Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
by Murakami Haruki
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (Japanese 世界の終りとハードボイルド・ワンダーランド; Sekai no owari to Hādo-Boirudo Wandārando, literally The End of the World & Hard-Boiled Wonderland) is a1985 novel by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami. The English translation byAlfred Birnbaum was released in 1991. A strange and dreamlike novel, its chapters alternate between two bizarre narratives — "Hard-Boiled Wonderland" (a cyberpunk-like, science-fiction part) and "The End of the World" (a virtual fantasy-like, surreal part).
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.
Hope that you all enjoy this! See you next time anyway.
