Most of you probably have heard of the anime Haibane Renmei by Yoshitoshi Abe, but what you might not know is that it was influenced by the novel Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by the popular contemporary author, Haruki Murakami. I think it’s about time that MangaBullet became acquainted with this man’s marvelous novels and what better book than this one? 

A surreal and dream-like novel, it follows two stories: the odd chapters covering Hard-Boiled wonderland, and the even chapters covering The End of the World. The two interconnected stories deal with the feeling of loneliness and becoming cut-off from society. None of the characters are named, which adds to the lack of intimacy and makes the reader almost experience the narrator's loneliness. Hard-Boiled Wonderland is about a man that works with "numbers"; encrypting information. After he does a job for an old scientist, strange things happen. While that is going on, the narrator of The End of the World finds himself in a walled up village where he must cut off his shadow. Both these stories escalate until they finally converge together in such a fantastical way. They come together in such an unsettling-ly perfect manner that I found myself in my own state of personal confusion after reading it.

Honestly, the book starts off a little rocky with some technical terms that are rather hard to follow. I feel that this is a driving point that may discourage readers from continuing on with it. Also, it can be hard to recall what is happening between chapters if the book isn't read in large chunks at a time. The themes are heavy, which isn't a bad thing, but makes the book a bad choice for some easy reading. Despite all this, the novel is powerfully written, proving Haruki Murakami as a literary genius.

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World is an amazing work of literary art. Brilliant in its quirkiness and utterly satisfying in its artistic splendor, anyone that’s dreamed before can pick up this book and enjoy it.

Rating: 4.5 / 5