of the human brain storing encrypted data is found in William Gibson's 1981 short story Johnny Mnemonic, but in interviews Murakami says this was not an influence. The theme of dream hacking is found in Roger Zelazny's 1966 novella The Dream Master. Critical reception Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World was awarded the Tanizaki Prize in 1985. The novel has received critical acclaim both domestically and internationally, receiving praise from literary critics published in magazines such as The Japan Times, Publishers Weekly, and Kirkus Reviews. It has been cited by filmmaker Rian Johnson as one of his favorite science fiction books and an influence on his 2012 film Looper. Jay Rubin, who has translated many of Murakami's later works into English, said that Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World is his favorite Murakami novel and that it "is just a shock after reading the black and white, autobiographical fiction that is such the norm in Japan." Murakami himself stated that Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World is his favorite among the books he wrote. Influences in other works The End of the World narrative was one of the inspirations for Yoshitoshi Abe's Haibane Renmei, originally produced as a manga and later adapted as an anime series. Both works feature a city that people are not allowed to leave, with a wall, a river, a library, and a clock tower. References Further reading .—Rubin interviewed Murakami several times between 1993 and 2001 and has translated several of his novels. . . External links . . 1985 Japanese novels Novels by Haruki Murakami 1985 speculative fiction novels Fiction about unicorns Postmodern novels Novels set in Tokyo Novels about virtual reality Shinchosha books