July 23, 2024 |  Genres:  Literary Fiction   Science Fiction   Magical Realism  

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

A narrative particle accelerator that zooms between Wild Turkey Whiskey and Bob Dylan, unicorn skulls and voracious librarians, John Coltrane and Lord Jim. Science fiction, detective story and post-modern manifesto all rolled into one rip-roaring novel, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World is the tour de force that expanded Haruki Murakami's international following. Tracking one man's descent into the Kafkaesque underworld of contemporary Tokyo, Murakami unites East and West, tragedy and farce, compassion and detachment, slang and philosophy.

This one was...interesting. Probably my least favorite of Murakami's books so far but that still is a very high bar to meet. There's two separate plot lines that converge towards the end in a very cool way, but I feel like each plot line itself wasn't too interesting on its own. A good read but not one of my favorites.