2018 Beyond the Classics discussion

I have been wanting the challenge to read this author’s book for some time. I’d given up reading his book few years ago because it was so difficult. It was hard for me to understand what this author wants me to take from the book, so I just put the book back on the shelf and stopped reading it. The biggest reason why I wanted the challenge to read his book again is because he is a really famous author, and is supported by so many people around the world. I wanted to know why he has so many fans, and hopefully enjoy his book. This book was recommended by so many people for beginner readers.
In “Hard-boiled Wonderland,” the narrator is involved the relationship between calcutects and semiotects. Calcutecs, who are hired by the government, are professionals who provide and protect important data. On the other hand, semiotects try to steal and decipher the data to sell to black market. The narrator is a calcutect, and he gets an offer from an old scientist to provide data by calculating it. However, he gets involved in the fight between the calcutecs and semiotects because of what the scientist gave to him.
In “End of the World,” the narrator finds himself in the town that is surrounded by a huge wall. Nothing can pass through the wall, so no one can escape from the city. He does not even know what brought him to the city, but he “threw” his shadow when he entered the city like everyone did. He was assigned to work at a library as a dream reader, who sees the dreams contained inside of skulls which have a single horn.


Even though this book is often recommended for beginners, the story is really complicated. Two stories, “Hard-boiled Wonderland” and “The End of the World”, are included in this book and they seem to be independent of each other. One story takes place in a normal world, but another occurs in a world that is closed by a huge wall. The two stories alternate chapters between the two books. I got confused at first with this book just as I once did a few years ago because those stories seem to have no connection and when one story finishes at the end of one chapter, the second story comes back again with a new chapter. However, as the two stories go on, I got goose bumps because I see little things that might connect the two stories. Even though I have not started to read the final book which ends the stories and I have no idea what the ending will actually be, I started to see foreshadowing.