Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (Vintage International) by Haruki Murakami (EPUB)

Description

Hyperkinetic and relentlessly inventive, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World is Haruki Murakami’s deep dive into the very nature of consciousness.Across two parallel narratives, Murakami draws readers into a mind-bending universe in which Lauren Bacall, Bob Dylan, a split-brained data processor, a deranged scientist, his shockingly undemure granddaughter, and various thugs, librarians, and subterranean monsters collide to dazzling effect. What emerges is a novel that is at once hilariously funny and a deeply serious meditation on the nature and uses of the mind.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐”The last time I’d slept with a fat female was the year of the Japanese Red Army shoot-out in Karuizawa.”If this line doesn’t make you chuckle, you probably shouldn’t read this one…After reading his newer novels, I decided to go back to early Murakami and kind of read them in order. I’m discovering that perhaps the order he wrote them is not the order they appeared in America, but I do have to say that Sheep Chase didn’t really do it for me, and this one didn’t really either. At least until the end. For that reason (and that it’s Murakami and he can’t really write a bad book) I’m giving this four stars. But I definitely don’t recommend this as an introduction to him.I’m also looking at a lot of 4 and 5 star reviews and wondering if perhaps I’m too stupid to really have gotten what would make this so good. What I like in my Murakami is calm, relaxing scenes. I can read pages and pages of him describing a meal being prepared or drinking a can of beer. There was some of that in this, but there’s also a lot of weird underground, being watched by spooky cave monsters scenes. The overall vibe was too tense and with the two separate (but are they?) stories happening simultaneously, it’s hard to know what’s going on exactly. I’m seeing there are references and tones related to Orwell and Kafka, but even if I were able to pick up on those, I don’t think what was happening on the surface of this book would have come across any better to me. It’s long, it’s kind of confusing, and it’s lacking the charm I have come to love from him.But with all that said, the end, almost out of nowhere, is this beautiful climax that contains everything I DO love about him. I don’t know if while writing it he crossed over into having the abilities I like so much or what. Maybe it was always intended to be a slow, 400 page burn. I was definitely going to give this 3 stars until things started to slow down and the story literally involves him describing his main character drinking a can of beer while watching birds. That’s the Murakami I like and that beer and bird thing earned this one an additional star.

⭐Haruki Murakami creates two equally wild worlds in which the antihero simultaneously exists. The character has one foot in his waking life, which anticipates The End of the World, his deeply subconscious dream world that is slowly rising to the surface of his mind. His dreams become reality and reality becomes his dreams after he gets involved unknowingly in a scientist’s research project implanting a new subconscious into certain peoples’ minds. The anti-hero is a well-to-do field worker for the mysterious System, one of two battling sides in the Japanese info-war. He lives on a social island with only his knowledge of international culture and literature, beer and cooking to entertain him. Suddenly, the rug is taken from under his feet and he is plunging into the underground world of a mad scientist and his laboratory, System gangs and dangerous creatures called INKlings. The antihero’s subconscious too enters into the gates of a permanent dream town, The End of the World, surrounded by impenetrable walls. He is put off at first by the calmness and strict dogma of the townspeople, as is the waking antihero confused by the strange occasions that he is stumbling into, but neither of them are significantly astonished and become complacent hostages to the many people that they collide with. Similarly, the reader is entrenched in two sets of unpalatable circumstances and yet continues on, waiting for the next strange arrest, without expecting a comprehensive explanation. The novel takes on the magical realism of dreams, and since we spend about a third of our life in this nonsensical world, we can easily follow along without a doubt in our minds that everything will figure itself out in its own way. The scientist’s erudite reasoning for the whole situation and the facts he gives goes right over my head, but this dream logic that penetrates both alternate worlds justifies itself in any circumstance. As the story continues, the logic of both worlds begins to blend more and more. His waking life gets stranger as he finds out more about the experiment that was done on his mind and went awry. The End of the World becomes clearer to the subconscious character as he and his trapped shadow try to make their escape, he investigates the land and learns about the characters there. This leads up to the moment the scientist describes when the antihero will completely subside into his dream world and the dreamer will cease to exist as the dream lives on forever; “Humans are immortal in their thought,” he says. As the antihero and the scientist’s granddaughter are trying to get back to the surface, they climb through a small INKling tunnel, which brings up the image of birth, like an initiation into the unreal. The baby doesn’t like the experience of being born but it is necessary anyhow. Just as when the dream character admits he is attached to the town and considers staying there, it is all coming together, the dreamer will stay and exist alone without the dreamer. Both minds begin preparing for their big switch. The waking man tries to fit in one last hot shower and a last visit with his love, the librarian. In The End of the World, the character has been planning his escape with his loyal shadow shares his last dinner with the innkeeper and help his love, also a librarian, find her mother. Since he decides to stay in The End of the World, the switch does occur. This brings up another form of preparation. Things that exist in the End of the World realize themselves in his waking life. The water pool in the forest of The End of the World that is calm on the surface but is whirling just below is exactly like the underground water that is rising to the two characters as they hurriedly climb a set of stairs. In both existences, he manages to fall in love with a librarian.I WILL NOT TELL YOU WHAT HAPPENS IN THE VERY END, THANK YOU FOR READING THIS HERE BOOK REVIEW.

