Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

Cover of the first Japanese edition
Author	Haruki Murakami
Original title	世界の終りとハードボイルド・ワンダーランド Sekai no Owari to Hādo-Boirudo Wandārando
Translator	Alfred Birnbaum
Language	Japanese
Genre	Speculative fiction Science fiction Surrealism
Publisher	Shinchosha (JP) Kodansha International (US)
Publication date	June 1985
Publication place	Japan
Published in English	September 1991
Media type	Print (hardcover)
Pages	618 (JP) 400 (US)
ISBN	4-10-600644-8 (JP) 4-7700-1544-5 (US)
OCLC	24009283
Dewey Decimal	895.6/35 20
LC Class	PL856.U673 S4513 1991

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (世界の終りとハードボイルド・ワンダーランド, Sekai no Owari to Hādo-Boirudo Wandārando) is a 1985 novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. It was awarded the Tanizaki Prize in 1985. The English translation by Alfred Birnbaum was released in 1991. A new translation by Jay Rubin will be released December 2024.^[1] A strange and dreamlike novel, its chapters alternate between two narratives—"Hard-Boiled Wonderland" (the cyberpunk, science fiction part) and "The End of the World" (the surreal, virtual fantasy part). Murakami later reworked the story into his 2023 novel, The City and Its Uncertain Walls.