The City and Its Uncertain WAlls was a super interesting read. I loved the character study and the writing felt propulsive. I'd read more from the author.

I’m maybe not smart enough for this? I had a hard time following the timelines and very magical elements.

Without giving it all away, there’s three parts, a teenage boy and teenage girl are in love and she talks of this magical city she used to live in and in the next part as an older man he goes there. He also becomes a librarian in another part.

I think it’s about dreaming and the secret parts of ourselves but what do I know.

Thank you the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the ARC of The City and Its Uncertain Walls!

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 an other 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 boy who helps him to see what he’s been missing all along.

This was such a beautiful book! The writing is astounding and so lyrical. I loved the magical elements of the story and I wanted to move to the mountain town. As many other reviews have stated, there is not much of a plot but also not much character development. It is beautiful writing for the sake of writing and the story comes second. Not that the story isn't good; it is an enchanting story.

I have been a huge Murakami fan for years but this book just didn't do it for me. I felt like there were a lot of interesting ideas but nothing was fully fleshed out. The premise of the library was really intriguing but I was left wanting more and for it to feel like it was actually going somewhere. I felt the story kind of meanders along unfortunately. I did enjoy Boku and Kimi. Murakami always writes incredible characters that are so unique and interesting. The book did not feel as much as an ode to books as the blurb would have us believe but more of an ode to his style of writing and the imagination that is found within books. Although I did not enjoy this book I will always, always grab a Murakami book! One of the greatest writers of our generation in my opinion

This book is like a dream. So much going on, and it's rich with Murakami's beautiful writing style. It's like a fever dream between life and death, fading in and out, finding yourself and reflecting on moments lived. An essential read for Murakami fans and a must-have book for all collections.

I wish I had read some of Murakami’s other work before this one, but I still enjoyed it. I loved the fantastical other world and loved our main character. Looking forward to diving into his backlist now!

This is one of the best books that I've read in a long time. I wasn't sure how I felt about it at first, but I became quickly immersed in this story. It's one of those books that I just keep thinking about. That doesn't happen to me a lot but it certainly has with this book!

The City and Its Uncertain Walls returns us to one of his most enigmatic worlds, blending surrealism, existential longing, and the quiet melancholy of lost love. The novel follows a nameless protagonist whose search for a vanished girl leads him to a walled city beyond the boundaries of reality—a place where dreams are read, shadows slip away, and the past lingers like an unfinished melody. Murakami’s signature motifs—jazz, libraries, and the porous divide between worlds—are woven into a narrative that feels both familiar and hauntingly new. When I was done, I had to go back and reread (or maybe just read for the first time?) Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World to make sense of it all. The walled city at its core is haunting, and stays with you after you finish the novel, like a fading dream. A good read if you love his quiet, moody, atmospheric storytelling.

Murakami’s books are always thought-provoking and often serve as a palate cleanser for me because they are so different from most books. The City and Its Uncertain Walls is no different in that regard. This is a slow burn, large book, so you have to be in the right mood for this one. If you’re feeling sentimental and emotional but curious and interested in relationships, this is for you.
This is a story involving two worlds. One is seemingly reality, the other a simpler existence behind a large wall. In this other world people must give up their shadows to exist there, unicorns roam free only to die from the harsh elements. Dreams are read by a Dream Reader.
This is an odd story. There is a quest to find truth, and also a love story split between two worlds. Lovers of libraries will find comfort in these pages because this town, enclosed by a wall, centers around a library, a very special one.
This one did take me awhile to get into it. Initially, the alternating chapters were challenging because I wasn’t able to discern who was speaking. The two main characters are nameless and since the story bounces between two worlds, I felt that it was a little hard to get to know them. But about half way through I found the pace.
Definitely unique and interesting.

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Over the years, I have started Murakami books in fits and spurts, only able to get a handful of pages or chapters in before I had to set it down. I think part of that is just because I was quite young when I tried, and I haven’t given him another attempt since I came back to reading in 2020. Regardless, I’m glad that I read this even if it is a peculiar (proper) introduction to his fiction). I enjoyed his exploration into the complexity of human nature and the meaning of life and while sometimes the novel meandered and he was, predictably, quite strange towards women at times, I liked this and will be trying those abandoned paperbacks I tried in high school again.

