Tom does reading: Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
How I fell in love with Murakami
In my quest to invest myself more heavily in Japanese culture (beyond Japanese game shows and manga) I decided to plunge into the world of Japanese literature. After much thought and blurb-reading, I happened upon Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami. The author, speculated to have been shortlisted for the Nobel Prize for Literature multiple times, is said to be “poetic” in his writing style; easy to read, yet thought-provoking and impactful. I was told to expect a mix of “western-style fantasy” and “science-fiction mystery”, and boy, does Murakami deliver.
The novel follows two narratives which standalone and later intertwine: Hard-Boiled Wonderland tells the story of a successful corporate/government agent, dutifully fulfilling his set tasks whilst enjoying an almost pragmatic lifestyle, in a tone not dissimilar to the narrators in The Humans or The Curious Tale. The End of the World tells the tale of a lost soul, who departs with his shadow to gain entry to a town at the end of the world. He is given the task of “dream reading” until such a time his shadow dies, and he can become immortal and “at one” with the town which protects him from the outside world that all within strive to forget.
The pure beauty of Murakami’s writing is that even within the translation, subtleties creep in. It took me half a dozen chapters (and a re-read of two) to realise the author never actually divulges the name of a single character, yet his writing style and descriptive narrative leave me questioning whether a name is ever needed. The author also switches between the personal past tense and present tense in alternate chapters in such a subtle way, leaving a strong satisfaction as you try to puzzle the ending together.
A fascinating mystery science-fiction adventure with an ending that leaves you to think. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World is a fantastic introduction to an obviously strong writer and, as my new copy of A Wild Sheep Chase suggests, is a great gateway novel to more of the same.
♦ 4.5/5
Footnotes
- Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World is available on Amazon and all good book stores
- For Japanese game shows I highly recommend /r/japanesegameshows
- My current manga of choice is Deadman Wonderland, review of part one coming soon™