Summary
Haruki Murakami's latest novel, The City and Its Uncertain Walls, is a captivating blend of love story, quest narrative, and ode to literature. Released in April 2023 in Japanese and November 2024 in English, this 672-page tome marks Murakami's return to themes he first explored in a 1980 short story of the same name.
The book, which became a New York Times bestseller, showcases Murakami's signature style of blending reality with surrealism. It follows a nameless protagonist's journey between two worlds—the familiar streets of Tokyo and a mysterious walled city where unicorns roam and shadows detach from their owners. This duality serves as a backdrop for exploring themes of lost love, memory, and the power of storytelling.
Notably, The City and Its Uncertain Walls was written during the COVID-19 pandemic, with Murakami completing the manuscript in December 2022. The novel has received mixed critical reception, with some praising its imaginative storytelling and others critiquing its similarity to Murakami's earlier works. Despite the divided opinions, it remains a significant addition to the acclaimed author's bibliography.
Plot
The City and Its Uncertain Walls follows the life of an unnamed protagonist, beginning with his teenage years. At 17, he falls in love with a 16-year-old girl after they both win an essay contest. The girl tells him her true self exists in a city beyond a wall, and together they imagine this place in great detail. Suddenly, the girl vanishes without a trace, leaving the boy heartbroken and unable to move on, even into adulthood.
In a parallel storyline, the protagonist, now an adult, finds himself in the imagined city. To enter, he must separate from his shadow. Each day, he reads dreams from strange orbs in a small library, assisted by the eternally 16-year-old girl who doesn't remember him. As his shadow begins to die, the man decides to leave the city but changes his mind at the last moment, allowing only his shadow to depart.
Returning to his normal life, the protagonist quits his job at a book publisher and seeks work at a library. He secures a position at a private library in a secluded mountain town, where he meets Koyasu, an eccentric old man who later turns out to be a ghost. The protagonist befriends a teenager with a photographic memory who becomes fascinated with the city beyond the walls and eventually disappears. Meanwhile, the protagonist develops feelings for an asexual divorced woman who runs a coffee shop in town.
Back in the city beyond the walls, the protagonist's body encounters the boy with the photographic memory. They make a deal that allows the boy to become part of the protagonist, enhancing his dream-reading abilities. Realizing he wants to reunite with his shadow, the protagonist decides to leave the city, while the boy stays behind to read dreams forever.
Themes
Exploration of reality and fantasy
Power of memory and nostalgia
Search for lost love and connection
Importance of libraries and literature
Journey of self-discovery and personal growth
Blurring of boundaries between worlds
Impact of longing and unfulfilled desires
Setting
The City and Its Uncertain Walls spans multiple time periods, from the protagonist's teenage years to his middle age. While specific dates are not mentioned, the story appears to be set in a contemporary era, likely mirroring the time of the novel's writing in the early 2020s. The narrative seamlessly shifts between these different phases of the protagonist's life, creating a fluid temporal landscape.
Geographically, the novel primarily takes place in Japan, with Tokyo serving as a key location. The protagonist eventually leaves the bustling capital for a small mountain town, where he becomes a librarian. This rural setting, nestled deep in the mountains, provides a stark contrast to the urban environment of Tokyo and serves as a pivotal location for much of the story's development.
Beyond the real-world locations, a significant portion of the narrative unfolds in an otherworldly setting - a mysterious walled city that may exist only in the protagonist's imagination. This ethereal realm, populated by unicorns and governed by a Gatekeeper, represents a parallel world that blurs the lines between reality and fantasy. The interplay between these tangible and intangible settings creates a rich, multidimensional backdrop for Murakami's story.
Characters
The Protagonist: The unnamed main character who experiences the story as both a 17-year-old boy and a middle-aged man. He falls in love with a mysterious girl as a teenager and spends his life searching for her. The protagonist becomes a librarian in a small mountain town and navigates between the real world and a mysterious walled city.
The Girl: A 16-year-old who captures the protagonist's heart and then disappears. She claims her real self exists in a city beyond a wall. In the walled city, she appears as the protagonist's assistant, seemingly unaged and without memories of their past.
Koyasu: An eccentric old man who wears a beret and skirts. He is the former head of the private library in the mountain town and later revealed to be a ghost. Koyasu believes the protagonist is uniquely qualified to run the library due to his experiences in the walled city.
The Boy with the Yellow Submarine Hoodie: A teenager with a photographic memory who befriends the protagonist at the library. He becomes fascinated with the walled city and eventually disappears, later merging with the protagonist's body in the other world.
The Gatekeeper: A mysterious figure who determines who can enter and leave the walled city. The Gatekeeper plays a crucial role in controlling access between the two worlds.
The Protagonist's Shadow: In the walled city, the protagonist must separate from his shadow to enter. The shadow eventually leaves the city without the protagonist, leading to internal conflict and decisions about identity.
Quick facts
The novel shares its title with a short story Murakami wrote in 1980, which he later expanded into his 1985 novel Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.
Murakami began writing this book in January 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.
It took Murakami nearly 3 years to complete the novel, finishing in December 2022.
The book is 672 pages long in its original Japanese edition.
The English translation by Philip Gabriel was published on November 19, 2024.
The story features parallel narratives in the real world and a mysterious walled city.
Unicorns roam in the mysterious walled city described in the book.
A key character is a strange young boy who always wears a Yellow Submarine hoodie.
Murakami includes an afterword discussing the nature of stories and truth in the novel.
About the Author
Haruki Murakami, born in Kyoto in 1949, is one of Japan's most acclaimed and influential contemporary authors. His novels, short stories, and essays have been translated into over 50 languages and have sold millions of copies worldwide. Murakami's distinctive style blends elements of magical realism, surrealism, and pop culture references, often featuring lonely protagonists dealing with loss and searching for meaning in modern Japan.
Murakami's literary career began in 1979 with his first novel Hear the Wind Sing. He gained international recognition in the 1980s with works like A Wild Sheep Chase and Norwegian Wood. His 1994-95 novel The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is considered by many to be his magnum opus. Other notable works include Kafka on the Shore, 1Q84, and the short story collection Men Without Women. Murakami has also published non-fiction, including a memoir on running titled What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.
Throughout his career, Murakami has received numerous literary awards and honors, including the World Fantasy Award, the Franz Kafka Prize, and the Jerusalem Prize. His work has been adapted into films, plays, and other media. Despite his global popularity, Murakami remains a somewhat controversial figure in Japan, where some critics have labeled his writing as “un-Japanese” due to its heavy Western influences.
Murakami is also known for his love of music, particularly jazz and classical, which often features prominently in his works. He is also an avid long-distance runner and has completed several marathons. In recent years, Murakami has become more outspoken on political issues, criticizing Japan's handling of the Fukushima nuclear disaster and expressing support for same-sex marriage. His most recent novel, The City and Its Uncertain Walls, was published in 2023.