Haruki Murakami is a master of magical realism. This gentle exploration of time, timeliness, timelessness is a class in itself as it's a continuance and deepening of a novella he published decades ago, and explored in a later novel.

It's a love story but not a romance.
It touches on one's inner spark/soul yet is not religious.
It's a story of two libraries, one filled with a fictional town's old dreams and one an eccentric's personal collection of books donated to his small, mountain town.

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc of this one in exchange for an honest review!

I have been wanting to try this author because he is so popular. Unfortunately, I don’t think he is for me.

I was honestly bored throughout. This book was so long and it could’ve been way shorter.

I will probably try others by this author still to see what the hype is about.

I haven't read a lot of Murakami, and while I liked some of the magical elements in this one, it was mostly a sketched concept than an actual book with purposeful plot for me. I think I most enjoyed the aspects of a shadow city where one must forfeit their own to be in the town, as well as the idea of a Reader of Dreams. But then this man becomes infatuated with a woman who isn't entirely interested in him, but who is troubled, and decides to make her his entire life and personality (literally what). Also, as an actual credentialed librarian, I immediately bristled at the way this man just asks another man to find him a library job - even clarifies that he does not have any education or experience in any library - and this other man tells him, "Sure, there's a Director of a Library job that just opened, I will send them an inquiry" and he GETS IT. LOL, whatever. I know that's not the actual point, but it's pretty unrealistic (and insulting, imho).

Overall, again, this felt more like interested concepts taped together than a cohesive tale.

Strange and imaginative - just as expected. There were times I really was not sure what was happening, but continued to be delighted by the magical prose until it finally clicked.

Reading the afterward makes this book make total sense. The City and Its Uncertain Walls feels like a little bit of everything from Haruki Murakami's best work. It has a bit of straightforward romance a la Norwegian Wood, two strange libraries, plus the weird and wonderful fantastical elements he's come to be known for. It even has more Beatles references. So it makes sense that this novel began as a short story written much earlier in his career that he's now come back to and reworked.

It's definitely not my new favorite Murakami but it excels in all his usuals. I enjoyed digging into this novel if it was a tad long.

An ode to the dreamers, who may feel out of place or time or self, The City and its Uncertain Walls was a thoughtful and engrossing read at the end of which I felt that all the time and no time at all had passed. Loved the discourse on learning to trust and believe oneself and choosing to move forward even when it feels so much easier to stay still. Found some parts a little iffy or at least good topics for more discussion like the descriptions of the young girl, the boy who has a disability/reads dreams, and singlehood!

This book was out of my comfort zone and I figured I'd try something new. I'm not sure I'd recommend it to anyone, as this just isn't my style but it did keep me occupied and kept my attention for a bit, I'm just not sure if it's something I'd read again.

In The City and Its Uncertain Walls, Haruki Murakami revisits themes of memory, love, and isolation through a surreal story set in a mysterious walled city. Blending reality with dreamlike elements, the novel follows a man reflecting on a lost love and the strange, shadowless world he enters. While it may feel familiar to longtime Murakami readers, it offers a quiet, introspective journey rich in emotion and atmosphere.

In all fairness, I don’t always *get* Murakami. My literal brain has a hard time with the meanderings and weavings into and out of reality. But the premise of this book really captivated me, so I thought I’d give it a try. And I’m glad I did! But I just couldn’t finish it. I do sometimes find myself wondering about the characters and the setting like it’s my own little dream world, so I might come back to it some day. I think fans of Murakami will likely love The City and Its Uncertain Walls, and I believe if I weren’t quite such a literal-brained person, I wouldn’t have had to move so slowly through this novel. It really is a beautiful story and Murakami is a masterful storyteller, so I’m giving it 4 stars even though it was a DNF for me!

This is one of those books that I really wanted to enjoy but ended up struggling with. I’ve only read one other Murakami (After the Quake) and I enjoyed it much more so potentially I am not the target audience for this full length novels. That being said I felt like the beginning of this book was unnecessarily repetitive and I feel like a lot of the symbolism in this book felt too obvious (but also convoluted?). I’m also not a huge fan of Murakamis portrayal of women generally and this was not an exception.

The premise is really interesting and I enjoyed learning more about the setting. However I just don’t think I’m the target audience for this kind of read. Might pick up more of his short stories in the future instead!