Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to review "The City and Its Uncertain Walls." Having read "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles," I was excited to venture into another world by Murakami. This novel written in three parts takes the reader into a world where one wonders who is the self and who is the shadow? An imaginative town is found where unicorns exists and the library is only filled with dreams. This novel was originally a novella and I believe that it would have been better had it stayed in that format. It is a novel that readers who enjoy magical realism would like.

Unfortunately this was not for me, while I tend to love all other works by Murakami. I see what he was trying to achieve but by the middle I had lost interest in the plot and instead felt like I wanted to reread a Hard Boiled Wonderland. thank you for the opportunity!

This was a DNF for me. It was too fantastical and jumped around too much to follow. The first person POV felt very intense, like someone was trying to tell me a story while 1” away from my face. Unfortunately I was lost from the beginning.

My first Murakami. I’m not sure what I expected, and I think that was a good thing. It’s an odd book, but not in a bad way at all. It was excellent, actually, though it made me a little sad. I’m not sure why. I don’t mind. It was strange and beautiful in its own way. I’ll definitely be adding more Murakami to my TBR pile.

I received an advance copy from the publisher, all opinions are my own, and a review was not required.

As a huge fan of magical realism, the premise for Murakami's latest novel had me hooked from the start. I always love a parallel universe story and as someone who has enjoyed several of Murakami's previous works, I thought this one would be a shoe-in.

Following the early love story of two nameless individuals, we learn about a walled city and library where the librarian reads old dreams. Fascinated by this city, our male main character finds himself at the gates and later employed by this magical city - the only caveat is that he has to give up his shadow in order to reside and work within its walls.

The City and Its Walls is slow and meandering and although I fully understood the metaphors of fear and depression that it was employing, the actual plot line felt fractured. I never quite understood the main character and his motives, much of the magic in the walled city was never fully explained - like the unicorns (unless somehow I missed it) and just overall, this novel missed the mark for me. After reading the author's afterwards and seeing that the novel started as a short story and took nearly 4 decades to complete as a novel, I am not surprised.

Regardless, Murakami is a master at writing atmospheric and ethereal worlds and although the plot moved along too slowly for me, I can see others enjoying the quiet pace and messaging that is woven throughout. I always love a Japanese ghost story and the addition of such lore was welcome and the relationship that followed was probably my favorite thread in the entire novel.

Thank you to NetGalley, Knopf, and Haruki Murakami for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was thick read and my first novel from this author.

This book was quite well written even if the dialogue felt… simple? It made up in the world building and realistic sense of magic. I really enjoyed the way the sorry circled back around and at time kept me on the edge of my chair. This book was fast paced which shocked me with how quickly I devoured it given its hefty page count.

This was my first Murakami book, and I was, at first, drawn in by his dreamlike style, all the more appropriate for a book about dreams. But, as evidenced by the very long time I took to finish this book, it wasn't really to my taste. While I generally enjoyed the style of the prose, I found that the characters and plot did little work to hold the story together. Though I had many questions, I felt no real desire to see them resolved, nor any true attachment to the characters. And while I am never opposed to a long book, this one definitely felt like its length.

Great book! It had all the fears of growing up. Make a choice. Turn the page or close the book. Enter the darkness if you wish!

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley, but then I borrowed the audiobook from my library to actually read it. This is my honest review.

I don't know if this is a cultural thing, or an issue with translation, but it kind of bugged me with how simplistic the dialogue between characters was. The conversations between characters had a very "See Spot Run" feeling to them, even when both characters were full adults. But this book was translated into English and I'm not particularly familiar with Japanese culture, so either of those things could be the cause of that.

I loved the fantastical nature of the mysterious city, the way the walls shifted and moved based on the needs of the town. But I also have some questions about the inhabitants of the town, and how they came to be there in the first place. A part of me wonders if the worn is like purgatory or something similar.

The narration in the audiobook didn't have much inflection to it, which may also have contributed to me feeling like the dialogue between characters was simplistic. It didn't help pull me into the story, but it also wasn't like nails on a chalkboard to listen to.

Overall I give The City and Its Uncertain Walls 3.4723 out of 5 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishing Company for this Advanced Readers Copy of The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami!

