Awards
Winner of Japan's Tanizaki Prize
Staff Pick
This book combines Murakami's early writing style with some of his best worldbuilding. Magical subterranean creatures, unicorn skulls, sci-fi brain surgeries, and surreal microworlds combine into a landscape that I wish I could have so much more of. If you haven't yet taken the dive into the fantastic and confusing stories of Murakami, I would recommend this book as an entry point (especially for readers coming from the sci-fi/fantasy genre). While books like The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle or Kafka on the Shore stand out as clear top-tier Murakami creations, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World marks the beginning of what would become Murakami's unique, iconic style. Recommended By Jun L., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
In this hyperkinetic and relentlessly inventive novel, Japan's most popular (and controversial) fiction writer hurtles into the consciousness of the West. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World draws readers into a narrative particle accelerator in which a split-brained data processor, a deranged scientist, his shockingly undemure granddaughter, Lauren Bacall, Bob Dylan, and various thugs, librarians, and subterranean monsters collide to dazzling effect. What emerges is simultaneously cooler than zero and unaffectedly affecting, a hilariously funny and deeply serious meditation on the nature and uses of the mind.
Review
"[A] stunning combination of the contemporary and brash with elegiac allegory, all topped off by a strong measure of cyberpunk....One of those rare postmodern novels that is as intellectually profound as stylistically accomplished, by a writer with a bold and original vision." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"There ought to be a name for the genre Murakami has invented, and it might be the literary pyrotechno-thriller....Murakami's lightning prose more than sustains the reader....Murakami's ingenuity and inventiveness cannot fail to intoxicate; this is a bravura performance." Publishers Weekly
Review
"The characters in the novel are cardboard cutouts, not even animated enough to find their own lives banal." Paul West, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"[E]xcellent....Murakami's fast-paced style, full of hip internationalism, slangy allegory, and intrigue, has been adroitly translated." Library Journal
Review
"The book is rich in action, suspense, odd characters, and unexpected trifles....Whatever interpretation a reader chooses to give this provocative work, it will not be found boring." The Atlantic Monthly
Review
"Murakami's bold willingness to go straight over the top [is] a signal indication of his genius...a world-class writer who has both eyes open and takes big risks." Washington Post Book World
Review
"He has become the foremost representative of a new style of Japanese writing: hip, cynical, and highly stylized, set at the juncture of cyberpunk, postmodernism, and hard-boiled detective fiction....Murakami [is] adept at deadpan wit, outrageous style." Los Angeles Times Magazine
Synopsis
Japan's most widely-read and controversial writer, author of A Wild Sheep Chase, hurtles into the consciousness of the West with this narrative about a split-brained data processor, a deranged scientist, his shockingly undemure granddaughter, and various thugs, librarians, and subterranean monsters — not to mention Bob Dylan and Lauren Bacall.
About the Author
Haruki Murakami was born in Kyoto in 1949 and now lives near Tokyo. The most recent of his many honors is the Yomiuri Literary Prize, whose previous recipients include Yukio Mishima, Kenzaburo Oe, and Kobo Abe. He is the author of the novels Dance, Dance, Dance; The Wind-up Bird Chronicle; A Wild Sheep Chase; South of the Border, West of the Sun; and Sputnik Sweetheart; of The Elephant Vanishes, a collection of stories; and of Underground, a work of non-fiction. His work has been translated into fourteen languages.