"Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World" - Erik Hanberg

“Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World”

Yes, that's really the title of the book by Haruki Murakami, translated from Japanese. I've read a lot by him, principally his wonderful Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and his funny A Wild Sheep Chase.

Hard-Boiled Wonderland is the most fantastical of his I've read–Chinese unicorns, allegorical villages, separated shadows, fish-like people living in the Tokyo underground … the list of the bizarre goes on.

Alternating chapters, Murakami flips back and forth between two fantastical stories, he eventually combines them together into one story that actually turns out to be kind of moving.

If you're interested in Murakami, I'd recommend either Wind-Up Bird Chronicle or A Wild Sheep Chase as the place to start. I don't think I'd go looking for this one unless you really really liked the author.


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