Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

This novel is constructed around two parallel stories that are presented in alternating chapters. Odd-numbered chapters, which are read by Adam Sims and take place in "Hard-Boiled Wonderland," tell the realistic story of a human data processor in Tokyo whose world has turned upside down. Even-numbered chapters, narrated by Ian Porter, tell the story of a newcomer to "The End of the World," an odd town whose residents live behind a wall and surrender their shadows. Sims and Porter are well matched for the alternating chapters. Each is introspective as his character explores the meaning of the mind. While the two stories are distinct, the similarity in the pace and tone of both narrators keeps things smooth as the stories converge. J.E.M. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

July 26, 2010
Murakami's two stories—which alternate, chapter by chapter—are told by two narrators, who split duties here. Ian Porter is the baritone, thoughtful and deliberative; Adam Sims is lighter spirited, flightier, and more amused by the bizarre comedy of Murakami's puzzle box. Both readers are well chosen, expertly picking their way across the minefield of this intoxicating, perplexing story. And their balancing act mimics the book's alternation of tones, styles, and stories. The recording is studded by occasional studio sound effects that are hardly necessary, but do manage to cleverly amplify the woozy, trippy disorientation of the tale. A Vintage paperback.

This audio version of Murakami's 1991 dystopian novel is extremely welcome, even if not completely successful. Murakami is aiming for a mash-up of futurist and fantasy tales, narrated by a nameless and mostly emotionless "Calcutech" worker who has been scientifically altered (he discovers halfway through the story) so that he can perform a mysterious computerlike function called data shuffling. It appears that he is the experiment of a brilliant rogue scientist who claims to be trying to save the world with the help of his plump, pink-garbed granddaughter. The level of Murakami's invention is dazzling, but the characters, intentionally robbed of memory and passion, leave Kirby Heyborne little choice but to play them as bland and flat, even in terrifying jeopardy. You see the problem. B.G. � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine