End of the World and Hard-boiled Wonderland by Haruki Murakami

As I write this post, I am approximately 65% finished with a re-read of Haruki Murakami's novel from 1985, Sekai no Owari to Hādo-Boirudo Wandārando. This past October, I read Alfred Birnbaum's 1991 translation, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. The novel was recently released with a new translation by Jay Rubin as End of the World and Hard-boiled Wonderland, reversing the order in the title.

I wanted to re-read the novel, mainly because I had just read Murakami's latest novel, The City and Its Uncertain Walls, which is a rewriting of the "End of the World" portion of the earlier book.

I'm hoping to have this re-read finished in time to make my December,2014 reading list. I'm writing this post now while the book is fresh in my mind.

Not being able to read the original Japanese, it's difficult for me to be totally objective as to which is the superior translation. I'm leaning toward the later Jay Rubin translation - after all, why would a newer translation be needed if Birnbaum's translation had been up to the job? Still, I do feel that Rubin's version flows better.

It's odd. I seem to have a good recollection of the "End of the World" section, although in many ways, the "Hard-Boiled Wonderland" section seems almost completely new to me. It's still difficult for me to connect the two sections. With luck, I'll be able to do that when I finish this re-read.

I follow a Haruki Murakami fan page on Facebook. Another follower asked if The City and Its Uncertain Walls was a stand alone novel, or if it was necessary to read End of the World and Hard-boiled Wonderland first? Of course, The City........ is certainly a stand alone novel, I answered that I thought it best to read Hard-Boiled..... (or the later translation) first, if for no other reason than because it was written first.

Reading Murakami is a good way for me to learn about musical recordings and writers that I'm not familiar with. In this book, the narrator of the Hard-Boiled Wonderland section reads Stendhal's The Red and the Black. I had a difficult time reading that particular book in 2021. I believe the problem may have been the translation. Murakami and Jordan Peterson both give the novel high marks. Perhaps I should consider reading a newer translation.

Another writer mentioned by the narrator of the Hard-Boiled Wonderland section is the author of 87th Precinct novels, published under the pen name Ed McBain. I've downloaded the entire series. I'll try to read a few of those next year.

March Reading List

Following a new tradition, begun in January and carried over to February, I'm posting today a list of the novels I've read during the previous month.

For the first three months of this year, I've read, on average, nine books a month. In March, I read books by four different writers - Stendhal, Ernest Hemingway, Christopher Morley, and Grazia Deledda. Of the four, Grazia Deledda is my leading favorite.

The books are as follows:

The Red and the Black                Stendhal (Henri Beyle)
After the Divorce                         Grazia Deledda
Ashes                                            Grazia Deledda
Nostalgia                                      Grazia Deledda
The Woman & the Priest            Grazia Deledda
A Farewell to Arms                     Ernest Hemingway
For Whom the Bell Tolls             Ernest Hemingway
The Haunted Bookshop              Christopher Morley
Parnassus on Wheels                  Christopher Morley

For those who may have read yesterday's blog post, I finished reading Memoirs Found in a Bathtub on April, 01.

Le Rouge et le Noir

In a recent post, I mentioned that I had begun reading Stendhal's The Red and the Black, on the recommendation of Dr. Jordan Peterson's list of "Great Books". At the time of that post, I was half way thru the novel. I wrote that although I was enjoying the novel, I couldn't see it being classified as a "Great Book".

I finished the book a few days ago.

As I said earlier, I enjoyed reading the first portion of the novel, but as I went further along, the book became a drudge. I was enjoying it less and less and it was becoming a grind to pick it up. I was not, however going to give up on the novel. I had already given up on one novel this year -[ The Valley of Decision ] and I wasn't going to add another unfinished novel so soon afterward.

I made the right decision on The Red and the Black. The ending was very surprising and it made the read worthwhile. Although I am glad to have finished reading the novel, I still don't think I'd put it on my list of Great Novels. The novel was written more than 190 years ago, and anyone wishing to know how it ends can find out easy enough. I'm not the sort to furnish spoilers even with a novel nearly 200 years old.

There were two English translations of The Red and the Black which were available for free download. Perhaps my displeasure with the middle section of the novel is due to an inferior translation. I could, if I choose to, begin reading the other translation and compare. Maybe someday, but certainly not now.

Great Books - The Red and the Black.

In a post from two days ago, I mentioned that Dr. Jordan Peterson has a list of "Great Books" on his website. I had neglected, however to furnish a link to that list. I'll remedy that oversight by putting a link to that list here.

There are 51 books listed in the category of "Literature". Going over the list, I see that I'd already read 16 of those 51 books before discovering Peterson's list. I've decided to reread some on the list, as well has read as many as I can that I haven't read before. Unfortunately, circumstances make it impossible for me to read all 51 books. Being on a locked down island (due to COVID), I'm unable to get my hands on printed copies of the books - it'll be ebooks only.

I'm having difficulties getting into my Amazon account, so I'll only be able to download ebooks from fadedpage.com/ - gutenberg australia - and project gutenberg.org. If a particular book is not in the public domain, it will difficult, if not impossible to download a copy. As I write this, I've downloaded 26 of the 51.

After finishing Crime and Punishment, I choose to read Stendhal's The Red and the Black, having seen that novel described as an "historical psychological novel". I'm half way through the novel.  

The Red and the Black has also been described as "an analytic, sociological satire of the French social order under the Bourbon Restoration". I'm glad I picked this novel - following Crime and Punishment, I was ready to read something not as heavy as Dostoevsky. This novel fits that category, and although I am enjoying the novel, I don't quite agree that it should be placed on the "Great Literature" list. But, as I said, I'm only half way through the novel. I could change my mind.