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A review by jdhacker
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This is my first Murakami novel, though I went into it with some presumption that I would enjoy it as Heibane Renmei is one of my favorite anime of all time. Even if it is only *very* loosely based on the more magical realism skewing of the two so called parallel narratives. Given the (in English) temporal/tense difference in the narratives and the (in Japanese)difference in the pronouns I personally wonder how 'parallel' they truly are. I don't know if it would be so for everyone, but for me at least this combined with my fondness for cyberpunk and pulp noir probably make this the perfect entry point for Murakami, as I'm told its certainly one of the more scifi leaning of his books.
As mentioned, we have two parallel narratives, involving...aspects...of the same protagonist, one a less than crunchy cyberpunk noir (no chummers or cyberspace here) and one set in a strange firmly magically realistic world. Deeply exploring the nature of consciousness through a rather limited cast of characters, and from what I'm told a pretty typical for Murakami amount of drinking and innuendo, this books was beautifully written from start to finish. "Unclose your mind. You are not a prisoner. You are a bird in flight, searching the skies for dreams."
I've seen an argument that too much magical realism bleeds through for this to be 'true cyberpunk', but given the genre's various founders distaste what it became in terms of stereotypes I think that assertion is on shaky ground. Besides the obvious parallels to Johnny Mnemonic, I definitely see a lot of shared character with Pat Cadigan. And I can't imagine a current day Stephenson or Gibson being anything but in love with this. I also rarely see it mentioned, but especially when we find out enough about the Town to understand how it functions within its own reality, there are some clear shades of Omelas going on here.
After reading this, I'm disappointed it took me so long to pick up a Murakami book, admittedly in part because he was caught up in the hipster craze that included everyone reading Gravity's Rainbow and made me somewhat skeptical. I'm eagerly looking forward to the recent...companion piece...? The City and Its Uncertain Wall.
As mentioned, we have two parallel narratives, involving...aspects...of the same protagonist, one a less than crunchy cyberpunk noir (no chummers or cyberspace here) and one set in a strange firmly magically realistic world. Deeply exploring the nature of consciousness through a rather limited cast of characters, and from what I'm told a pretty typical for Murakami amount of drinking and innuendo, this books was beautifully written from start to finish. "Unclose your mind. You are not a prisoner. You are a bird in flight, searching the skies for dreams."
I've seen an argument that too much magical realism bleeds through for this to be 'true cyberpunk', but given the genre's various founders distaste what it became in terms of stereotypes I think that assertion is on shaky ground. Besides the obvious parallels to Johnny Mnemonic, I definitely see a lot of shared character with Pat Cadigan. And I can't imagine a current day Stephenson or Gibson being anything but in love with this. I also rarely see it mentioned, but especially when we find out enough about the Town to understand how it functions within its own reality, there are some clear shades of Omelas going on here.
After reading this, I'm disappointed it took me so long to pick up a Murakami book, admittedly in part because he was caught up in the hipster craze that included everyone reading Gravity's Rainbow and made me somewhat skeptical. I'm eagerly looking forward to the recent...companion piece...? The City and Its Uncertain Wall.