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)

Outstanding.

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

Beautiful & mysterious

Beautifully written book that captured my imagination from beginning to end. Confused me a bit in the middle though I still found it interesting and captivating. I love the mysterious world that I was engulfed in. Not for everyone and his depictions of women are cringy at times, but I loved the story and thought the narration was great.

A True Treasure

This is perhaps one of the most creative, complex and contemplative stories of modern literature,

I enjoyed reading it a few years ago but do remember being confused at times, likely due to reading it quickly, The second time was this fantastic audio version. The slower pace and exceptional narration with delightful production qualities, like short musical snippets or nature sounds at the beginning and conclusion of chapters, helped me really savior the details of the story.

Having read most of Murakami’s work, I believe a third reading, and perhaps an additional listening, of this particular novel will be something I look forward to. In the meantime it will certainly continue to linger in my mind.

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

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.