Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

By: Haruki Murakami

Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne

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 listeners 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.

©2010 Haruki Murakami (P)2018 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“He has become the foremost representative of a new style of Japanese writing: hip, cynical, highly stylized, set at the juncture of cyberpunk, postmodernism, and hard-boiled detective fiction....Murakami [is] adept at deadpan wit, outrageous style.” (Los Angeles Times Magazine)

“Fantastical, mysterious, and funny...a fantasy world that might have been penned by Franz Kafka.” (Philadelphia Inquirer)

“Rich in action, suspense, odd characters and unexpected trifles...[a] provocative work.” (The Atlantic)

well done!

one of my favorite Murakami stories. the performance here felt a little flat at first but i pretty quickly got into it and it carried the rest of the story well. great quality audio, and about as much as you can ask from any audiobook.

How

I am always so engulfed in his work. I like the performance too. I will miss listening to this book

Interesting

I'll have to re-read this book eventually to fully grasp it, but it was interesting and enjoyable throughout.

decent

A good book but not top tier Murakami. it has a lot of his standard motifs; jazz, weird sex, terrible food, dream like worlds and explorations of the subconscious.
It is a pleasant world to wander around in.
What I disliked about the book was that a lot of his descriptions were very simple and not very creative. His female characters are grossly underdeveloped, sexually charged and very cringe. I got the impression they were written by a pervy old man. Overall if you dig Murakami then this is worth a listen.
ps. the narrator is excellent and he has the perfect soft dreamy voice for all of Murakami's work

My favorite book

A great listen, the voice acting is nice and subtle and doesn’t intrude on the story at all.

Highly recommend

Always love this author, but this book I loved more than most. Melancholy and poetic, it was so engaging. I also loved the narrator. The voice acting for this was perfect and really suited the story.

30% Akira 70% Seinfeld

In a good way. I’m also very picky about my narrators and major credit to this guy because his delivery throughout was incredible.

It's ok

Not bad but not my thing. Doesn't stack up against the classics but wasn't a terrible audio book.

The intrigue and mystery.

I liked how the story draws you in with cryptic detail yet the duel story telling threw me off at first. The subject content was interesting. Situations varied throughout the story, from riveting to unique perspectives, that brought on a hrmph here and there and maybe a chuckle or two.

Outstanding.

I definitely like Murakami, and I liked this. Definitely. Story was great as was the narration. Good work all.