• 1001 BYMRBYD Challenge
  • About Zee
  • Book Challenges 2010
  • Rory Gilmore Reading List
  • Zee’s Book Reviews

Wordly Obsessions

~ … the occasional ramblings of a book addict …

Wordly Obsessions

Tag Archives: hard boiled wonderland and the end of the world

Book Review | ‘Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World’ by Haruki Murakami

18 Tuesday Jan 2011

Posted by mywordlyobsessions in Book Review

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

book review, hard boiled wonderland and the end of the world, Haruki Murakami, japanese, Tokyo


Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the WorldHard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

“You’re wrong. The mind is not like raindrops. It does not fall from the skies, it does not lose itself among other things. If you believe in me at all, then believe this: I promise you I will find it. Everything depends on this.”

“I believe you,” she whispers after a moment. “Please find my mind.”

Even though I read this two months ago, I am still processing the many memorable, often beautiful and sometimes terrifying images that Murakami has left imprinted on my mind. As a Murakami fan, I have read enough of his work to establish an impression of his writing style; but ‘Hard Boiled’ has blown that to pieces.

This novel is one that challenges notions of the psyche, memory and self. It plays around with theories of Quantum Physics as the story is batted back and forth from one separate, insulated world to another. Can a person exist in more than one place at a time? If so, what happens when one entity becomes aware of the others existence? What would you do if you were caught in such a dilemma? What happens when that much-needed membrane of ignorance is broken?

Murakami, with his fistful of crazy characters and seemingly random symbols and metaphors grapples with these and other off-the-wall questions by constructing a hybrid narrative that is part cyber-thriller and part folkloric mythos. As the chapters alternate from one reality (or unreality) to another, the reader begins to see surreal correlations between the two worlds.

Right and left, left and right. Like two sides of a brain that run side by side, but can never be reconciled or come in contact with each other; so the two nameless protagonists of this story begin by skirting along the veil between the conscious and unconscious worlds. On one side lies the Hard Boiled Wonderland; the metropolitan hubbub that is Tokyo city. On the other is the End of the World; a haunted village where shadows wither and die and strange golden beasts graze the plains. Two men exist in these places; two men who begin to question the laws of the places they live. On the periphery of their senses, they both feel the presence of the other and so begins a battle of awakening.

The delicate symmetry between the realities is juggled with expertise by Murakami, who in this novel is beginning to show that he is very capable of managing a large and eclectic cast of characters. What I found enjoyable was the ‘merging’ of the two worlds and especially the originality of the more fantastical aspects of the story. It was nice to see some Japanese mythological creatures appearing in unexpected places (the INKlings or kappa make many appearances).

This is one of those books that one can’t really talk that much about. Saying anything more about the plot or characters would give away a lot of spoilers. But one thing is for sure, this is definitely worth reading, if only for the cliffhanger ending.

View all my reviews

Related articles
  • 3 Novels To Read if You Liked Inception (izabael.com)
  • Review: Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami (therabbitbooks.wordpress.com)
  • Murakami-esque (meandmybigmouth.typepad.com)
  • A slow boat to China by Haruki Murakami (integrated4.wordpress.com)
  • New Look Novels: Haruki Murakami’s covers redesigned (lostateminor.com)

Share this:

  • Email
  • Print
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • Pocket
  • More
  • Tumblr
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn

Like this:

Like Loading...

Hello Japan! November Mini – Challenge…

13 Saturday Nov 2010

Posted by mywordlyobsessions in Meme

≈ 15 Comments

Tags

After Dark, akira, anime, gackt, ghibli museum, ghost in the shell, hanami, hard boiled wonderland and the end of the world, Haruki Murakami, in the miso soup, japan, okinawa, ryu murakami, Sputnik Sweetheart, Tokyo, tokyo tower, wind up bird chronicles


Hello Japan! November mini-challenge: Five Questions (a Japan meme)

NOVEMBER MINI-CHALLENGE: Five Questions

Hello Japan! is a monthly mini-challenge focusing on Japanese literature and culture. hosted by ‘In Spring It Is The Dawn’. Each month there will be a new task which relates to some aspect of life in Japan. Anyone is welcome to join in any time. You can post about the task on your blog. Or if you don’t have a blog, you can leave a comment on the Hello Japan! post for the month. Everyone who completes the task will then be included in the drawing for that month’s prize.   

This month’s challenge is a good one. We get to answer five questions relating to Japan and Japanese culture. Here goes!

1. My favourite Japanese tradition is manga because:

I just love art, and manga is probably the first contact I ever had with Japanese culture. A person can learn so much about a country and it’s people by studying its various art forms and manga is so uniquely Japanese that no other culture can copy it. Cult classics like ‘Akira’ made me a firm fan of cyberpunk literature and made me more aware of the dangers of technology, social isolation, corruption and power. This, and a wonderfully complex storyline between Tetsuo and Kaneda led me to look for similar stories like ‘Ghost in the Shell’.   

2. The best Japanese movie I’ve seen this year is:

 

‘Zatoichi’ starring Takeshi ‘Beat’ Kitano. It’s an excellent version of the blind swordsman who comes into a small Japanese town to kick gangster butt. It also stars the awesome Tadanobu Asano. It’s set during the feudal Edo period. It has ronins, geishas and lots of great sword-fighting, so its well worth a look at if you get the chance.

