The City and Its Uncertain Walls: A Novel by Haruki Murakami

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Web ID: 20312165

From the bestselling author of Norwegian Wood and Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World comes a love story, a quest, an ode to books and to the libraries that house them, and a parable for our peculiar times. "Haruki Murakami invented 21st-century fiction." The New York Times "More than any author since Kafka, Murakami appreciates the genuine strangeness of our real world." San Francisco Chronicle "Murakami is masterful." Los Angeles Times, we begin with a nameless young couple a boy and a girl, teenagers in love. One day, she disappears . . . and her absence haunts him for the rest of his life. Thus begins a search for this lost love that takes the man into middle age and on a journey between the real world and another world a mysterious, perhaps imaginary, walled town where unicorns roam, where a Gatekeeper determines who can enter and who must remain behind, and where shadows become untethered from their selves. Listening to his own dreams and premonitions, the man leaves his life in Tokyo behind and ventures to a small mountain town, where he becomes the head librarian, only to learn the mysterious circumstances surrounding the gentleman who had the job before him. As the seasons pass and the man grows more uncertain about the porous boundaries between these two worlds, he meets a strange young…

  • Product Features

    • Haruki Murakami (Author)
    • Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
    • Publication Date: 11-19-2024
    • Page Count: 464
    • Hardcover
    • Fiction
    • 6.35 (w) x 9.41(h) x 1.42 (d)
    • ISBN: 9780593801970
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Ratings & Reviews

4/5

23 star ratings & reviews

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17 days ago
from Earth

4.5 stars

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.

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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

19 days ago
from Michigan

Beautiful Story

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.

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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

2 months ago
from Santa Cruz

Magical realism at its best

Magical realism at its best. Future publication date November 19, 2024 You’ll want to read this if: -you’ve enjoyed Murakami‘s other work. -you love magical realism. -you like waxing philosophical. -libraries, egg shaped dreams, unicorns, ghosts, and shadows are images you want to see in your books. Is the imagined city of these two love struck teenagers more real than the life that they are living? The first time I finished a Murakami novel I had more questions than answers, and now, with this being the fifth novel I’ve finished by him, I can confidently say that Murakami is not in the business of supplying the reader with any kind of answers. If you’re ok with not knowing all the answers (in terms of life and with where this novel is going) then there’s no better novel for you than The City and its Uncertain Walls. Besides pondering the concepts of time, death, souls, consciousness, and reality, Murakami also takes time to appreciate ritual. It seems almost contradictory to write a story about these abstract concepts and also write so lovingly about routine and ritual, but Murakami loves to dote on the mundane and does it so well here: blueberry muffins and coffee, lighting a fire, taking the same route home every day, the same yellow submarine hoodie, a single cigarette and drink at the end of every shift. What didn’t work for me was the way he wrote Mrs.Soeda: overqualified and very capable, yet she basically functions as an assistant. He may not have the best handle on writing women. His writing is very simple and easy to follow, which I think is why I’m always willing to embark on these absurd journeys that force me to contemplate things we will never have answers to. It’s slow and meditative and the perfect book to read in the winter with lots of attractive descriptions of cozy fires lit in libraries on snowy evenings. Thank you @netgalley and @knopf for this e-ARC

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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

2 months ago
from Western NY

Too philosophical

The City And It's Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami #magicalrealism 4⭐ for the writing Actually a DNF but since I need to leave a rating 3⭐ for the book as a total package I've been thinking of reading one of HM's books for a while. I have only ever seen great things about his books. Then I saw this book available on NetGalley and though, "oh perfect!" so I ran to hit the request button. I started reading this book well over a month ago. I just could not get through it. The book was very well told. I loved how smoothly the translation of the original author's words were stated. I have read some translations where you can tell something was definitely missing in its translation from the original piece of work. This one was almost peotic, as some reviewers say. I was loving the book until all of a sudden, I just could no longer get through it. The story begins with 2 teens in love in Japan. Then it switches to the MMC as a single middle aged man going to this mysterious walled city and living there a while so he can spend time with his love who is still the teen he knew. All of this happens in the first 30% of the book. Those parts of the book moved along well enough. Then once he left the walled city is when it started to drag. The story got very philosophical. He kept asking why was he here? What does this have to do with my life? How is my life going to continue? I tried to chat online with someone who had pre-ordered this translation of the book. He never reached back out to me. Finally, I found someone else who had recommended this book under the genre of magical realism. I asked her if it continues to be so philosophical. She said, the themes pretty much stay the same throughout the rest of the book. 🤦 OK. Nope. I'm done. I cannot continue. #knopfpantheonvintageandanchor #netgalley

Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

2 months ago
from New Jersey

Best of the year!

The City and Its Uncertain Walls is a phenomenal book, one that is a shining example of Murakami at his best with elements of magical realism. It is difficult to summarize the plot so, I won’t try (read the jacket blurb) but, it is so worth it to jump into this book and just let yourself get lost in it. Every time I set this book down, I kept thinking about it and could not wait to pick it back up. While the story does not have an fast paced plot, Murakami builds out the story so well and creates such interesting worlds here, both in what is intended to represent reality (with elements of magical realism) and a mysterious other-worldly city. There were many themes and questions raised in this book that left a lot for the reader to explore— it is even more interesting to consider this book in a post-pandemic light and to consider what this might be saying about the state of the world we’re living in and generally about the human condition. Emotions and experiences like grief and deep love were also covered throughout this book and it’s interesting to consider where exactly Murakami wants to leave the reader with these concepts, as we move between realities and as the story concludes. I know I will be thinking about this book for a while and will need more time to mull over what to take from this reading experience. While I can understand that this book might not be for everyone, I absolutely loved it. The slow pace, deep character introspection, and truly visceral tone of this story (sometimes joyous, sometimes so unbearably sad, ominous, troubled, etc etc.) felt so real and close to me— truly unlike anything I’ve read before. I am not entirely sure what to make of the ending at this point but, it did feel like a satisfying conclusion. I will be so interested to see what other readers make of this book and I can’t wait to pick up more of Murakami’s work in the future. I would definitely recommend this to lit fic fans (lots to unpack here), magical realism fans, and those who like the authors previous works.

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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

2 months ago
from Oregon

A classic Murakami book

This book may not be my favorite Murakami, but it is ip there. It is also not as “confusing” as other stories he has written. Or maybe I just read him so much I have it figured out. An excellent story about living in fantasy and coming to grips with reality.

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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

2 months ago
from Tacoma, WA

Interesting but not fulfilling

I should have put more time between this book and book one in the series. What I found in the first book seemed over-written in the second. I no longer expected any clarification and I didn't find any. Still interesting but not fulfilling.

Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

3 months ago
from Wisconsin

Slowly Unfolding Story Beautifully Told

The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami is based on a short story of the same written more than 40 years ago in 1980. The author also based his 1985 novel, Hard Boiled Wonderland and the end of the World on that same short story and you see echoes of both these stories in this novel. The is a lit fic story with magical realism. It was written during the pandemic, and it echoes the loneliness and isolation felt during that time. It's about love and discovery and books. Murakami's stories slowly unfold and are beautifully written, but require the investment of time, but they are well worth it. Thank you to #netgalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor for my advance reader copy.

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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com