WHY I READ MURAKAMI + REVIEW

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
by Haruki Murakami
Vintage International | August 2015

     In this hyperkinetic and relentlessly inventive novel, Japan’s most popular (and controversial) fiction writer hurtles into the consciousness of the West. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World draws readers into a narrative particle accelerator in which a split-brained data processor, a deranged scientist, his shockingly undemure granddaughter, Lauren Bacall, Bob Dylan, and various thugs, librarians, and subterranean monsters collide to dazzling effect. What emerges is simultaneously cooler than zero and unaffectedly affecting, a hilariously funny and deeply serious meditation on the nature and uses of the mind.

I have been reading Murakami's books for a while now, and I wasn't entirely sure why. My sister introduced me to one of his books, and then I took it upon myself to read his other works. I don't consider myself an avid fan of his novels because they didn't leave a strong, lasting impact. I don't reread them, nor do I discuss them with friends. I think I began to read his novels for pretentious reasons: they make me feel mature and sophisticated. However, his books don't only have superficial benefits, as he has also introduced to me new concepts, literature, film, and even foods in his novels. They even challenge me to think because some of his worlds are intricate and hard to grasp. I always marvel at what I see. His novels are also a complete departure from the typical novels I usually read, so they are refreshing. Even if I may not understand some explanations because they can be really out there or dislike certain aspects of the plot/story, I still enjoy my experience at the end of my reading.

Maybe it's because I recently watched Dr. No and Casino Royale, but his novels and the Bond movies have a similar formula. There's a shag (sometimes multiple and often detailed in Murakami's books, which I find somewhat unnecessary and uncomfortable,) a girl (sometimes girls,) and new gadgets in the form of ideas or concepts. Once you read a Murakami novel or watch a Bond movie, you pretty much know what the others are like, but you still make time to read or watch for the experience. 

Now for my actual review. (For the first few chapters, I took notes, but I gave up somewhere along the way because they were tedious.)

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World has both elements of Sci-Fi and Fantasy. In the modern world, information is a valuable commodity that incites wars. There is also a scientist with advanced ideas and inventions. There is a Magical Realism aspect to it with the INKlings and their mythology. In the Fantasy world, there is a utopia with unicorns, and you almost lack nothing. 

I paid a lot of attention to writing. At first, I thought the streams of consciousness and tangents were awful because, as tangents often do, they draw the reader away. My mind began to wander, and I was no longer glued to the story. What really annoyed me enough to write a note about was the narrator's fixation with the granddaughter's weight. He wanted to have sex with her, he's never had sex with someone that was overweight, etc. This preoccupation with sex as they journey down disorganized corridors seemed completely out of place to me. Small tangents are fine when they develop characters, but reenacting movie scenes is fluff. Some digressions were entertaining and meandered to interesting places. 

Murakami is such an intricate writer and describes the most minute things, which makes the book so much more immersive. This helps immensely the foreign world and concepts Murakami introduces to us. His use of dialogue to explain is a great tool because the narrator can ask more questions/ask our questions; we can see how he's processing it and shows that he's just as lost as we are. I appreciate that the author tries to describe the same thing in different ways, such as illustrations, for readers to comprehend. 

Luckily, there is no descriptive sex scene. I am still somewhat traumatized with the one in 1Q84... Something about Murakami characters and underaged women/women in general... Even before I found out the granddaughter was underaged, I was already disgusted with sexual thoughts about her, and not just from the narrator. Her grandfather discusses her sex drive! I'm not a fan of how Murakami characterized the granddaughter because it felt like another "male fantasy:" a smart, hypersexual woman. She propositions the narrator, saying her grandfather encouraged her to lose her virginity to someone over 30, and she's even willing to roleplay as a prostitute to have sex with the narrator... I'm not the only one uncomfortable, right? I'm not just too sensitive, am I? Don't even get me started on the semen swallowing tangent on page 323 of the Vintage International edition pictured above... Yeah, I'm not making that up. Is he saying controversial things just to be controversial? Did he simply write this to arouse some sort of disgust in his readers and discussion around his work? 

After writing my thoughts down, I think writing that justification was naught because I'm back at square one: why do I read Murakami?