
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $29.14
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Kirby Heyborne
-
Written by:
-
Haruki Murakami
About this listen
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 AudioYou may also enjoy...
-
Novelist as a Vocation
- Written by: Haruki Murakami, Philip Gabriel - translator, Ted Goossen - translator
- Narrated by: Kotaro Watanabe
- Length: 7 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this engaging book, the internationally best-selling author and famously private writer Haruki Murakami shares with listeners his thoughts on the role of the novel in our society; his own origins as a writer; and his musings on the sparks of creativity that inspire other writers, artists, and musicians.
-
-
Great for writers
- By Daveo on 2023-01-16
Written by: Haruki Murakami, and others
-
Men Without Women
- Stories
- Written by: Haruki Murakami, Philip Gabriel - translator, Ted Goossen - translator
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Across seven tales, Haruki Murakami brings his powers of observation to bear on the lives of men who, in their own ways, find themselves alone. Here are lovesick doctors, students, ex-boyfriends, actors, bartenders, and even Kafka’s Gregor Samsa, brought together to tell stories that speak to us all. In Men Without Women, Murakami has crafted another contemporary classic, marked by the same wry humor and pathos that have defined his entire body of work.
-
-
Loved it!
- By Nuria on 2018-03-20
Written by: Haruki Murakami, and others
-
First Person Singular
- Stories
- Written by: Haruki Murakami, Philip Gabriel - translator
- Narrated by: Kotaro Watanabe
- Length: 5 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the internationally acclaimed Haruki Murakami comes a mind-bending new collection of short stories, all touching beautifully on love and solitude, childhood and memory...all with a signature Murakami twist. The eight stories in this new book are all told in the first person by a classic Murakami narrator. From memories of youth, meditations on music, and an ardent love of baseball, to dreamlike scenarios and invented jazz albums, together these stories challenge the boundaries between our minds and the exterior world.
Written by: Haruki Murakami, and others
-
The Water Dancer (Oprah’s Book Club)
- A Novel
- Written by: Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Narrated by: Joe Morton
- Length: 14 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Young Hiram Walker was born into bondage. When his mother was sold away, Hiram was robbed of all memory of her - but was gifted with a mysterious power. Years later, when Hiram almost drowns in a river, that same power saves his life. This brush with death births an urgency in Hiram and a daring scheme: to escape from the only home he’s ever known. So begins an unexpected journey that takes Hiram from the corrupt grandeur of Virginia’s proud plantations to desperate guerrilla cells in the wilderness, from the coffin of the South to dangerously idealistic movements in the North.
-
-
Fabulous Story
- By poppies4me on 2019-10-12
Written by: Ta-Nehisi Coates
-
Great Expectations
- Written by: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Stephen Fry
- Length: 22 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Great Expectations follows Pip's life from a plucky but poor and put-upon child in the Kent marshes, to a young man with "great expectations" in London and the choices he must make as a result of his winding journey. On the way, we meet some of Dickens' most memorable and unique characters - the mysterious and brutal Magwtich; eternally heartbroken Miss Havisham; and her cold-hearted child Estella.
-
-
Raised Expectations
- By CasyK on 2025-02-10
Written by: Charles Dickens
-
The World According to Garp
- A Novel
- Written by: John Irving
- Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews, John Irving
- Length: 20 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The opening sentence of John Irving's breakout novel, The World According to Garp, signals the start of sexual violence, which becomes increasingly political. "Garp's mother, Jenny Fields, was arrested in Boston in 1942 for wounding a man in a movie theater." Jenny is an unmarried nurse; she becomes a single mom and a feminist leader, beloved but polarizing. Her son, Garp, is less beloved, but no less polarizing.
-
-
worth it
- By Cake on 2019-06-26
Written by: John Irving
-
Novelist as a Vocation
- Written by: Haruki Murakami, Philip Gabriel - translator, Ted Goossen - translator
- Narrated by: Kotaro Watanabe
- Length: 7 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this engaging book, the internationally best-selling author and famously private writer Haruki Murakami shares with listeners his thoughts on the role of the novel in our society; his own origins as a writer; and his musings on the sparks of creativity that inspire other writers, artists, and musicians.
