Rob's review of Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (Paperback) by Haruki Murakami
Rob's review
rating:
bookshelves:
2008,
all-time-favorites,
own
recommended for:
everyone
status:
Read in March, 2008, read count: 2
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., Wind-Up Bird Chronicle; e.g., Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. This is a common trope for him and I cannot figure out this sub-text.
--- 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., Wind-Up Bird Chronicle; e.g., Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. This is a common trope for him and I cannot figure out this sub-text.
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What you said about juvenile female characters might not be specifically Murakami. As we discussed with the Japanese common theme of amnesia, the importance of young females is extremely common in other stories I've seen. While not necessarily a novel, every single story in Final Fantasy 11 is centered around a juvenile female protagonist. Cornelia in the original, Lion in the first expansion, Prishe, Ulmia and Esha'ntarl in the second, Aphmau and Naja in the third and Lilisette in the fourth.
