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: For Murakami, a disappointment.
Summary: 3 Stars
One important question I usually ask of myself after reading a book (and always consider before recommending) is: if I could somehow erase my mind of this book, would I want to read it again? The answer for this book would sadly be no.
Just off a high from reading Wild Sheep Chase, I bought and immediately devoured Hard-Boiled Wonderland And The End Of The World. At start I was encouraged with the completely unorthodox nature of the books unwilling protagonist, and the sexy, twisted descriptive writing style typical of Murakami. A quick nod to translator Alfred Birnbaum (who I think translates most if not all Murakami's books), he better be well paid because if any writing has ever been augmented in translation, it might be these works.
The book quickly got confusing (for someone of average intellect anyway). Granted, weaving two universes together (a fantasy world, and physical one) isn't easy, but I don't think it had to be that hard. The alternation by chapter really started to screw with my immersion, and really didn't pay any dividend until the end.
The End is a subject I need to deal with carefully (as not to plot-spoil), so I'll just say this: Rationally inclined readers will have an issue with the mysticism soaked wrap-up. Not to say you need to be irrational to appreciate the ending, but as a Sci-Fi reader, I'm used to (and prefer) plots and endings that have some kind of plausible scientific potential for happening. Perhaps I missed it, but scouring through the reviews, I found nobody that said anything about how his...ugh, can't spoil.
Suffice it to say, this book in my opinion is not his best. I would rather not have my mind erased and re-read Wild Sheep Chase than to read this book for the first time.
Enjoy,
Christian Hunter
Santa Barbara, California
Book Review: Incredible book
Summary: 5 Stars
What an incredible book. This is the book that had me ordering previous out-of-print Murakami books from interlibrary loan to read over and over again. The critic's darling continues to impress with subsequent books, but I'll always be a sucker for this one. The unintiated should start here and then read Wind-Up Bird.Book Review: Abstruse has never seemed more avant-garde
Summary: 5 Stars
If there was a genre here to bend, break, or quite simply shatter, this book wouldn't be so much genre-defying as it would a two-ton genre wrecking ball.
Many precedents are at once acknowledged and seamlessly woven into an intricate whole; Philip K. Dick, Kurt Vonnegut, Jorge Borges, Robert Heinlein. Seemingly incongruent styles are melded, switched, convoluted, and turned outside backward.
Not to disclose too much, but the dexterity with which Murakami flits between mirroring realities, (between chapters, no less!) is conceptually breathtaking.
The imagery is so well written and imbued with so much poetic vividity, there are scenes that will resonate in your minds eye for hours after you have turned the page.
In short, there is no preparing yourself for the literary trip you will take with Haruki as your mind-bending guide.
Book Review: Didn't Get that Murakami Feeling
Summary: 3 Stars
Usually his books grab me somewhere deep inside and I feel connected to my subconscious in a new way. That didn't happen with "Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World." Several things conspired to deny me that; the nameless protagonist who I didn't get to know, the lack of the trademark Murakami heartache that fuels the emotionality of many of his books and the abstracted "Town" scenes which seemed so other-worldly that I never connected to what was happening.
But there are the signature Murakami touches; the fantastical happenings, the alternating stories, the hard-bitten loner and the cooking scenes. There is also the thematic characteristics of Murakami, duality, loss of identity and self, the connections between objects and people. And the last 75 pages read better than the rest of the novel for reasons I don't want to reveal.
If you are a diehard Murakami fan, you need to read this book but if you are a newbie I'd start with Norwegian Woods or Kafka on the Shore.
Book Review: genuinely enjoyable
Summary: 4 Stars
this was my first murakami book. it was also the first book i had read after a drought of nothing but articles, lethargy and depression. either because of this fact, or because of something within the novel, it was perfect timing to insure a pleasant experience.
i was a little apprehensive with the introduction to murakami's world. as i read the first 20 pages, i had the feeling that this was a very "off the hip" style, and murakami was letting the story write itself. likely because it was the first book i read in some time, letting go and taking a walk with murakami was a trifle more difficult. eventually i was in, and navigation among the text was easier; murakami as my spirit guide.
something must be said of this man's grasp of culture. i like a writer that leaves a trail of inspiration, i feel it gives valuable insight as to where the author is at, and what moves him/her. for this particular story, he could not have picked better, more fitting material. after i was done reading the book i went through it and made a list of all the movies, books and songs mentioned throughout.
culture, of course takes you only so far, and we are talking spirit guides, so this elevator goes to the top. the story rides smoothly, playing out the daulity of the main character and ushering the reader softly into a place where they must let go and become aware. at the books core, is a story of the pervasive pressure, always present, of the yin and yang. this book is playfully bipolar, and after all is said and done, it becomes a symbol of human dysfunction; the cosmic contradiction. lying beneath the quasi scifi story is a pulse of human being; a manifestation not quite realized of good/evil, happy/sad, in breath/out breath. its a living thing, and it leaves you with quite a feeling.
i look forward to reading more. just more material from someone with a unique perception of actual reality. when someone talented takes sense oriented everyday life, puts it through their lens of experience, and produces something such as this (an observation of the human dance carrying a decent story), it is remarkable. and genuinely enjoyable.