Klawchat Thursday 1 pm EDT.
Haruki Murakami’s Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
HBW tells two stories in alternating chapters, with the connection only becoming apparently at or just after the book’s midpoint. The main storyline revolves around a narrator who is a Calcutec, a person responsible for encrypting data in his brain, which has been surgically altered to allow for separate, independent access of the two halves of the cerebrum (?). He’s called in for a special, top-secret project by a mysterious hermit-like possibly-mad scientist who knows more than he lets on.
The second storyline is mysterious, as the narrator has just arrived in a strange Town where time exists but moves on forever – not in an infinite loop, where time repeats, but with neither beginning nor end, to say nothing of purpose. People in the Town have no names, no identities beyond their assigned roles, and no feelings. The Town is walled – by a Wall, of course – and there is no way out, although the narrator is never explicitly described as a prisoner and seems to be a VIP of sorts. Its nature is deliberately vague, and only becomes clear after Murakami connects the two plots.
Unfortunately, Murakami appears to have started with the idea of writing one novel and decided midstream to write a different one. In the first half of the book, it appears that the narrator is going to be sucked into an underworld battle between factions fighting over what appears to be control of critical data that he has been encrypting. He’s threatened and injured, goes on the lam … and that plot line ends there, with no return or hint of resolution, and it’s never quite clear what his assailants were after or what they decided to do in the day and a half that follows the assault.
Murakami’s easy, almost conversational style – like having a conversation with a slightly crazy person – and gift for creating memorable side characters was already in full effect in HBW, so it’s an enjoyable read, and he creates plenty of tension to propel the reader through the book. He goes off on an explanatory tangent mid-book, where he has to explain to the reader some bit of science or (in this case) mock science so that the overall plot will make sense, and it’s a jarring interruption to the flow of the story and the prose; it’s a crutch of a weak or inexperienced writer, and Murakami didn’t use it in either of the two books by him that I’d previously read.
If you haven’t read Murakami before, I’d strongly recommend The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
Next up: Alan Lightman’s Ghost
The fact that I read this one first and really enjoyed it is now making me that much more excited for The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and Kafka on the Shore.
On a didn’t get posted during the chat food related topic: Where do you purchase most of your fresh produce? Do you notice a big difference in supermarket vs. Whole Foods vs. farm stand?
And if you ever get around to the official list of best and worst from Sesame Street, I’d be more than entertained.
It’s interesting, to me, that you mention the lack of resolution of a storyline in HBW, as I thought that was a defining characteristic of Wind-Up Bird. The explanation for what happened to the wife was, to me, unsatisfying, as were the explanations for the method of the search, for the abilities of the counselor they had, and the lawyer with his time in the well, the lady who keeps calling…
For me, Murakami’s plots are almost irrelevant. What makes him so dazzling, I think, are the moments: describing the whistling of the Thieving Magpie theme, the light shining into the well, and so on.
I’ve only read Wind-Up Bird, and loved it, but found it almost entirely different from what I expected from your descriptions.
Keith are you going to make a suggestions post for St. Louis eats soon for when you’re here for the Futures Game?
I would nominate South of the Border, West of the Sun or Sputnik Sweetheart for beginners . . .
Pitch f/x had Zumaya’s fastest fastball that game at 102.7. Sound legit?
Damn Keith, you are not pulling any punches on your twitter.
I absolutely love your book reviews and they have led me to at least 5 that I consider personal favorites (including The Master and Margarita, The Woman in White, and A Hero of Our Time) but I had already read both Wind-Up and Kafka when I saw you had listed them. While I haven’t read HBW, I’ve read Murakami’s “A Wild Sheep Chase” and like your description of HBW it is occasionally marvelous but ultimately a mild disappointment compared to the splendor of his two best-known works. A personal friend who has read nearly all of Murakami’s novels recommends Yukio Mishima to me; I was wondering if you had read any of his novels, and what you thought of them.
I’m also curious what your opinions on Word Freak were, as it’s a personal favorite and pairs exceptionally well with Fantasyland.
As someone who lives in Az and has attended numerous d backs games, I think your Byrnes comment is hysterical. He’s awful at baseball activities. He’s funny as hell, and a pretty nice guy, but a terrible baseball player.
Rank’em: Cat’s Cradle, Mother Night, Slaughterhouse Five (that’s my ranking).
I am a big fan of Murakami, and have been for about five years now. I loved this book, as well as the others KLAW has reviewed. My favorite though, is A Wild Sheep Chase. I cannot recommend it highly enough. I may be a bit biased since that was the first Murakami book that I read, though.
Joe Jackson is the Augie Garrido of child music stars. He had Michael throwing curves at age 5.