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

Hyperkinetic and relentlessly inventive, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World is Haruki Murakami’s deep dive into the very nature of consciousness. Across two parallel narratives, Murakami draws readers into a mind-bending universe in which Lauren Bacall, Bob Dylan, a split-brained data processor, a deranged scientist, his shockingly undemure granddaughter, and various thugs, librarians, and subterranean monsters collide to dazzling effect. What emerges is a novel that is at once hilariously funny and a deeply serious meditation on the nature and uses of the mind. The Last Surviving Victim Of An Experiment That Implanted The Subjects' Heads With Electrodes That Decipher Coded Messages Is The Unnamed Narrator. Half The Chapters Are Set In Tokyo, Where The Narrator Negotiates Underground Worlds Populated By Inklings, Dodges Opponents Of Both Sides Of A Raging High-tech Infowar, And Engages In An Affair With A Beautiful Librarian With A Gargantuan Appetite. In Alternating Chapters He Tries To Reunite With His Mind And His Shadow, From Which He Has Been Severed By The Grim, Dark Replacement Consciousness Implanted In Him By A Dotty Neurophysiologist. Both Worlds Share The Unearthly Theme Of Unicorn Skulls That Moan And Glow. Elevator, Silence, Overweight -- Golden Beasts -- Rain Gear Inklings, Laundry -- The Library -- Tabulations, Evolution, Sex Drive -- Shadow -- Skull, Lauren Bacall, Library -- The Colonel -- Appetite, Disappointment, Leningrad -- The Wall -- Dressing, Watermelon, Chaos -- A Map Of The End Of The World -- Frankfurt, Door, Independent Operants -- Woods -- Whiskey, Torture, Turgenev -- The Coming Of Winter -- End Of The World, Charlie Parker, Time Bomb -- Dreamreading -- Hamburgers, Skyline, Deadline -- The Death Of The Beasts -- Bracelets, Ben Johnson, Devil -- Gray Smoke -- Holes, Leeches, Tower -- Shadow Grounds -- Meal, Elephant Factory, Trap -- Power Station -- Encyclopedia Wand, Immortality, Paperclips -- Musical Instruments -- Lake, Masaomi Kondo, Panty Hose -- Hole -- Fares, Police, Detergent -- Shadow In The Throes Of Death -- Rainy-day Laundry, Car Rental, Bob Dylan -- Skulls -- Nail Clippers, Butter Sauce, Iron Vase -- Accordian -- Lights, Introspection, Cleanliness -- Escape -- Popcorn, Lord Jim, Extinction -- Birds. Haruki Murakami ; Translated By Alfred Birnbaum. Elevator, Silence, Overweight Golden Beasts Rain Gear, INKlinkgs, Laundry The Library Tabulations, Evolution, Sex Drive Shadow Skull, Lauren Bacall, Library The Colonel Appetite, Disappointment, Leningrad The Wall Dressing, Watermelon, Chaos A Map of the End of the World Frankfurt, Door, Independent Operants Woods Whiskey, Torture, Turgenev The Coming of Winter End of the World, Charlie Parker, Time Bomb Dreamreading Hamburgers, Skyline, Deadline The Death of the Beasts Bracelets, Ben Johnson, Devil Gray Smoke Holes, Leeches, Tower Shadow Grounds Meal, Elephant Factory, Trap Power Station Encyclopedia Wand, Immortality, Paperclips Musical Instruments Lake, Masatomi Kondo, Panty Hose Hole Fares, Police, Detergent Shadow in the Throes of Death Rainy-Day Laundry, Car Rental, Bob Dylan Skulls Nail Clippers, Butter Cause, Iron Vase Accordion Lights, Introspection, Cleanliness Escape Popcorn, Lord Jim, Extinction Birds A clerk in a Tokyo of the near future works in an organization that controls the flow of information to society--employing electronic brainwashing and other insidious techniques--a job that contributes to his increasing sense of dehumanization