Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World is essentially two stories, alternating chapters throughout the book.
Hard-Boiled Wonderland is the story of a man who works as a Calcutec, professionals tasked with processing data for various projects. He takes on a job with an eccentric scientist who keeps an underground laboratory surrounded by INKlings or dangerous flesh-eating
kappas. Unfortunately, working for the old man might bring him some unwanted attention from both the
System, which he works for, and the
Semiotecs, who like to steal everything and use for profit whatever the System comes up with. Not even the old man's pretty pink-clad chubby granddaughter would be worth all that trouble.
The End of the World, on the other hand, tells the story of a man who moves to a town that demands that he separate with his shadow and work as a dreamreader. He has no memories of his old life nor have any idea how the town works, what with its herd of one horned beasts that turn golden in autumn and die in large quantities during winter.
The worlds in the two stories are very different, with one featuring
sci-fi themes in using surgically enhanced human minds to perform high levels of computation using their subconscious mind and monsters that lurk in the underbelly of the city, while the other is more
fantasy in its description, with a strange town and the ready acceptance of its inhabitants on the numerous rules that they use as their guide for daily living, as well as the narrator's strange job of reading dreams from animal skulls. In the first few chapters, the two worlds are as disparate as can be, with different tones and very different experiences for either characters. But that doesn't last long. Further into reading, it becomes apparent that there are parallels in the stories of both narrators. They start out subtly, with certain topics that appear in partner chapters until it gets to the point that both narrators, Calcutec and Dreamreader, express the same thoughts. They come to realizations at nearly the same time, even if what they are experiencing in their respective worlds are different.
There are no names in the story, with every character addressed based on their occupation or description, but that doesn't hinder you from getting to know them individually. Never do you wonder who in the world either narrator is describing or speaking about, especially when each of them have distinct personalities and have their own idiosyncrasies. The lack of names, however, does lend the narrative on both worlds a surreal quality, although that might also have to do with all the talk of human computing brains, scary kappas that worship ancient fishes, and the dreamreading, among others.
And with the lead characters in each story unnamed, I have to admit to taking my time warming up to them. This isn't a
book to be rushed and delving into the different worlds of the two stories require patience because they have a different tone and feel... at least until you start noticing their parallels. And when they do, you realize that the book offers a far more satisfying reading experience than you anticipated... even if some of its elements go over your head. Author Haruki Murakami deftly handles the double narrative with ease, a sure hand all throughout my reading that I felt wouldn't lead me astray and take me to a satisfying end... even if I couldn't quite fathom what kind of ending was in store for the characters or for myself as a reader.
It wouldn't do to give you any more details on
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World... firstly, because this is a novel that you have to experience on your own and it helps not to know specifics, and secondly, there are still certain parts of the book that I'm still processing at this time. This isn't a book you rush through and you do have to have a certain mindset before opening its pages. I wouldn't necessarily say it's difficult, but it does require imagination. It's a book that offers a detailed description of the lives of two seemingly different men, and every chapter fleshes out the worlds that they each inhabit. There's a buildup that would seem slow in coming, but would eventually take on a blustering pace with a
mystery at its core and a feel of
adventure you didn't expect would excite you. This book is a lot of things and you either get overwhelmed or you just hold on for the ride and trust it takes you somewhere good.
For the longest time, I've always felt bad that I had yet to read any of Haruki Murakami's works... that I had put it off as long as I did. After reading
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, however, I realized that had I read it when I was younger, I wouldn't have appreciated it as much as I did now. That I wouldn't have been ready to appreciate its parallel storylines and that its lessons would have been lost on me. But who knows? Maybe I would have felt that I was on the cusp of something momentous, of reading something that would expand my reading experience and preferences.
But I suppose it doesn't matter now. All that matters is that I finally read one of his works. And that it was worth the wait.
Happy reading!!
