Whenever I read a Murakami, I have a feeling I'm losing something in translation, but I'm never sure what. Either way, I love what I do comprehend.

A slow read with soft curves and a contemplative pace. I sense the overall theme is about choosing to live the life you get. With some classic Murakami references like cats, whisky, relationships with an aversion to sex, and of course, the slightly askew.

Written by a man contemplating his long life so far, with a hopeful outlook.

Truly a very gifted writer, but I'm afraid this wasn't for me. Maybe it was the timing of when I read it or the meandering quality of the writing. I love magical realism, but this was a bit too slow of a burn form me.

Murakami's The City and Its Uncertain Walls made me go through a rollercoaster of emotions as I followed a heartbroken man search for the lost love of his life. It handles some heavy and complicated themes, such as grief and one's purpose in life, with such care that's not always present in books these days. While not everyone will be able to appreciate the magical nature of searching for love between two worlds, I hope you give this mesmerizing novel a chance. Thank you NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for this ARC!

This was the first book I've ever read by Murakami, so I'm not very used to his writing style. This book left me with more questions than answers, and I feel like the story just didn't make sense to me. Sadly, I don't think his writing is for me. But if you like really obscure magical realism, I think you'd enjoy this.

I’ve always been a fan of Murakami, though not all of his books have been home runs for me. His writing, especially when he leans into magical realism, resonates with me, but I haven’t loved his more absurdist books.

The City and Its Uncertain Walls really hit the mark for me. It's more introspective, with just the right amount of mystery to keep me intrigued the whole way through. The story begins with a nameless young couple, but it quickly becomes more than a love story.

The porous boundaries between reality and an imagined world blur, exploring themes of memory, loss, and truth.

I’d recommend this to anyone who enjoyed 1Q84. It has that same elements of mystery and surrealism, but it’s a bit more introspective and emotionally grounded.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf!

I have never read a book by Haruki Murakami before, so I had no idea what to expect. The City and its Uncertain Walls would still not have been something I would have guessed at. Murakami has developed a very respected reputation, but this book wasn’t a great fit for me. The first and second parts seem almost entirely unconnected, and it’s not until the third part of the book that the prior two parts make sense as a connected unit. Part three is ninety percent of the way through the book. The story is very speculative in nature, exploring the nature of a person and their shadow, and their ability to switch primary identity to exist in what they believe is reality. In the first part of the book, it switches back and forth between the protagonist as a young man, in love with a young woman who tells him that the real version of her is in a city surrounded by a wall that keeps people inside in and those not outside of it. Interspersed with this is him as an older man in the city with her, separated from his shadow and wondering if he should be there. The book then moves to him in the real world, moving to a small village to work as a head librarian. There he meets the ghost of the previous head librarian and a young man who is not like everyone else around him. The storyline itself feels like it doesn’t quite sit right on the reader’s mind, which may be the point, but I didn’t love it. I also couldn’t get into the cadence of the story, which though translation may have played a part of, I think is also a style tied to writing in Japan. I don’t know how similar or different this is to Murakami’s other books, but it didn’t do anything for me personally. A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Haruki Murakami’s City and Its Uncertain Walls is a haunting and surreal exploration of memory, loneliness, and the fluidity of reality. In his signature style, Murakami weaves a dreamlike narrative filled with enigmatic characters, magical realism, and philosophical depth. Fans of his previous works will find this novel captivating, as it delves into the complexities of the inner self and the invisible walls we build around our minds.

Some books are wonderful, but you get them at the wrong time. That's what happened with this one. I wasn't in the mood to read poetic, but cryptic writing for nearly 500 pages. I'll they to pick it up again later.

I am beyond amazed once again by Haruki Murakami's ability to weave such enigmatic story of two parallel worlds, a tale of magical realism with a nod to Hayao Miyazaki and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Definitely one of my favorite reads this year!

“In my head, there was a battle going on between reality and unreality. At this moment I was standing right in the interstice between this world and the other world. There was a fierce split between the conscious and the unconscious, and I had to choose where I should belong.”

What is reality? What is real and not real? What separates us from getting lost in our subconscious desires, imagination, from the real world?

The City and Its Uncertain Walls was originally a novella that Murakami published in a literary magazine in the 1980’s and that he finally was able to return to and rewrite during the pandemic. It is his first novel in six years. With it, you can find the classic Murakami motifs, patterns, and feelings – parallel worlds, mysterious women, loneliness – and again blurring the lines between speculation and reality.

I feel like so little yet so much happened in this book. It’s both slow yet fast. Quiet yet loud. The story is split into three parts. The first part begins with our unnamed narrator who, at seventeen, falls in love with a mysterious sixteen year old girl, who claims her true self resides in a fantastical city beyond an impenetrable wall.

