Say what you will about his novels, but you can't deny Murakami has a knack for off-kilter titles. This is the man who wrote A Wild Sheep Chase, after all.
As you might have already guessed, this narrative alternates between the titular "Hard-Boiled Wonderland" and "End of the World," which is particularly appropriate considering the novel features a split-brained "data shuffler" for a protagonist. (He's able to encode/decode complex cryptological information.)
Half the chapters feature humorous cyberpunk in the vein of Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash, as our hapless everyman gets caught in the middle of a dangerous war of information, meets up with a scientist who tinkered around with his psyche, and has an affair with a voraciously hungry librarian. Poor guy, he just wanted to retire and teach himself how to play the cello in his old age.
The other half seems to tell the unrelated tale of a mysterious village surrounded by impossibly high walls. None of the residents can remember who they are or where they came from, and they've all had their shadows bizarrely sundered by the enigmatic Gatekeeper.
Of course, these two aren't as unrelated as you might originally think, and as the story heads towards a conclusion, the truth ought to dawn on you. What is mind? No matter.
Edited: PC
Article comments
1 - LegendaryMonkey
Oh, I love this book! The narrative is so much fun.