached Person with an alternate reality are visited time and again in later works. There are no talking cats in this book, just horrible creatures called INKlings.
I really like Murakami's works: fantastic, poetic, the origin of dreams that jump off from reality. Many people regard this as one of their favorite Murakami books, maybe because his writing here is more concrete. In any case, I can say it's now one of my favorites, along with "The Windup Bird Chronicle."
Wikipedia article: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard-Boiled_Wonderland_and_the_End_of_the_World}
Exorcising Ghosts: [http://www.exorcising-ghosts.co.uk/endoftheworld.html]
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Read in March, 2007
Two alternating stories with seemingly different protagonists and stories slowly merge in this early novel by experimental Japanese author Haruki Murakami (Wind-Up Bird Chronicles). In one storyline, the narrator is a computer technician expert at "shuffling" or encoding data. His ability to shuffle data has been made possible through experimental brain alterations. Called to a mysterious office building for a job, the narrator finds himself on the run from rival information agents and...more
Two alternating stories with seemingly different protagonists and stories slowly merge in this early novel by experimental Japanese author Haruki Murakami (Wind-Up Bird Chronicles). In one storyline, the narrator is a computer technician expert at "shuffling" or encoding data. His ability to shuffle data has been made possible through experimental brain alterations. Called to a mysterious office building for a job, the narrator finds himself on the run from rival information agents and searching for a way to stop the decay of the tech in his brain. The alternating chapters are in a dreamlike world where a man has been separated from his shadow and put to work reading dreams from the skulls of unicorns. Yes, I know how that sounds, but it somehow works in the framework of the story. The narrator of this story is trying to understand the walled town that he has found himself in. He has no memory of his life before he came to the town and feels he is slowly losing his identity the longer he is separated from his shadow. The combination of the paranoid sf of the first story, reminiscent as it is of William Gibson and Philip K. Dick, and the fantasy world of the second story becomes even more profound as the stories seem to be heading on a collision course. Complex and challenging, this is ultimately a rewarding and original reading experience....less
Read in May, 2008
I almost want to apologize for only giving this book 3 stars. If it had been written by someone who i had never read before, or if this had been my first Murakami book, maybe I would have given it four stars. As things are, i think its a three and a half.
I was telling a friend the other day why I liked Murakami so much, and the best way I could describe it was to say that he doesn't waste any words. Never do you turn the page and skim through it in a matter of seconds b/c there's alot o...more
I almost want to apologize for only giving this book 3 stars. If it had been written by someone who i had never read before, or if this had been my first Murakami book, maybe I would have given it four stars. As things are, i think its a three and a half.
I was telling a friend the other day why I liked Murakami so much, and the best way I could describe it was to say that he doesn't waste any words. Never do you turn the page and skim through it in a matter of seconds b/c there's alot of unnecessary filler. Authors who pull this off are the best, in my opinion. Some authors are very well respected and do this (I'm thinking Lord of the Rings), i'm just a fan of efficiency.
Anyway, going to why I didn't like this book as much as the other two Murakami books I've read. I had two main issues. The first is that the subject matter was a bit tough to wrap my head around (division of consciousness). Not that i don't like stories that you make think. I just like to kinda understand what I'm trying to think about it. The second thing is that the story doesn't come together as smoothly as some others. Still very well put together, still very thoughtful. Not a particularly difficult read (i think i dropped it in a three days maybe) Ultimately its still a very good book, just not the best of his i've read. ...less
Read in January, 1997
I found this book at the Montague Book Mill in Montague, Massachusetts, over ten years ago. It was my first Murakami, and I was attracted to it not because I had heard of him, but because of the title.
In a lot ways, this book changed the course of how I read. Prior to this, I read some good stuff. My choices were influenced by my writing classes in college (we read a lot of short stories: Updike, Oates, Tim O'Brien, etc.), but the short stories really didn't capture my imagination like no...more
I found this book at the Montague Book Mill in Montague, Massachusetts, over ten years ago. It was my first Murakami, and I was attracted to it not because I had heard of him, but because of the title.
In a lot ways, this book changed the course of how I read. Prior to this, I read some good stuff. My choices were influenced by my writing classes in college (we read a lot of short stories: Updike, Oates, Tim O'Brien, etc.), but the short stories really didn't capture my imagination like novels did (and do). I also, at that time, worked at Barnes & Noble, and this too impacted what I read. As you can imagine, this was not always a good thing.
But the Murakami changed everything. This book has so much of what is good about his writing: mystery, some intrigue, and questions that drive the narrative and the reader through the entire process. I much prefer Murakami's long novels (my favorites are Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and Dance, Dance, Dance) and this is a good place to start.
My favorite thing about Murakami is that he does not always make it easy on the reader. There are unanswered questions, things do not resolve cleanly or clearly, and the reader is left to fill things in on her or his own. So if you're willing to work, this is a great book to read....less
Read in March, 2008
A very interesting read that feels similar to Gibson's Pattern Recognition in many ways which I can't quite pin down. It sparked my interest in the use of neural memories for encryption...based on my limited understanding of artificial neural memories and my even more limited understanding of encryption, it seems that they aren't terribly well suited, although they could be bent to the purpose. The scheme proposed in Hard-Boiled Wonderland relies more on security through obscurity than actual ...more
A very interesting read that feels similar to Gibson's Pattern Recognition in many ways which I can't quite pin down. It sparked my interest in the use of neural memories for encryption...based on my limited understanding of artificial neural memories and my even more limited understanding of encryption, it seems that they aren't terribly well suited, although they could be bent to the purpose. The scheme proposed in Hard-Boiled Wonderland relies more on security through obscurity than actual secure algorithms, however. It's a pretty solid obscurity, though :)
This is my first introduction to Haruki Murakami, and I am left wishing I could read his prose in the original, without the effects of translation...which is a good sign. The literary device of switching between two worlds was very interesting for a large portion of the book as I was piecing together the relationships between them. It fell a bit flat towards the end once I had it figured out, but by that point the characters in the second world had taken over as my primary motivation for reading those chapters.
