Reddit reviews Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World: A Novel (Vintage International)

Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World. It's a strange one, but I enjoy strange books. Wonderfully vivid characters, too.

[Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World] (http://www.amazon.com/Hard-Boiled-Wonderland-End-World-International/dp/0679743464/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372998994&sr=8-1&keywords=hard+boiled+wonderland+and+the+end+of+the+world) is probably his most sci-fi, as well a great starting point.

Hard Boiled Wonderland and The End of The World is precisely what you're looking for.

1. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World - by Haruki Murakami
   
2. 9/10
   
3. Surrealism novel, [science] fiction
   
4. It's absurd, introspective, and, at times, quite humorous. I really enjoy the vivid imagery and liberal use of bizarre, but nonetheless appropriate, metaphors, as in many of Murakami's earlier novels.
   
5. Good Reads / Amazon

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami.

Had to stop myself in multiple parts for different reasons. Either “I feel odd” or “that was oddly uncomfortable” or at one specific part “I might vomit holy shit” (but in a good way).

Haruki Murakami is like the Stephen King of being surreal as fuck. If you have never read one of his books I would recommend reading another one before you read The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. It's easily the most surreal thing I have ever read.

I recommend starting with either
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and The End of The World
or
A Wild Sheep Chase

then follow with The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle


They are all very surreal and weird and fun to read.

for a book that i thought was strage but also a pretty good read

Hard Boiled Wondeland and the End of the World

http://www.amazon.ca/Hard-Boiled-Wonderland-World-Haruki-Murakami/dp/0679743464/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top/186-4979195-8807216

Haibane Renmei is also one of my favorites. In a similar vein I really enjoyed

• Shin Sekai Yori
  
  
• Kino no Tabi
  
  
• Kaiba
  
  Also, have you read the novel on which Haibane Renmei is loosely based? It's good.

If you want to jump into well-recognized contemporary works of fantasy, I highly suggest you have a go at Haruki Murakami's Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. This book earned him praise all over the world from those highbrows you speak of.

It's not technically "low fantasy", and it's more like one (thick) book than a series, which could be described as a mix of cyberpunk and high fantasy.

So yeah. Probably not what you're looking for. A pretty damn fine book nonetheless (the rest of his work is also awesome btw)

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

back to the beginning

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• Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny [lord]. Began December 5th.
  
  
• Zones of Thought Trilogy by Vernor Vinge [zones], [fire], [deepness], [children]. Began October 28th.
  
  
• Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami [Wonderland]. Began October 3rd.
  
  
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  2010######
  

  
  

• Surface Detail by Iain M. Banks [surface]. Began December 3rd.
  
  
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I don't know if sci-fi is the best word for it, but I'd be remiss not to mention Hard-Boiled Wonderland.

I definitely want to recommend one I just finished: Hard-Boiled Wonderland and The End of The World. Without spoiling anything, think along the lines of Inception. Absolutely one of the best books I've ever read.

If you enjoyed The Hunger Games, you'll probably like The Bartimaeus Trilogy (this links to book 1). Has a more Harry Potter feeling to it but the humor is so well done. Really fun read.

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

what about this?

Dune by Frank Herbert.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams. You have probably read it, but if you haven't, it's superbly funny sci-fi comedy.

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. A book that I re-read once every few years, and every time I find something new in it.

Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets by David Simon. A gripping, heartbreaking non-fiction book about police detectives. It inspired the acclaimed TV series "Homicide: Life on the Street." Simon would go on to create "The Wire."

The Big Nowhere by James Ellroy. Noir-ish procedural crime fiction. If you enjoy "Homicide," you may well like this.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera, "a philosophical novel about two men, two women, a dog and their lives in the Prague Spring of the Czechoslovak Communist period in 1968," according to Wikipedia. One of my favorite books.

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami. Detective novel meets sci-fi in one mind-bending existential work. If you watch "Fringe," well, this book is Fringe-y... and more.

To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis. Time travel. Victorian England. A tea cozy mystery of sorts.

Graphic novels! Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. Maus: A Survivor's Tale by Art Spiegelman. Love And Rockets by The Hernandez brothers. The Sandman by Neil Gaiman. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazaki. Elektra: Assassin by Frank Miller and Bill Sienkiewicz. And of course, Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. To discover yet more great comic books, check out the Comics College series.

When you wish upon a star...

I'd have to say Beauty and the Beast because I always related to her when I was little because she liked to read and she had brown hair. I love that she sees the good in people.

I think my favorite song would be You'll Be in my Heart, it's just too sweet :)

Thanks for the contest!

A new book :)

[$12.27!]
(http://www.amazon.com/Hard-Boiled-Wonderland-End-World-International/dp/0679743464/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=2XBW2TOZ0JUYA&coliid=I7BX3FBP4GVFR)

Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. It's excellent.

Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

Here is my suggestion: Take it slow. Look up every word you dont know, even words you think you might know in the dictionary, and try to get a real good feeling for what's going on in the book. I'd recommend the HP series, or maybe Lord of the Rings, even if you've seen the movies. Maybe 1984 or Brave New World.

Also based off what you like I think you might really like Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.


Btw I say look up words not because I think you're stupid or anything, but because a lot of times an author might use a word that you just not be as familiar with as you think. Sometimes just skipping them, at least for me, will leave me confused as to what is happening in the story at that moment.

I'm currently reading 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami (which comes close to fulfilling the "more than 500 pages" challenge twice over), but I'm not far enough in to really recommend it yet.

However, I've previously read Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami and do highly recommend this one.

Mushishi is wonderful. But it is very episodic. Its best not to binge the show. Once I got half way through the first season (this was before the second season was even a twinkle in the anime studio's eye) I actually saved the rest for "rainy" day type situations. It took me almost 6 months to finish a handful of episodes, but I really enjoyed watching it that way.

Also, how in the heck can you give Lain an 8 when its like 100x slower than Habaine Renmei?! No, but I do partially agree with you. I love HR a lot, but the first half really drags. Also, I would like to mention that it is very loosely based on a book called Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami. Its a very bizarre but fun read if you are ever looking for a new book to get into.

I just looked it up (I was in bed last night when I posted the previous message) and it seems Birthday Girl is in the Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman collection. So if you want more short fiction that's probably the best route to go.

If you're interested in jumping right into a novel, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is one of his most generally well received novels and a good place to start for some of the signature Murakami weirdness. Kafka on the Shore would be a great choice as well, and Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World is many Murakami readers' favorite novel of his, but I haven't read either of those yet so I'm more hesitant to recommend them.

I'd suggest reading the blurb of each and picking the story that sounds like it'd appeal to you most.

For beginners?

Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World-- Time, Duality, Left Brain/Right Brain Dillema

Norwegian Wood-- Memory, death (and therefore life), music

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle-- Surrealism, Defilement, Water (if you didn't like Kafka, you might not like this. It's like two steps back on the weirdness scale but twice as long).

He is easily one of my favorite authors of all time and I personally think every single one of his books is fantastic. Granted, Kafka was the last one I read, and I had read so many others before it that I wasn't phased by all the weird shit that goes down.

In my opinion, Murakami is the type of author that everyone will find at least one of his books enjoyable. It might be Norweigian Wood for some, 1Q84 for others, and maybe even A Wild Sheep Chase or Dance, Dance, Dance for a someone else.

I think there are certain works of his that are basically you either "get" them or you don't. This isn't an intellegence/educational thing, it's more like you're in a different place emotionally. That's okay, though, because his body of work is so large, complex, and thought provoking that it touches upon a lot of variable subjects.

Another book that kind of deals with this concept from a slightly different approach is Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami.

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