Together, they imagine this city in vivid detail. It’s a place with a clocktower with no hands, unicorns roam the land, and where people don’t have shadows. As their connection deepens, the girl vanishes, leaving him to grapple with his longing and the allure of the unknown.
While the summary of the book calls out the story as “...an ode to books and the libraries that house them…”I think it is moreso Murakami’s ode & tribute to magical realism. His ability to create vivid, dreamlike worlds that are familiar and strange is incredibly done and he even references Gabriel García Márquez, an author that has most notably popularized the genre, within his story.

This book will definitely get your mind gears turning. The pace is pretty slow (some parts even felt repetitive), but the writing is extremely beautiful. Whenever I read Murakami’s stories, I always feel like I’m wandering through a dense forest with only my imagination for company. There’s a sort of quiet sense of wonder and solitary stillness. Though I may not recall the specifics of this story later, the emotions it stirs will linger.

Huge thanks to NetGalley & the Publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

If there’s a genre for “cozy surrealist introversion fiction” this book would be the star. But can anything Haruki weaved not be the candle by which all other flames aspire to match in brilliance? The best any other author can ever hope to do is simply keep up.

What a revelation to read the afterword and realize this story has been germinating for my entire life. For it to come out now - during a time in my life where I too am dreaming of nothing more than an escape to a small town where I can be paid to be surrounded by books - feels so very meta that I almost question whether or not I’m simply a character in a Murakami story who doesn’t realize she’s a shadow cut out by the sword of a pen.

This was my first Murakami novel. This story centers around boy who falls in love with a girl that says her real self is actually in a city beyond a wall. They imagine the city together, but when she disappears one day, he is left reeling with the sudden loss. As an adult, he makes it to this city beyond the wall by separating himself from his shadow. There are mythical creatures in this city, clocks with no hands, and dream readers.

This had an interesting premise and I found the city beyond the wall to be particularly intriguing, but I never felt like I understood the world fully or the reasons why things were the way they were. I loved the set-up of the novel but kept waiting for the novel to go somewhere. The writing was repetitive with discussions of the same scene over and over again.

I read that this was originally a novella and was later expanded to a full length novel. I wish we had gotten the novella instead. 2.75

Recommended if you like a very slow burn, are maybe a fan of Murakami in general (although I don’t know how this compares to his other works), or are interested in magical realism.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

What is reality and what is not? Are we our real selves or just our own shadows. Murakami weaves a tale of magical reality that begins with a teenage first love. Although that relationship is abruptly and inexplicably severed, it remains the driving force in a young man's life. Following one's heart takes on quite a literal meaning, leading to a town created only in the lovers' imaginations. This is a novel better savored than gulped. Enjoy.

I’ve had 1Q84 on my TBR forever, so when I saw I could request a book by Haruki Murakami on NetGalley I jumped at the chance.

The story starts with two teenagers, who have no names (??!) but I really felt the emotions they were feeling. And it was easy to follow along with conversations. And boy, could I feel the emotions of each teenager as it was being conveyed.

You need to leave your shadow behing to enter the walled-in city, and the animals that wander the city and leave at night caught my imagination.

The storyline was slow paced, but the writing is beautiful.

Thank you #NetGalley for the complimentary copy of #TheCityAndItsUncertainWalls in exchange for an honest review.

This is only my second time reading Murakami, the first being Norwegian Wood - which really didn't inspire me to read more of his work. But given the amount of years between these novels and the premise sounding promising, I was eager to give it a chance, to see how much he's grown as an author.

And I think there's clear evidence of that here. Despite my dislike of the plot and characters of Norwegian Wood, I really liked the writing style, and in that respect, Murakami's only gotten better. I love the way he utilized language, how vivid and dreamlike it is while also being relatively simple; I really love the scenery, the minute details, how easily readable it is. And while I love stream of consciousness as a writing concept - and I think Murakami handles it well for the most part - there's some passages in this book that just seem to stretch on and on and venture further from the point to the point it becomes frustrating. There's multiple instances of plot points that seem to lose their relevance or never be properly capitalized on; I'm not sure if it's a translation issue just missing out on key aspects, but quite a bit of the story just feels incomplete to me. I'm okay with ambiguous endings, including the one here, but I just found myself feeling a little lost and desperate for more explanation. But maybe that's the point?

It just feels like there's too much going on here, frankly. I like the story-within-a-story / parallel world-story concept, but when neither feel like they're fully formed, it's a problem. I also don't care for the way Murakami writes romance (at least there's no assault in this like Norwegian Wood, but it's hardly much better with how the 'love interest' in the adult timeline doesn't have much of a personality/how the conversations regarding sex are handled), so when the romance in the adult timeline was introduced, I really felt myself losing interest and mourning the potential. The walled city and the sections with the ghost were by far the most compelling; I think supernatural and fantastical elements are clearly Murakami's strength.