It took me a long time to finish this chonker of a book running into 700 pages. It was not a difficult read, it is written in fairly straightforward lucid prose. However it is very repetitive in parts and definitely not gripping or unputdownable. This is a love story transcending time and reality and I really loved the concept. I liked the idea of the distinctness of the would and physical human body, a premise that finds its roots in several Eastern cultures. I read that Murakami initially intended this to be a short story and expanding it into a 700 page novel really killed the fun in my opinion. Nevertheless I was curious to know what happens next and managed to read it to the end. I also always like to respect the fact that the publisher offered me a gifted copy for a review. I would recommend this to persons who are die-hard Murakami fans and don't want to miss a single word he has written
Thank you NetGalley and Knopf Publishing for the ARC

This was my first Haruki Murakami book and I loved it. Deep, introspective. The touch of magical realism did it for me, but there were also parts that left me in suspense. What a masterful writer

I'm not the biggest Murakami fan, and I enjoyed this one as much as others I've read by him. Which is to say I found it intriguing and wonderfully imaginative and there were moments that were very moving and powerful, but there were also points where it just seemed to be spinning its wheels and trying to find its own way. I enjoyed it overall, but I'm still waiting for a Murakami novel to really blow me away.

Not Murakami's best; open-ended in a frustrating way. Probably Murakami fans will find more to like (although I found the prose distinctively inferior to some of his earlier work), but I definitely wouldn't start here.

I have a special relationship with Murakami's books. They are genius or they are total miss for me. But this story is special. It circled around so beautifully around with magical realism around subjects of loneliness and community - in a way that made sense to me. Murakami deliver in the same way like he did with Kafka on the Shore, but better. The story was transparent and easy to follow. The concept of time was also interestingly explored. I think it is his best book so far.

I have trouble with Murakami. While I have enjoyed several of his other books, this one was tough for me. Vey repetitive. That said - his writing - as always - is beautiful. He creates the weirdest of worlds. And he really keeps you in there until the end.

The City and its Uncertain Walls is more science fiction than fantasy (to me) and also my first Haruki Murakami novel. What an incredible example of world building and beautiful writing / imagery! I'm not sure I'm the best target audience for this novel, but I recommended it to my husband because I think he would appreciate it more.

Thank you NetGalley for the free ebook about which I will give my honest opinion.

I had a bit of a difficult time getting into this one at first but then I hit a point in the second section where the story really sucked me in. So good!

4.5 stars

Thank you NetGalley for the free ebook about which I will give my honest opinion.

So in the spirit of being honest, I have to say that this was the first Murakami novel I have read (!!) - I read his nonfiction work Novelist as a Vocation, but that’s it. There is certainly a lot of hype about Murakami so I had high hopes going in.

I like Murakami’s style of writing, the way his prose flows. He could be the kind of writer who could write about anything and make it interesting and engaging. The story was lyrical, with elements of fantasy and mystery. The main character, who I don’t think we ever get a name for, initially tells us about his first love. They wrote letters back and forth, and saw each other sometimes, often discussing an imaginary city, but then the letters from his love (who was also not named) abruptly stopped.

In this imaginary city, the shadow must be detached from the body to enter. So this leaves the possibility of having shadowless people, and people-less shadows. There is a library with a wood stove for heat, and no books, just dream logs. There is one way in and one way out and that exit/entrance is fiercely guarded by the gatekeeper. The narrator’s first love tells him that that’s where the real version of her is.

So part of the novel is in that world, while part is in our world, leaving me as the reader to question what reality is. There were some great eccentric characters, and two libraries featured prominently so I was thrilled. I don’t read a lot of fantasy, but this drew me in with its mix of the real world as it is, and the magical realism in the plot.

It did take me a while to read. Some parts had less action than others and some parts kept my attention more. I really did not know what to expect with this, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this novel. It gave a lot to think about, and I actually highlighted passages in my kindle, which I almost never do. I think this book would be enjoyed by almost anyone as long as they can take the time to fully immerse themselves into it. It was a wild ride but I enjoyed it.

4.5 stars. Murakami is easily making his way into my list of authors that I need to read every single one of his published works. The City and Its Uncertain Walls was an adventure with amazing characters that I never wanted to end. Murakami has a way that few authors do of taking the mundane and making it magical with absolutely stunning prose. The way this story wove together by the end was nothing short of masterful and made me feel so deeply for these characters that I grew to love. It is a novel heavy on ideas and I feel as though I could immediately start this book over to delve deeper into them.