Hard Boiled Wonderland And The End Of The World Review

 I've always wanted to read Haruki Murakami's work. I've always been intrigued by his books which I would find on book shelves in book stores but the lack of funds have always hindered me from purchasing a book of his to take home and read at my own pleasure.

Ever since aquiring my iPad I have recently discovered the joy albeit an illegal one of downloading e-books from the Internet. I can hear my husband's scolding and disapproving voice of having to give back to the author and so, I have made a promise to myself with you oh dear reader as my witness that when the budget allows I will still buy books from book stores. 

There is still that joy that comes from making a book purchase, feeling the book's cover and turning through each page while inhaling that familiar new book smell. All these feelings and sensations are obviously missing from reading e-books. 

So now that, that promise has been made let us get on with Haruki Murakami's 'Hard Boiled Wondeland and The End of The World' review. 

I honestly did not know what to expect when I started to read the book since it was my first time to read any of his works. Lately I've been reading old Stephen King books from the ladies that come to the office every payday peddling old second hand books that smell like mold and mildew when you open the pages. Each book costs P150.00 and sadly that's all that I can afford for now. So as I was saying I really had no idea what to expect from Murakami unlike when you pick up a Stephen King book you already have an idea that you are in for a thrilling read but for Murakami, it was a box of chocolates for me - I had no idea what I was getting myself into. 

I have to admit reading through the first pages was hard as you are led through the story by a nameless protagonist whose peculiar job was to shuffle data for a crazy scientist living underground for the fear of his research falling into the wrong hands, while all of this is happening the book shifts from the seemingly normal Tokyo scene to a parallel world where our protagonist is a dream reader, reading dreams from old skulls in a town where the people have no mind and shadow of their own. 

It really is a peculiar plot and how one world weaves to the next has no warning either. It was an initial struggle for me to read the story at first since data and numbers aren't really my cup of tea which is strange considering my day job is a Data Analyst and all I do is stare at numbers and Excel the whole day. 

Nevertheless the story gets intriguing and you get caught in the shifting worlds and the curiosity of what will happen next will have you moving on to one page after the other without you even knowing it. 

So this box of chocolates was pretty much my kind of chocolates and I really also enjoyed Murakami's prose and writing style. He had me highlighting quotes and posting on social media because. I really liked them and he had me highlighting words and defining their meaning, thus increasing my vocabulary. 

The pages of Murakami's book seem to have been taken right out of a Sci-Fi Anime with strange groups and organizations like the System, Semiotecs, Calcutecs, the INKlings, all mixed up in an ongoing info wars which leads up to the ultimate battle of the subconscious. 

An intriguing and ambitious novel which follows a unique plot, just don't get turned off with the "technical lingo" I did compare it to a Sci-Fi Anime. 

After reading the novel, I thought that it reminded me of a a tightly closed bud, it hasn't achieved it's full beauty and potential until it fully blooms, which it does in the end. 

It may not be of the same excitement factor as Sthepen Kings's books but there is definitely a unique kind of excitement there.