Haruki Murakami’s latest novel is one of the most thought-provoking I’ve read. In these pages, we meet a man whose name we never get to know, which seems fitting, since this character feels that he does not know who he is. As a teenager, this main protagonist meets and falls in love with a girl, who is also never named. Together, they dream up a town that is surrounded by a high wall and populated with people who have been permanently separated from their shadows. His girlfriend informs him that she herself is just a shadow of her real self, who lives inside that walled town.

At this point, I started to expect a fairy tale infused with magical realism. However, the narrative became something more complicated. There are many issues to mull over here, and it’s hard to know where to begin.

Eventually, when the main character finds his way into this walled town, he experiences its many quirks. For instance, there are the town walls themselves: they do not stay in a fixed position. Also, the clocks have no hands. At first, I suspected that this was all a dream, and that it’s a statement about how reality is up for interpretation and perhaps there is no such thing as time. Later, it becomes apparent that this is not simply a dream, that the protagonist must choose his reality for himself, and also believe in his own existence.

Many events take place in this novel, and there is much to ponder. Actually, I haven’t stopped pondering, and will not be forgetting this story anytime soon. It’s a most intriguing read. Many thanks to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor and Netgalley for providing me the chance to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for the arc of this book!

Not to offend the literary baddies, but this is my first Murakami read. I know, I know....the horror. His reputation is about as widely known as his backlist is long. And it was always a wee bit intimidating. I tried, thats all I can say



DNF

Lovely, rich and dreamy.
An ode to previous works
and yet new, if slow.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I write haiku reviews but am happy to provide more feedback.

The long-awaited new novel from Haruki Murakami, his first in six years, revisits a Town his readers will remember, a place where a Dream Reader reviews dreams and where our shadows become untethered from our selves. A love story, a quest, an ode to books and to the libraries that house them, and a parable for these strange post-pandemic times,

Murakami's latest work dives deep into the surreal and introspective worlds he is known for, blending reality and imagination in a way that feels both familiar and utterly new. The novel’s intricate narrative explores the fluidity of truth and identity, making readers question the very nature of reality.

This highly anticipated novel promises to be a thought-provoking journey that reflects the complexities of our times, wrapped in Murakami's signature poetic and enigmatic style. Whether you're a long-time fan or new to his work, *The City and Its Uncertain Walls* is a must-read that will leave you pondering long after the final page.

Haruki Murakami is one of the most interesting writers sharing stories right now. I enjoyed and appreciated the physical and emotional architecture of this story, the turns of words and plot, and the masterful crafting of characters:

Thanks to Haruki Murakami; Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor; and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.

This book reminded me of a river as it moved deliberately towards the end with its intertwined stories and tributaries of ideas that join the story. The concept of a library of old dreams was very intriguing as were the overall challenges of what reality really is, and does time really matter?

The book includes an afterward by the author where he describes the background of the story and some of the concepts addressed within it. Not a book for action fans, but a good choice for those who want a well written story that will challenge your thinking on what we call reality.

Haruki Murakami's newest novel is wonderful! The fictional city behind the wall, the line between real and imaginary worlds, the questions that the characters struggle to answer and understand...this book will draw you in with the very first lines! The City and It's Uncertain Walls is a revision/second future of a short story that Murakami wrote many years ago (and has wanted to rewrite almost since the short story was released). It is magical realism at its very best!

Hey guys, I just finished this fantastic book! It reminded me of Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World, but then it became something unique. Anyone can find something meaningful in this story. It's all about overcoming obstacles - but it's open to interpretation. The writing is unbelievably good, like Murakami's best work yet, packed with his profound wisdom. The story touches on the pain of being human, the mystery of consciousness, heartbreak, and loss, and it makes you feel it all as you read. It's symbolic, magical, wise, and, most importantly, deeply comforting. I loved it!

Another utterly brilliant novel by Murakami- which took him decades of reworking to finish and glowing with the maturity of his seasoned, deeply thought-provoking, philosophical and yes, at times unsettling, writing. What started 40 years ago as a short story has been expanded the universe of his novel Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.

The worlds of life and death, reality and fantasy, play out in an enigmatic story of a 16-year-old boy whose first love vanishes without a trace and he quest in his fervent imagination to find her. He finds her in a walled city that they had dreamed up together, filled with dreams in eggs that need to be read, a fierce Gatekeeper and the requirement to live there that you must detach from your shadow and let it die. And of course, there resides his 16-year-old love, sadly with no memory of him. But he gets to spend every day beside her. Meanwhile shadows have distinct personalities and fight for their own survival warning that a person without a shadow is incomplete. The city’s wall has a mind of its own, moving to redefine the town’s borders and to separate it from the hard-edge reality of the world we know. The effect is both hallucinatory and other-worldly, compelling and baffling.