Finally, it contains the best description I've ever found of Bob Dylan's music: '"No, I really like his voice," she said. "It's like a kid standing at the window watching the rain." '...less
bookshelves:
from-brother-s-bookshelf
Read in February, 2008
Just finished this one. So. This was the hardest Murkami book for me to get into but now that I'm done reading it, I think it's one of my favorites. I'm kindof upset with the ending but I guess he really couldn't have written it any other way.
Also, is it just me or is Murkami a type of foodie? His cooking/eating scenes are so incredibly descriptive (the way other writers describe sex or religion or something that involves satisfying the soul) that it makes me think he wrote for cooking...more
Just finished this one. So. This was the hardest Murkami book for me to get into but now that I'm done reading it, I think it's one of my favorites. I'm kindof upset with the ending but I guess he really couldn't have written it any other way.
Also, is it just me or is Murkami a type of foodie? His cooking/eating scenes are so incredibly descriptive (the way other writers describe sex or religion or something that involves satisfying the soul) that it makes me think he wrote for cooking magazines or was a food critic. Either way, he must be a really good cook. I don't know much about Japanese cuisine but the way he writes about food makes me want to eat it all the time. Once I tried making something that he had described (mine was a very western version of a Japanese dish) but I didn't feel the same reverence toward cooking as he must. So now I guess I'll have to wait for the day when Murkami comes over to cook me dinner in order to fully experience his genius.
Another question - is Murkami an existentialist? His stories are very full but hollow and detached at the same time. Recognizing a connection between yourself and his characters feels wrong and a little uncomfortable. I don't know, maybe it's just me....less
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 book 'Underground" which is about the attack on a Tokyo subway line by the Aum cult. What's remarkable about this book is Murakami's technique in getting dif...more
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 book 'Underground" which is about the attack on a Tokyo subway line by the Aum cult. What's remarkable about this book is Murakami's technique in getting different sides of the story by various people who were on the subway train at the time. Some of the stories are horrifying, some are banal, but both have equal weight in the book.
And like that one non-fiction title, Murakami can write two stories at the same time that somehow meet up in the end. As a reader, I am interested in reading more of Murakami's non-fiction work. Especially a book on Jazz would be interesting. He used to run a Jazz coffee shop in either Kyoto or Osaka. Plus he's a Boris Vian fan, enough said!...less
Read in December, 2007
recommends it for:
everyone
I picked this book up utterly at random at Green Apple. After letting it sit on my shelf for over a year, I finally started it, and I could hardly put it down until I was done. Rarely in my life have I come across a book that engaged me so thoroughly, there were times that I simply could not stop reading.
I would call this book vaguely sci-fi. It has some elements that remind me of some old cyberpunk novels, but without the tech-obsession. The book feels fresh, even though it was originally...more
I picked this book up utterly at random at Green Apple. After letting it sit on my shelf for over a year, I finally started it, and I could hardly put it down until I was done. Rarely in my life have I come across a book that engaged me so thoroughly, there were times that I simply could not stop reading.
I would call this book vaguely sci-fi. It has some elements that remind me of some old cyberpunk novels, but without the tech-obsession. The book feels fresh, even though it was originally published in 1985 (English version published 1991).
Here is a bit of trivia which might help you enjoy a portion of the book. I'm being intentionally vague so as not to spoil anything:
Have you ever been to a sushi restaurant and eaten a kappa roll? It's cucumber in rice, wrapped with seaweed. Ever wonder why it's called a 'kappa' roll? The reason is that the Japanese have a mythical creature named Kappa. He's a bit like Tolkien's Gollum. Green, and a bit slimy, he lives in caves and, in order to stay moist, he always has a wet towel draped atop his head. He eats cucumbers, hence the kappa roll at Japanese restaurants.
Enjoy! :-)
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Read in February, 2007
Finished. Good. But why did it take me so long to read?
I liked it, and I've grown very attached to Murakami's writing style - but it took me a month to read 400 pages (that engaged me.) I've got to change my reading habits back to my pre-Los Angeles standards.
Pulled quotes:
"... pulled into my convenient neighborhood fast food restaurant. I ordered shrimp salad, onion rings, and a beer. The shrimp were straight out of the freezer, the onion rings soggy. Looking around the place, th...more
Finished. Good. But why did it take me so long to read?
I liked it, and I've grown very attached to Murakami's writing style - but it took me a month to read 400 pages (that engaged me.) I've got to change my reading habits back to my pre-Los Angeles standards.
Pulled quotes:
"... pulled into my convenient neighborhood fast food restaurant. I ordered shrimp salad, onion rings, and a beer. The shrimp were straight out of the freezer, the onion rings soggy. Looking around the place, though, I failed to spot a single customer banging on a tray or complaining to a waitress. So I shut up and finished my food. Expect nothing, get nothing."
"she was beautiful and seemingly quite intelligent, what with her pentameter search system. There wasn't a reason in the world not to find her appealing."
"Huge organizations and me don't get along. They're too inflexible, waste too much time, and have too many stupid people."
"Open your eyes, train your ears, use your head. If a mind you have, then use it while you can."
"I never trust people with no appetite. It's like they're always holding something back on you"...less
book data (includes all editions)
avg rating
(all editions):
4.17 (4116 ratings)
avg rating
(this edition): 4.17
(3040 ratings)
number of reviews: 405
other editions
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Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World: A Novel (Vintage International)
isbn: 0679743464
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Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
isbn: 0000000000
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The Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (Hardcover)
isbn: 4770015445