⭐This is a very very strange book. It features two different narratives that slowly intertwine in a very clever and exciting way. If you don’t like fantasy or sci-fi you simply won’t like this book – it’s got both in very large quantities but I found it to be more interesting and more readable than many books in either genre. It looks like it’s going to be a tougher read than it actually is – it was so enjoyable it has led me to explore a large number of other books by the same author. Won’t write a detailed plot analysis as it is likely going to annoy those who haven’t read it – but it’s great fun as the two story lines come closer and closer.

⭐As a huge Murakami fan, I’m disposed to think of him as a genius who can do no wrong. Initially, this novel left me fazed, not knowing what was happening and what I should think about it. Certainly, it is confusing – no names, no background, just strange happenings. Hm.I persevered. ‘Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World’ unfolds and repays the reader for their perseverence. We have a dual narrative, short chapters that propel the reader forward and keep one guessing and speculating. The usual personality quirks of the male character are on show, love of jazz and 60s music, food, intriguing and intelligent women, ennui and lack of direction.Though not of the first rank of Murakami’s writing, the gathering pace and grasp of plot, of a narrative on today’s society, are compelling. I’m convinced that fans will enjoy this novel, but please do persevere. It’s worth it

⭐I was a little uncertain about this one and left it a couple of months before writing a review. Murakami’s prose is always fluent and readable, regardless of the translator. If you’re not already a fan however, I wouldn’t recommend this book as an entry point.As you’ve probably read elsewhere there are 2 narratives here side-by-side. One is the story of a data analyst in what is either an alternate or near-future Japan that starts out quite grounded and becomes more fantastic as it progresses, the other starts off as a fantasy story and follows the reverse trend of becoming more “realistic” as the hero learns more about his surroundings.There are some brilliant concepts at work in both strands, from the “real” history of unicorns, to people detaching and living separately from their own shadows, HBW&TEOTW is never boring. It is a bit frustrating though, the central device that eventually links the two stories felt a bit shabby to me and I didn’t really buy into it. One character, a supposedly genius professor, is afflicted all the way through with a bizarre redneck accent for reasons that both escaped and irritated me. Promising ideas gestate and are then quickly abandoned (the INKlings?) and this novel quite possibly has more descriptions of the preparation and consumption of food than any other by the author (and that’s saying something).Bit of a mixed bag then for me, there’s certainly plenty to enjoy in Murakami’s diversions and philosophical musings and many pleasingly odd set-pieces, I think it’s far from the author’s best work, but others may disagree!

⭐Amazing book….. absolutely adored it’s weirdness. I have now purchase 3 more books by the same author. I can’t wait to read more.

⭐This was my first Murakami novel and it lived up to all the hype I had heard about the author. A great mixing of what appears at first to be two separate stories that come together in a masterful way. Would definitely read again.

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