Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World - Haruki Murakami

This book is one of the most mental things I've ever read, but I thought it was amazing. I'd been wanting to read Murakami for ages, so when I picked this up by chance in the library I was so excited to see who it was by. The basic plot is so difficult to describe, so I won't attempt it. And anyway, it might spoil your enjoyment. I thought it would be hard going, and when you look at the cover it really looks it, but I found it so easy to get into. One complaint is that I found the plot extremely difficult to follow, and you really do feel he's just making stuff up! But the confusion just drives you on, because you just HAVE to find out what ...  Read the complete review

'Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World' sure is a great title for a book isn't it? It even has a brilliant synopsis concerning modern Tokyo, mind-play and traditional Murakami immersiveness and quirkiness, and that's what drove me into reading this book next as an avid fan. Unfortunately though, I think that 'Hard-Boiled...' is probably the least best of Murakami's books that I've read to date. Firstly because of all the entire 400 pages in 40 chapters, things only really get truly interesting once you're half way into the book. The first 20 chapters could've been shortened greatly, infact they're a bloat. Of ...  Read the complete review

Not an easy read, but one that will reward the repeat reader again and again. In this surreal tale, Murakami splits his authorial duties between a darkly apocryphal fantasy tale and an altogether more modern tale of 'hard boiled' detective fiction. The trick to the book is the beautiful way in which he 'marries' the two halves into a lyrical whole. It's a hard book to review without offering spoilers, but anyone who takes the time to read it will be impressed by Murakami's range, the fluid manner with which he moves between genres and the mindblowing {literally!} subject matter. He deals sensitively with the romantic elements of his ...  Read the complete review

This guy's in a lift - he's thinking stuff - he's expecting the doors to open. And that simple little situation was written well. Just delighted me; maybe this is one of those writers, I thought, where I don't give a monkeys about what's happening or going to happen I just wanna hang around with them, I just want to be here. And I did for quite a while, I could taste a little bit of something special here. But it slips away. This guy is good and maybe something gets lost a little in translation. This guy is clever but clever is never enough. This guy is poetic but poetry ain't just for being pretty. His cool hard-boiled style story thread is ...  Read the complete review

I thought this book was fantastic! I loved the unique style - the book is split between two books, "The Hard Boiled Wonderland" and "The End of the World", which alternate in chapters. THis alone was enough to give it a unique edge. The books are kept very separate, but whilst reading, you know that there must be some connection between them, and only once you are over half way through do you start to get a feel for the magic that is unfolding. The first book is set in a futuristic Japan, and starts off seemingly normal, but soon the main character is embroiled in a world of good versus evil in the chase to try to uncover some huge ...  Read the complete review