This world of unicorns and yokai was truly mesmerizing and only the ending was a bit of an unexpected let down at first (I was hoping he would commit suicide) but, of course, it was the only possible outcome, as the Professor forewarned. Unlike with other Murakami novels, I liked all the characters and the relationships they establish, especially the bond between the narrator and his shadow. The alternating stories worked perfectly together, they're masterfully intertwined, mirroring each others' themes and, at the same time, preserving their own, very distinct identity and voice. I absolutely loved this book and the more I think about it the more I love it. It reminded me of the third Matrix film when Neo, for no good reason, had supernatural powers outside of the Matrix. The glowing skull just rang discordant to me and I don't get what it was intended to accomplish. Murakami borrows heavily from Kafka, but not in that way in this book. I never got the sense once the narrative coalesced that the reality/fantasy divide was ever in question in this work. It seems to contradict the rules of the world Murakami has created.

The part that continues to confound me is the skull glowing in his apartment. Specifically, I think he realized that the town librarian is the idealized version of the real life librarian and that he could, in effect, breathe life into her. While, like you, I thought he would choose to escape with his shadow, it was set against both the assertion by the Professor that the loss of his mind was inevitable and also his discovery that he had control over the town. I wasn't quite as mystified by the ending. *spoiler alert for those who have not finished HBW* Or maybe, this was Murakami's own version to eternal life? The plunge could have forced his will to recover and him to live in the real world normally or it meant death, at least he died with his consciousness intact. And I think, the shadow was the last part of his conscious state, the shadow taking the plunge meant his total surrender to this dreamworld. The scientist did say that it was inevitable, he would be stuck to this dreamland and to make amends to buy time for a cure, his body would be placed in cryogenic state. This, in contrast to the real world where he was lonely and even if the cute grandchild offered herself, he declined. For instance, he found a connection with the librarian, to simply put it, he liked her.

i however wonder if the skull is part of the imprint made by grandpa scientist when he rerouted the narrator's brain or the narrator sort of adapted the idea of the skull because he saw it and his subconscious incorporated it to his dreamland.Īnd to answer you MacKenzie, I think he has found purpose in this dreamland which sort of lacked in his real world. I knew it was something significant, I remember there was even a chapter solely to discuss it. MacKenzie, my first clue to the connection of the two worlds is the unicorn skull.

A hard boiled wonderland