Eventually bounced against his will out of this imaginary city when he decides to save his shadow, the now adult man moves out of Tokyo leaving his job in book distribution to a small mountain village on a quest to become a librarian. Even more bizarre events transpire from there.

Murakami’s lifelong writing themes thread through this latest novel as well: favorite jazz, cats, and a protagonist who despite being completely average ends up having extraordinary experiences. He also rifts on Plato’s cave- questioning the very nature of what it is we take for “reality.” In Murakami’s universe of magic realism, our subconscious and imagination have as much claim to what is real as our consciousness.

Like all his amazing work, you end up both engaged and puzzled, challenged and unsettled, swept along in his sparse, poetic writing, pondering the meaning of life, and yearning for more.

Thanks to Knopf and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

"The City and Its Uncertain Walls" contains an "Afterword" by Haruki Murakami with a side note that it pained him to include it but he felt the novel needed some additional explanation. I am so grateful that he did this as I was not "in the loop" on this novel's origin story and the rich history it's held (both in print and, especially, in the author's mind, body, and soul)! If you are reading Murakami with any enthusiasm then I'm assuming you are a fan of his writing. I AM a fan of this author. His works are notably surreal, enigmatic, mystical, and (as the kids say) hella deep. His settings are fantastical and unique yet his characters are, conversely, very similar in many ways -- at least in my reading experience. Maybe because he is a male author, his male characters often feel clearer to me and most seem to be seeking other-worldly, sometimes nostalgic, people, places, and things. The female characters often seem dreamy and distant, intelligent and unreachable.
I have a tendency to get lost in Haruki Murakami novels in a GREAT way. I love to sometimes be utterly lost and submerged in a world that's dreamlike -- maybe a bit surreal but also familiar. And this novel is set in LIBRARIES (my happy place) and includes some strange looking unicorns and references to the Beatles. I'll leave any additional descriptors and plot points to the critics, other reviewers, etc.
I can say that I did enjoy this novel: it was very long (as many of his novels are -- but I don't think I fully appreciated the HISTORY of its origins. I needed that afterword for the bigger picture. This novel has existed for a long time -- rrom a "novella (or long short story)" published (to the author's ongoing regret(!!) in 1980 -- per the afterword -- and then in a parallel form as "Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World" a novel published in 1985. All that to say the current novel - set to publish on 11/19/2024 - is an idea that has lived inside this author and emerged (and reemerged) and has now RE-reemerged over four decades (at least)!!!
I'm going to read its "companion" iteration HBW, etc. next and am looking forward to catching the similarities and threads of meaning that run through the books and, importantly, through the author. This novel was written throughout the pandemic shutdown, from March 2020 onward, which feels perfect in itself. We all existed in a city with uncertain walls for days on end (and I, for one, kept myself sane by reading the stories and dreams of others). Thanks to #NetGalley and #Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for your generosity in allowing me to read this wonderful author. He is a legend.

In all honestly I had never heard of Haruki Murakami before and I was totally unfamiliar with his books. Therefore when I started reading I was really surprised with the weird and awkward plot and the magical realism.

It is hard because I did not finish the book just because it was not to my tastes but I understand that this is a type and style of book that I know a lot of people would love.

I'm a huge Murakami fan and I'm always going to be one of the first to snap up a new novel of his. I love the weirdness, the extreme length, and even the awkward pacing of his stories. The City and Its Uncertain Walls fits nicely into all those categories: weird, long, awkward. While I enjoyed it, I don't think this is his best book, and that's likely because it was one of his earliest books that he later revisited, and it didn't benefit from the fresh perspective that a more seasoned Murakami would have brought to a new book.

That said, his books always make you think, and this one is no different. It's a story of longing, of loneliness, and the mystery of dreams, and how perspective changes over time.

If you are just starting out with Murakami, go for one of his other books first, then come to this when you have a sense of his style, and are ready for a slow, dreamy introspection.

