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Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami - 3.5* - My Review

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and The End of the World is Murakami's postmodern multi-genre novel that alternates between two seemingly unrelated storylines. The odd chapters follow the Calcutec. He is a human data processor in cyberpunk Tokyo who gets mixed up with a maverick scientist and his teenage granddaughter. The even chapters take place in a walled town where the narrator has lost his shadow and memories. He then becomes the Dreamreader and is taught how to read memories and dreams from unicorn skulls housed in the library. The Hard-Boiled Wonderland sections feel like detective fiction mixed with sci-fi, while The End of the World chapters are more dreamlike fantasy. The connection between the two worlds only becomes clear much later in the narrative.

Murakami uses different tenses to distinguish the worlds - past tense for Hard-Boiled Wonderland, and present tense for The End of the World. Most characters don't have names - they're just Librarian, Professor, Gatekeeper, etc. It contains terminology that feels a bit dated, such as the Chubby Girl and many references to women’s eating habits (apparently the men get a pass). It explores duality, the nature of the mind, consciousness and subconsciousness, connections between time and memory, and what makes us human. Recommended to those who enjoy experimental fiction and don't mind being confused for the first two-thirds of the book. This is one of Murakami’s most abstract and philosophical novels (of those I have read). I enjoyed the writing style, but it was a little too far “out there” for me to fully appreciate it.

3.5