A review by avocadotoastbee
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated

3.5

"Unclose your mind. You are not a prisoner. You are a bird in flight, searching the skies for dreams."

Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami is mind-bending!

The description of the plot might dull the reading experience, since the novel is mainly plot-driven.
But here's some background information:
We follow an unnamed narrator into two different worlds - the Hard-Boiled Wonderland and The End of the World. The storylines alternate in chapters.
In the Hard-Boiled Wonderland, the narrator is a 35-year-old man who works as a Calcutec, a human computer/encoder that processes sensitive data. In this world, two organizations, the System and the Factory, fight over the data. The system employs Calcutecs, while the factory, which wants to sell data illegally, employs Semiotecs.
The narrator receives a new assignment and the story takes its course.
Meanwhile, The End of the World takes place in a minimalist setting - a town (also unnamed) surrounded by a huge wall with beasts, or rather unicorns, running around. All the people there have neither minds nor shadows and work only for the sake of working. The narrator is new in the town and is assigned the job of "Dreamreader".

In the first half of the novel, it is unclear whether the two stories take place simultaneously or consecutively. However, there are certain themes that appear in both stories that somehow connect them: Unicorns, skulls and paper clips.
Chapter 26 explains in detail the connection between the two worlds.
This made me root for the narrator to escape his fate in both worlds. Therefore, I was disappointed with the ending.

Nonetheless, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and The End of the World is a prime example of Murakami's magical realism. The novel explores ideas such as consciousness, unrequited love, the feeling of being trapped, and forgiveness. His signature writing style is evident. There are allusions to jazz, certain books and movies, and, of course, (unfortunately) misogyny.

If you like other novels by Haruki Murakami, I'm sure you'll enjoy this book as well.

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