Haruki Murakami's "The City and Its Uncertain Walls" is a bit of a mixed bag. The story starts off strong with an intriguing concept of a mysterious walled city and a touching young love story. Murakami's writing is as poetic as ever, painting vivid scenes that blend reality and fantasy. However, as the book progresses, it starts to lose steam. The plot meanders, especially during longer sections, and I found my attention wandering. While there are moments of beauty and insight scattered throughout, they're often buried under repetitive descriptions and slow-moving plot points. Fans of Murakami's dreamy style might find plenty to enjoy here, but for me, it didn't quite capture the magic of his earlier works. It's not a bad book by any means, but it didn't leave me as spellbound as I'd hoped.

So this was my first time reading a Haruki Murakami novel. I got an eARC from NetGalley on my kindle and now I am giving my review of the book. I don't want to give a star rating because I did not finish the book and I don't think it is fair to give a star rating if I did not finish the book. Nevertheless, I will give a rating due to what the site requires.

The book was not to my liking because it had too much magical realism and I don't like books like that. I like it when the magical realism is subtle that it doesn't change the story. That the magical realism seems real. It's just a preference thing. No hate to the book no hate to the author it's just I didn't enjoy it because I like things to be more logical.

I really liked this book. Like all Murakami books it was not a light or easy read but it was immersive and the story lingers long after you are finished reading it. Lyrical and unforgettable.

This novel was probably the most dreamy and magical story I’ve read all year. From the walled-in city and unicorns to the untethered shadows, I can’t recall one moment where I wasn’t entirely mesmerized.

What at first felt to me like a love story quickly became a beautiful discovery of one’s self and the willingness to let go of the past and stay present.

Written with a commanding voice and strong detail in the surreal landscape, I felt as if I could step into the pages of this dreamscape and forever lose my shadow.

Overall, this is a wonderful novel that will take you on a magical journey into a made-up world. Escape your reality for a bit and savor this one.

The publisher provided ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have had a long history with Murakami's work and was worried that this novel wouldn't hit me the same way now that I am older. His novels strike me as YA although they aren't intended that way. They are almost always about searching for yourself, which I guess isn't exclusive to the YA genre. The City and Its Uncertain Walls is beautiful. The first part is told in a beautiful second person narration that reads like a love letter to a lost love. I was enthralled with the emotions and memories of my own past loves that the prose evoked. What a powerful skill Murakami has to take readers back into their own pasts to relive emotions. I felt that the second part wandered a bit as the narration changed I found I missed the intimacy of the first part, but of course that is the point. I wish I could explain the plot of even the characters in greater depth, but this isn't that sort of book. There isn't a destination or even a climax just a pure journey of feelings.

I am a huge fan of Haruki Murakami. He is one of my three favorite authors, and I have read everything he has written. So, I might be coming from this book from a different perspective than the casual reader. I really enjoyed this book, and I appreciated it much more after finishing it. This is classic Murakami. However, I would not recommend this book if this is the first time you’re reading Murakami as the writing and themes may be too subtle for the casual reader. I would suggest reading some of his other books first before reading “The City and Its Uncertain Walls.”

Another great book by Murakami, hopefully it won’t be his last.

I have not read Murakami before (I know, I know) - and now I am reminded why. Having not read his previous works, I had no experience of the worlds he's describing/revisiting here, or of how, exactly, to read him. I was so intrigued by the concept he laid out here, but just could not for the life of me feel connected to it. I have picked his books up, drawn time and again to the fabulous and evocative covers, the brilliant titles and the compelling blurbs, only to find that a quick flip never grabs me, so I put it back down for "a better time". Unfortunately, I'm starting to think there is no "better time" for me, and that his writing style - brilliantly clever and lyrical though it is - just isn't a good fit for me as a reader. I'm wondering if audiobooks may be the way to go here - that way I could let myself fall into the music of his language and descriptions, without feeling compelled to try so hard to follow what's going on...

I read a little about this book before requesting an early copy, and found that much was said about it's similarity to the author's novel "Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World". There were also mentioned comparisons to Gabriel Garcia Marquez due to the amount of magical realism in the novel.
I just want to say, without re-hashing the plot or giving a synopsis, which is readily available in other reviews, that I thought it was difficult to find something that I did NOT like about Murakami's latest novel "The City and Its Uncertain Walls'". What is there not to like about a story that is much like an eloquently told fable, complete with unicorns, and libraries; only one of which includes books. The other; peoples unread dreams. A city where you have to leave your shadow at the door, permanently, then your shadow becoming an entity that may never forgive you this betrayal!
Part love story, part fairy tale, part mystery, this has become my favorite novel of his. This having originally been a short story he wrote almost 40 years ago, is a testament to his maturation as a writer over the years. Brilliant!
Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for the advance reading copy!