First, I REALLY enjoyed this work. For a while now, I’ve been meaning to read Murakami’s works, so I’m glad I was able to read this one. It was definitely unlike anything I’d ever read before, and it caused me to reflect on how the mind works and what the subconscious is capable of accomplishing.

After reading the first few chapters, I initially thought that the Narrator in the End of the World was a reincarnation of the Narrator in Hard-Boiled Wonderland, and I guess I was kind of right. There were obvious parallels between the two, especially in regard to their attraction to the Librarians. It would’ve been interesting if the Chubby Girl also had a counterpart in the End of the World, but I don’t think she had a significant enough role in the Narrator’s mind.

At the end, I kind of wish that the Narrator would’ve followed his Shadow into the whirlpool. I think that if he had jumped, he would’ve woken up in Hard-Boiled Wonderland and been able to live out the rest of his life. However, I think the author makes the ending purposely obscure to elicit reflection by the audience and make us question what we would have done in the Narrator’s position.

Furthermore, Murakami uses techniques of other authors, and my favorite references were of those to Tolkien. When I first saw the map, I got really excited because the maps in the Lord of the Rings are iconic, and if this novel was anything like LOTR, I’d probably really enjoy it. However, the plots of each work didn’t share any apparent similarities, but the structure of the novels did. LOTR had dual stories that were separate but connected (Frodo and Sam’s journey vs. everyone else’s), and Murakami uses this technique, but his chapters alternate while Tolkien’s do not. Overall, I really liked Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, and I’m looking forward to reading more Murakami novels in the future.

Anna Truong