PHBC Book 5 Discussion Week: Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami

Japan's most widely-read and controversial writer, author of A Wild Sheep Chase, hurtles into the consciousness of the West with this narrative about a split-brained data processor, a deranged scientist, his shockingly undemure granddaughter, and various thugs, librarians, and subterranean monsters--not to mention Bob Dylan and Lauren Bacall.

^General ^Guidelines:

• ^Official ^Discussion ^Week ^starts ^today ^(October ^1, ^2014) ^and ^ends ^Tuesday ^(October ^14, ^2014).

• ^Everyone ^who ^has ^read ^the ^book ^is ^encouraged ^to ^participate ^during ^the ^whole ^week.

• ^This ^is ^a ^spoiler ^all ^zone, ^but ^only ^within ^the ^scope ^of ^this ^book.

• ^Spoilers ^for ^other ^titles ^(be ^it ^a ^book, ^movie, ^or ^a ^TV ^show) ^must ^be ^properly ^tagged:

      [Spoiler sentence](/spoiler)
  

• ^As ^it ^is ^a ^spoiler ^all ^zone, ^feel ^free ^to ^join ^us ^later ^if ^you ^still ^have ^a ^few ^more ^pages ^left ^to ^finish ^the ^book.

• ^You ^can ^go ^with ^a ^general ^review, ^or ^you ^could ^just ^start ^a ^discussion ^on ^any ^specific ^aspect ^relating ^to ^the ^book. ^(e.g. ^plot ^points, ^characters, ^personal ^reflections ^etc.)

• ^Contrasting ^viewpoints ^and ^opinions ^may ^arise ^during ^the ^discussion. ^As ^such, ^we'd ^like ^to ^remind ^everyone: ^be ^excellent ^to ^each ^other.

Update: Discussion week is now extended up to next Tuesday, October 14, 2014 in case we still have one or two more participants that might have a few pages left to finish the book.