3. What Japanese author(s) or book(s) have you enjoyed that you would highly recommend to others?

Nothing comes close to Haruki Murakami. 2010 has been a good year for reading his books as I’ve got to know him better as a writer. I would recommend ‘South of the Border, West of the Sun’, ‘After Dark’ and ‘Sputnik Sweetheart’ as an introduction to his work. I am currently reading ‘Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World’ and ‘The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles’. So far, they are both turning out to be excellent!  

4. What is something Japanese that you’d like to try but haven’t yet had the chance?

I’d love to try Miso Soup ever since I read the novel ‘In The Miso Soup’ by Ryu Murakami. I would also love to try on the traditional Japanese costume and go through the tea ceremony.  I’m a teaholic, and Japan is THE place to do some serious tea-tasting! Just thinking about it is putting a smile on my face!

5. You’re planning to visit Japan next year. Money is not a concern. What is on the top of your list of things you most want to do?

 

 

This is a VERY long list. First off I’d probably stay a few months (considering how long the journey is) so I’d start off with ‘Hanami’ or the cherry blossom viewing in March. It would be a perfect time to go as I’d also celebrate my birthday there. We’d pack our bento lunches and go sit in the park with all the other watchers. Then I’d visit Tokyo’s various districts: Ginza (shopping), Akihabara (electronics), Harajuku etc and some of the old temples that are located in the capital. Something tells me praying there would do me some good. There is also the Ghibli Museum I’d like to see. It’s very hard to get tickets, but because I’m such a fan of Ghibli films it’s an absolute must. I’d also go and visit the Tokyo Tower. I heard that young couples go there and sit under it. If you stay long enough and the lights go out, then its a sign that you’ll stay together forever.

Finally, towards June (I said I was staying a few months), I’d go over to the Okinawa islands as I’ve heard it’s a sub-tropical paradise. A bit of swimming, some fishing; perfect. Nothing like rounding up my Japan pilgrimage by visiting the birth place of my Japanese rock hero Gackto-san!

That’s my questions answered. What about you?

Share this:

  • Email
  • Print
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • Pocket
  • More
  • Tumblr
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn

Like this:

Like Loading...

RSS Links

RSS Feed RSS - Posts

RSS Feed RSS - Comments

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 636 other followers

Blog Stats

  • 348,921 hits

My Visitors

free counters

Recent Posts

Top Posts

  • Famous Quotes | Edgar Allan Poe
  • 'The Diary of A Young Girl' by Anne Frank
  • Book Review | 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' by John Boyne
  • Book Review | 'Chronicle of a Death Foretold' - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
  • Book Review | 'Peter Pan' by J.M. Barrie
  • Rory Gilmore Reading List
  • Book Review | 'The Kite Runner' by Khaled Hosseini
  • Book Review | 'In The Miso Soup' by Ryu Murakami
  • Cambridge University Reading Test
  • Book Review | 'Veronika Decides To Die' - Paulo Coelho

The best of the best of the best…

Bookish tweets

  • 5 of 5 stars to The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden goodreads.com/review/show/37… 6 days ago
  • @wilson_blesson @discohhh @backrow @RSBNetwork @Ashli_Babbitt @realDonaldTrump I'm saying quit calling white people… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 1 week ago
  • RT @AlisaValdesRod1: "I don't feel sorry for congress at all. Oh, I'm sorry, did you have to hide under your desk because of guns? Wah wah… 1 week ago
  • RT @Anthrofuentes: This is what it looks like when toxic White privilege is left unchecked "Democracy is fragile. Let's take better care of… 1 week ago
  • @CapriMilanRome @DianeEnsley1 @withsometwist @LiminalLaura @Pamela25978657 @RSBNetwork @Ashli_Babbitt… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 1 week ago
Follow @WordlyObsession

Pinning stuff on boards is fun!

Follow Me on Pinterest

What’s on the Shelf?

Reading Wishlist!!

WP Book Bloggers List

For finding things…

50 books a year 1001 book list angela carter audiobook Benjamin Lebert book challenge book review books che guevara childrens fiction chinua achebe comic books crazy Dr. Gonzo dystopian edgar allan poe fantasy fear and loathing Fiction frankenstein goodreads gothic fiction Grapes of Wrath gustave flaubert Haruki Murakami hubert selby jr humour hunter s thompson ian fleming Indian literature Its monday what are you reading? japan japanese japanese horror story jm coetzee John Steinbeck Jorge Luis Borges kazuo ishiguro kurt vonnegut l. frank baum literary fiction literature liz jensen love story meme midnights children oscar wilde Paul Auster peter ackroyd poetry readalong religion roberto bolano Robert Rankin romance rory gilmore reading list rum diary ryu murakami salman rushdie science fiction short story stephen king sylvia plath teaser tuesday the motorcycle diaries the rapture Tokyo toni morrison Top Ten Tuesday United States ursula le guin virginia woolf war wondrous words wednesday writing

Blog at WordPress.com.

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
%d bloggers like this: