Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World: A Novel (Vintage International) by Haruki Murakami Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World: A Novel (Vintage International)
Book Review: Hard boiled boredom
Summary: 1 Stars
Maybe I have not played enough video games, have not read enough cheap fantasy novels to really be able to appreciate Murakamis Hard Boiled Wonderland. I just find it tiresome and void of anything what makes life and literature exciting. I hope his original Japanese writing does not sound as flat and pubescent as it does in the English translation. "Only where there is disillusionment and depression and sorrow does happiness arise, without the despair of loss, there is no hope"(pp 334) - Wow, how deep! Everybody who was as disappointed as me, should read Tanizakis "The Key" to get a kick out of Japanese literature.Book Review: murakami at his best- wacky, full of meaning
Summary: 5 Stars
after finishing the latest murakami translation (south of the border, west of the sun) i wanted to go back to his earlier work. maybe it's from playing too many text adventure games as a kid, but the "end of the world" segments of the book had a feeling of warm nostalgia for me- the places, people and situations all felt oddly familiar. the "hard boiled wonderland" segments were a nightmare world of dislocation and fear, where our protagonist is at the mercy of a brilliant but deranged scientist's attempt to devise the ultimate encryption scheme and tinker with reality at the same time. the chapter-by-chapter juxtaposition of the gentle but brooding other-world and the scary near-future japan is what made the novel work, and seeing elements of the two realities bleed together was fun. at the same time murakami touched on interesting questions of reality, self and the "internal narratives" we all build to survive. if wind-up-bird is too long for you, start with this one!Book Review: yay! his novels are as good as his short stories!
Summary: 5 Stars
this book is the one you must read to understand why Murakami is so great. the ending is so great, I just love it so much. Murakami is the master of describing human's real feelings, this book is so bizzare, but so real, read it and see how real it is.Book Review: Strange and fantastic novel of alienation and urban life
Summary: 5 Stars
Part Chandleresque detective novel, part apocalyptic cyberpunk, part Philip K Dick-like examination of the nature of reality, part touching portrait of loneliness and isolation, this deeply humane and affecting novel forms another part of Murakami's fragmented vision of the alienation and pressure of life in contemporary Japan. I read this marvellous novel on a plane leaving Japan and for a few hours it really did feel like the end of the world. A book at once bold and unafraid to be intimate, juggling universes and individuals, this is one of the finest novels I've read in the last few years.Book Review: cryptic fable
Summary: 5 Stars
An interesting novel where the author creates a fantasy world and a science-fictiony scenario, and tells a story about individuality and decision making. It's something different, and I found it to be quite thought provoking. Worth a try.