-
-
Great for writers
- By Daveo on 2023-01-16
Written by: Haruki Murakami, and others
-
Men Without Women
- Stories
- Written by: Haruki Murakami, Philip Gabriel - translator, Ted Goossen - translator
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Across seven tales, Haruki Murakami brings his powers of observation to bear on the lives of men who, in their own ways, find themselves alone. Here are lovesick doctors, students, ex-boyfriends, actors, bartenders, and even Kafka’s Gregor Samsa, brought together to tell stories that speak to us all. In Men Without Women, Murakami has crafted another contemporary classic, marked by the same wry humor and pathos that have defined his entire body of work.
-
-
Loved it!
- By Nuria on 2018-03-20
Written by: Haruki Murakami, and others
-
First Person Singular
- Stories
- Written by: Haruki Murakami, Philip Gabriel - translator
- Narrated by: Kotaro Watanabe
- Length: 5 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the internationally acclaimed Haruki Murakami comes a mind-bending new collection of short stories, all touching beautifully on love and solitude, childhood and memory...all with a signature Murakami twist. The eight stories in this new book are all told in the first person by a classic Murakami narrator. From memories of youth, meditations on music, and an ardent love of baseball, to dreamlike scenarios and invented jazz albums, together these stories challenge the boundaries between our minds and the exterior world.
Written by: Haruki Murakami, and others
-
The Water Dancer (Oprah’s Book Club)
- A Novel
- Written by: Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Narrated by: Joe Morton
- Length: 14 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Young Hiram Walker was born into bondage. When his mother was sold away, Hiram was robbed of all memory of her - but was gifted with a mysterious power. Years later, when Hiram almost drowns in a river, that same power saves his life. This brush with death births an urgency in Hiram and a daring scheme: to escape from the only home he’s ever known. So begins an unexpected journey that takes Hiram from the corrupt grandeur of Virginia’s proud plantations to desperate guerrilla cells in the wilderness, from the coffin of the South to dangerously idealistic movements in the North.
-
-
Fabulous Story
- By poppies4me on 2019-10-12
Written by: Ta-Nehisi Coates
-
Great Expectations
- Written by: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Stephen Fry
- Length: 22 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Great Expectations follows Pip's life from a plucky but poor and put-upon child in the Kent marshes, to a young man with "great expectations" in London and the choices he must make as a result of his winding journey. On the way, we meet some of Dickens' most memorable and unique characters - the mysterious and brutal Magwtich; eternally heartbroken Miss Havisham; and her cold-hearted child Estella.
-
-
Raised Expectations
- By CasyK on 2025-02-10
Written by: Charles Dickens
-
The World According to Garp
- A Novel
- Written by: John Irving
- Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews, John Irving
- Length: 20 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The opening sentence of John Irving's breakout novel, The World According to Garp, signals the start of sexual violence, which becomes increasingly political. "Garp's mother, Jenny Fields, was arrested in Boston in 1942 for wounding a man in a movie theater." Jenny is an unmarried nurse; she becomes a single mom and a feminist leader, beloved but polarizing. Her son, Garp, is less beloved, but no less polarizing.
-
-
worth it
- By Cake on 2019-06-26
Written by: John Irving
-
Friend of My Youth
- Written by: Alice Munro
- Narrated by: Beth Fowler
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the powerful, haunting stories of Munro’s collection, men and women, in the midst of contemporary quandaries and crises, recall the long-buried yearnings, dreams, and hard choices that have given shape to their lives.
Written by: Alice Munro
-
Labyrinths
- Selected Stories & Other Writings
- Written by: Jorge Luis Borges
- Narrated by: Dominic Keating
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The groundbreaking trans-genre work of Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) has been insinuating itself into the structure, stance, and very breath of world literature for well over half a century. Multi-layered, self-referential, elusive, and allusive writing is now frequently labelled Borgesian.
Written by: Jorge Luis Borges
-
The Way Home
- Two Novellas from the World of The Last Unicorn
- Written by: Peter S. Beagle
- Narrated by: Orlagh Cassidy
- Length: 5 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Last Unicorn is one of fantasy’s most revered classics, beloved by generations of readers and with millions of copies in print. Revisiting the world of that novel, Beagle’s long-awaited Hugo and Nebula-Awards-winning “Two Hearts” introduced the irrepressible Sooz on a quest to save her village from a griffin, and explored the bonds she formed with unforgettable characters like the wise and wonderful Molly Grue and Schmendrick the Magician.
