Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of 1Q84 and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle comes a relentlessly inventive novel that dives deep into the very nature of consciousness.
“Fantastical, mysterious, and funny . . . a fantasy world that might have been penned by Franz Kafka.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer
Across two parallel narratives, Murakami draws readers into a mind-bending universe in which Lauren Bacall, Bob Dylan, a split-brained data processor, a deranged scientist, his shockingly undemure granddaughter, and various thugs, librarians, and subterranean monsters collide to dazzling effect. What emerges is a hyperkinetic novel that is at once hilariously funny and a deeply serious meditation on the nature and uses of the mind.
“Fantastical, mysterious, and funny . . . a fantasy world that might have been penned by Franz Kafka.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer
Across two parallel narratives, Murakami draws readers into a mind-bending universe in which Lauren Bacall, Bob Dylan, a split-brained data processor, a deranged scientist, his shockingly undemure granddaughter, and various thugs, librarians, and subterranean monsters collide to dazzling effect. What emerges is a hyperkinetic novel that is at once hilariously funny and a deeply serious meditation on the nature and uses of the mind.
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Community Reviews
I feel like everytime I read this author, I find another book that is so uniquely imprinted on me and perhaps a favourite. I really enjoyed this book as I am not sure if it was just for creativity or a metaphor but I love the division and yet connection of the shadow to the body and the soul. I love the drive and determination of the character development and the way the story unfolded. This author always has been struggling to describe my feeling during the read but always drawn to more and re-describing what the genre should be.
This novel was intriguing - as have been all of the Murakami novels we have read or listened to. This one finds two completely different sets of characters engaged in life, described in quite a bit of detail. It took a little while to really figure out the characters in each setting, since the stories were told in alternating chapters. Data shuffling research in the humen psyche, dream reading in a walled city... and we were treated to a view into each world. Not quite a fantasy novel, because the settings were all modern day Japan, but clearly not actual situations that might occur today. Murakami's imagination is fascinating!
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