I don't know if I'm going to read any more of his work, because I haven't particularly liked what I've read so far, but I do see a lot of potential in his storytelling.; it's just not for me.

"𝘐𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘺-𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘸? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘦—𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦? 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴. 𝘈𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯."

You can always count on Murakami to convey loneliness in its totality. This book is so quiet, so full of dreams, wonder, and idling that you can hear the echoes of it all. All of it echoes until it becomes diabetic sound. The refrigerator humming. Dripping from the sink. Even stillness has a sound.

Borrowing beginnings from Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, this ultimately unfolds as a love letter to magical realism, with nods to Marquez and even Miyazaki. Dreams and the world building provided in them offer so much love to our reality more than we can admit. Murakami sees this, and with lenses like fine wine, aged, he is looking back at his previous work with awe. In some ways, it actually reminds me of Miyazaki’s latest work, The Boy and the Heron, as both stand in time looking at legacy, and wondering wondering wondering what happens in the great perhaps.

Strong, vivid world building with the usual Murakami tropes. Loved getting lost in this. Was sometimes bored. Was sometimes idling with the pace and plot. And because this was written during the pandemic, most of all that quietude is embodied here. Felt so alone in this that at times I forgot the rest of the world existed. And I always love when a book achieves that.

"𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯-𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳-𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘰𝘺. 𝘉𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵, 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘩𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩. 𝘈𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦? 𝘖𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩?"

Unusually, I'm left with a sense of tepid unease. It's as though Murakami knows something, and he knows I need to know it, but he won't tell me, choosing instead to let me know he knows I need to know. You know?

I received an ARC of this book by the publisher via Netgalley in an exchange for an honest review.

Ten-plus years ago I was one of Haruki Murakami's biggest fans. I'd read all of his books that'd been translated to English. I was constantly telling people that I thought he was going to win the Nobel Prize in literature. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World was one of my top 5 favorite books. But over time certain aspects of his writing started weighing on me. And I found myself taking a break from his work after reading, Colorless Tsukuru. The City and Its Uncertain Walls was my first Murakami book since 2013.

The City and Its Uncertain Walls continues Murakami's train of thought from Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. You don't necessarily have to read Hard-Boiled Wonderland first since technically it's not a sequel. However, I think that it would help the reading experience of The City and Its Uncertain Walls. Both books are partially set in the same subconscious walled-in city where you have to abandon your shadow before you're allowed to enter. Hard-Boiled Wonderland is a more dynamic and exciting book, especially the science-fiction cyberpunk half of the book. On the other hand The City and Its Uncertain Walls is split between the subconscious world and our real world (with certain magical realism aspects).

This book felt more rooted in reality and the magical aspects of the magical realism bits were also tamed down in comparison with some of his earlier works like Kafka on the Shore. One thing that I appreciated in The City and Its Uncertain Walls is that Murakami turned down his sexualization of female characters by a lot. That's one of the things in his earlier works that put me off reading him for a decade.

My main issue with The City and Its Uncertain Walls is that the pacing is very slow. It's a meandering book, which sometimes lost my attention, especially in the middle. You'll leave the book with certain questions left purposefully hanging. I still prefer Hard-Boiled Wonderland by a mile but I wonder if that perspective will change in 40 years. Murakami wrote Hard-Boiled Wonderland in 1985 when he was around my current age. And time mellows people.

I give The City and Its Uncertain Walls 3.5 stars rounded to 4.

I really liked this book. A poignant read that felt familiar yet distinct, I think this is one of my favourites of his. Great book.

I was SO EXCITED to get my hands on this book for a multitude of reasons: a book based on content from "Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World?" Check. A book written by Murakami? Check. And (obviously) a book with a wacky plot that's bound to take my imagination for a spin? Check. I love Murakami's work, and I "Hard-Boiled Wonderland..." is one of my favorite books of all time. The hint at semiotics, the deconstruction that occurs as the nameless narrator begins to become trapped in a replica of his subconsciousness, the city itself, it's all *chef's kiss.*

I must admit, this novel wasn't what I was expecting. I don't mean that as a bad thing, it's just that there's a noticeable shift in this novel away from his other work... it's meditative and deeply rooted in the thoughts and emotions one has when grieving, when ageing, when trying to find connection, when trying to escape loneliness. While these characteristics aren't necessarily new to his work, they way they're portrayed is. The balance between magical realism and reality is different than his other work; it seems so much more tender.

The work took me awhile to get into, and I have a feeling it may be because of the translation. For some reason it just doesn't sound like Murakami to me! I gave this work 4/5 stars because of that, and because I think I may be too young to fully relate to the novel. I have a feeling that in 20-30 years, I'll pick this novel back up again and it won't be the same one I read previously.