-
-
Remembering those books that have changed me
- By Anonymous User on 2023-08-26
Written by: Peter S. Beagle
-
The Book of Disquiet
- Written by: Fernando Pessoa
- Narrated by: Adam Sims
- Length: 17 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Assembled from notes and jottings left unpublished at the time of the author’s death, The Book of Disquiet is a collection of aphoristic prose-poetry musings on dreams, solitude, time and memory. Credited to Pessoa’s alter ego, Bernardo Soares, who chronicles his contemplations in this so-called "factless" autobiography, the work is a journey of one man’s soul and, by extension, of all human souls that allow their minds and hearts to roam far and free.
-
-
A work in progress
- By Dakota O'Neill on 2025-01-13
Written by: Fernando Pessoa
-
The Fyodor Dostoyevsky Complete Collection
- The Brothers Karamazov; Crime and Punishment; The Idiot; Notes from the Underground; The Demons; Novellas; Complete Short Stories; Essays; and Letters
- Written by: Fyodor Dostoyevsky
- Narrated by: David Rintoul, Jonathan Keeble, Malk Williams, and others
- Length: 266 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This audiobook, read by Audie award-winning narrators, includes unabridged recordings of all Fyodor Dostoyevky's greatest works: 15 novels and novellas, 18 short stories, a short study of Dostoyevsky by Virginia Woolf, and two books of non-fiction - his Letters and European travel journal.
-
-
Excellent compilation of one of the great authors
- By Redcliff Butcher on 2024-05-05
Written by: Fyodor Dostoyevsky
-
Solaris
- The Definitive Edition
- Written by: Stanislaw Lem, Bill Johnston - translator
- Narrated by: Alessandro Juliani
- Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At last, one of the world’s greatest works of science fiction is available - just as author Stanislaw Lem intended it. To mark the 50th anniversary of the publication of Solaris, Audible, in cooperation with the Lem Estate, has commissioned a brand-new translation - complete for the first time, and the first ever directly from the original Polish to English. Beautifully narrated by Alessandro Juliani ( Battlestar Galactica), Lem’s provocative novel comes alive for a new generation.
-
-
Unforgettable
- By Amazon Customer on 2021-10-06
Written by: Stanislaw Lem, and others
What the critics say
“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)
What listeners say about Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jamie Charles
- 2022-01-25
Unicorns
January 2022 | 4/5
Blending a cerebral sci-fi thriller and a whimsical fantasy (with plenty of unicorns), Murakami has outdone himself. Through alternating chapters and beginning with Hard-Boiled Wonderland, we have a story of corporate espionage staring a Calcutec - a human data processor (computer) who is tasked with encryption for a deranged scientist .
The other story, The End Of The World, features a young man who arrives at a walled city with life altering decisions to make. We catch up with him in his new role as a Dreamreader - his task, to remove the town's consciousness listening to unicorn skulls.
Unlikely as it is, the stories do converge masterfully and if you hadn't been picking up the clues, it's laid out explicitly for the reader.
So I thought the end was a bit of a limp noodle - lacking tension, though that may be a translation issue.
The way women are described and used in the story is quite dated.
This was fun, comfy and twisty, with a lovely romance (or two).
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- St. Thomas
- 2021-01-12
Great, but..
Really loud, grating piano music at the beginning of some chapters that goes on for way too long. No idea why that decision was made.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- K Chiles
- 2021-10-14
Marukami forever
If you have never experienced Marukame before, this is an all right book to start with. This is one of those books you want to read more than once. The first time I ever read this book I thought it was a very strange fantasy and it was a little tricky to follow at first.
Then I decided to download it on audible and everything change for me. I know I listen to this almost every night before I go to bed in no random order whatsoever. It’s a beautiful story, tragic and surreal.
If you’ve read him before, you will understand Why this narrator does an amazing job with his soft voice. It’s very fitting to the story, calm and relaxing when I needs to be
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Serra
- 2021-04-07
Bland at best.
The voice acting is mostly monotone, with barely any variation between characters, emotions and settings. Everything blends together in a wall of blah, which is a shame because the setting seemed a lot more interesting.
Sadly the story isn't much better; while it starts with an interesting premise, the characters are your typical power fantasy hero where every woman they meet swoon to his feet, everyone compliments them on how smart or skilled they are, and they are immediately good at everything they do.
The book features frequent fetishization of obesity bordering obsession, odd translations, and constant monologuing.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful