It is probably best to state that this is my first encounter with Haruki Murakami’s writing, so the only thing I knew going into it was that he is a well known author for the quality of his work. After completing The City and Its Uncertain Walls, I can definitely understand why that is the case.

The way in which Murakami crafts his descriptions, whether they are about a landscape or a character’s thoughts, are beautiful and sensory. Sand around feet becomes soft clouds in a dream and grass on leg calves are like green punctuation marks. Everything can be seen and felt by the reader very easily.

However, it would go amiss to not also give credit to Philip Gabriel, the translator. His skill in translating Murakami’s words from Japanese must be noted due to the complexity of words and thoughts he had to convey through the language barrier.

In terms of story, I found myself most interested in the small town library setting, followed by the City setting, and last with the early parts between the main character and the girl. The small town and its characters’ relatability, while still be a setting that most readers will not have experienced, was easy to enjoy and the pace was perfect for keeping my attention. The City will grab the fantasy enthusiast in every reader and hold them captive with the desire to better understand the place and characters.

It should be noted that my least enjoyed section, the beginning of the story, is not bad per say, just not the part that stands out. It provides a great introduction to the quality of writing mentioned above, its just that the plot building and general pace is much much slower and I found it harder to stick with.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book, even to those who have not yet picked up a Murakami and I will also be looking to read more of his backlist due to this experience.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to enjoy The City and Its Uncertain Walls.

I’m a Murakami fan and others will recognize his signature style and many of the elements here. More than others, this novel blurs the line between real and surreal and the story that unwinds is lovely and poignant. But, there is a lot of meandering here. Would not recommend as a first read for this author. But, for fans, it’s a welcome addition to the catalog.

Haruki Murakami’s The City and Its Uncertain Walls is an intricate blend of magical realism and philosophical reflection, exploring the boundaries of memory, love, and reality. While the novel showcases Murakami's signature style—rich with surreal imagery and meditative prose—it falls short of delivering a truly cohesive and engaging experience for all readers.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.

Haruki Murakami’s The City and Its Uncertain Walls is a mesmerizing journey through the labyrinth of memory, love, and the surreal. This novel, a long-awaited addition to Murakami’s oeuvre, revisits themes and motifs familiar to his readers while offering fresh insights and a deeply moving narrative.

The story begins with a 17 year-old boy who falls deeply in love with a 16 year-old girl, only to lose her under mysterious circumstances. This loss propels him into a walled city that exists outside of conventional reality, a place where he becomes a reader of dreams.

As the boy grows into a middle-aged man, he leaves Tokyo for a small mountain town to become a librarian, curating real books instead of dreams.

The novel’s structure is non-linear, weaving between past and present, reality and the fantastical, creating a tapestry that is both intricate and haunting.

Murakami’s prose is as enchanting as ever, blending the mundane with the magical in a way that feels both effortless and profound. His descriptions of the walled city and its inhabitants are vivid and evocative, drawing readers into an eerie and beautiful world. The narrative is imbued with a sense of melancholy and longing, capturing the essence of lost love and the search for meaning.

The protagonist’s journey from a lovestruck teenager to a contemplative librarian is portrayed with great sensitivity and depth. Murakami excels at creating characters who are introspective and complex, each grappling with their own existential dilemmas. The supporting characters, including a neurodivergent teen known as Yellow Submarine Boy and a ghostly figure, add layers of intrigue and poignancy.

The City and Its Uncertain Walls explores themes of memory, identity, and the passage of time. Murakami delves into the nature of reality and the ways in which our perceptions shape our experiences. The novel reflects on the power of love and the enduring impact of those we have lost. These themes are woven seamlessly into the narrative, creating a rich and thought-provoking tapestry.

Haruki Murakami’s The City and Its Uncertain Walls is a masterful blend of magical realism, noir mystery, and philosophical reflection. It is a testament to Murakami’s ability to craft stories that are deeply personal and universally resonant. Fans of his work will find much to love in this novel, while newcomers will be drawn into its enigmatic and captivating world.

Really interesting read. If you like his other works you will like this. Might not be the best for anyone who hasn’t read his stuff before.

What is real, and what is not? In this world is there really something like a wall separating reality from the unreal? from The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami

Haruki Murakami wrote The City and its Uncertain walls as a novela, published in 1980. He was unsatisfied with the story and regretted publishing it for he knew “something vital” was in it. He wanted to rewrite it and during the Covid-19 pandemic, rarely leaving his home, he finally tackled it. “For so long this work had felt like a small fish bone caught in my throat, something that bothered me,” he writes in the Afterword.

It is a strange and wonderful book, original and unique. The protagonist flows between two realities, the world he was born into, and the world imagined by the girl he loved as a teen, a city where people leave their shadows behind to live in a timeless world with clocks without hands. In this world he works as a Dream Reader in a library.

Which is the real world? In which world could fulfillment be found?

There was a fierce split between the conscious and the unconscious, and I had to choose where I should belong. from The City and its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami

The narrator touches on what he enjoys– jazz music, libraries and books, blueberry muffins. He never forgets his lost teenage love and struggles to connect with others. He leaves one reality for another, still seeking the girl. It is a lonely life in each world he inhabits. His friends are the librarian’s ghost and a strange boy who can’t connect to the world he is in.

“The real self and the shadow are essentially two sides of the same coin,” the ghost of a librarian tells him.

Should you read this? What did I think?

I will quote the narrator, talking about the Bible: “It’s an intriguing book, and I’ve learned and felt many things from reading it.” And he quotes, “People are like a breath; their days are like a fleeting shadow.” That is truth.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book through NetGalley.

The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami - eBook ARC from NetGalley

It’s been quite a wait for a new Murakami novel, and The City and Its Uncertain Walls unfolds quietly and elegantly, like snow falling in a library full of forgotten books. The story is a beautiful love letter, wrapped in the author’s signature mix of surreal quests and tender melancholy. There’s something indescribably still about this book—maybe it’s the pacing, the prose, or the fact that I’m not quite sure if I’m smart enough to keep up with its depth.

Murakami’s narrative style is as intriguing as ever, creating a world that is both unique and familiar, like returning to a dream you’ve had before. It’s reflective, meditative, and in some ways, a still pool of thought. Yet, while I admired its craft and artistry, I found myself left wanting more. Perhaps it’s the way art is inherently subjective—what resonates deeply with one person might drift like snowflakes past another.

There’s no denying Murakami’s brilliance. This novel is undoubtedly a lovely work of art, but for me, this particular journey ended up being more about observing from a distance than getting completely lost within its walls. An average reading experience with extraordinary glimpses—exactly what you might expect when wandering through the uncertain terrain of a master storyteller.

IT’S ANOTHER MURAKAMI, OF COURSE I WOULD LOVE IT AND GIVE IT FIVE STARS!!!! i am an absolute murakami fan, as you can see on @chroniqled —and i honestly cannot wait for it to come out!! may i ask if it would perhaps be possible to request for a physical copy to feature and promote on my account? it would be such a privilege 🥹♥️

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the invitation to read this book early. First, I want to preface this by saying these are only my opinions and I don't expect anyone to read too deeply into this review. I have never read anything by the author before so I had no idea what I was getting into. This book was something else, I wasn't expecting any of it. It was a confusing character driven story that didn't feel like it went anywhere or had a satisfactory resolution. I will say it was beautifully written if confusing. From reading this book, I probably won't be reading anything else by this author and this author isn't for me, but I commend those who enjoy the author's work.

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.