Haruki Murakami’s The City and Its Uncertain Walls is a hauntingly beautiful tale of unrequited teenage love, spanning decades and infused with the signature magical realism that defines Murakami’s work. It’s a story that lingers, blending heartfelt moments with thought-provoking themes, making it a captivating and memorable read.
Plot Summary
The novel begins with an unnamed 17-year-old narrator meeting a 16-year-old girl at a short story award ceremony. Over a magical summer, the two grow close, falling in love and building an imaginary, high-walled City together. Within this imagined space, the girl reveals that her true self resides in the City’s library and that she is merely a shadow of her real self.
As summer ends, the girl abruptly stops writing to him, and all the narrator’s efforts to reconnect fail. Fast-forward three decades, and the narrator, now a lonely man, remains haunted by the memory of the girl and their shared summer. One fateful night, he inexplicably stumbles into the imaginary City they had created long ago. Here, he becomes a “Dreamreader,” a role requiring him to separate from his shadow to stay in the City.
While adjusting to life without his shadow, he discovers the girl he has been searching for working in the City’s library. However, she no longer resembles the girl he once knew, nor does she remember their shared past. As he continues reading dreams and interacting with her, he begins to change, sensing an incompleteness without his shadow. Ultimately, he reunites with his shadow, escaping the City and returning to reality.
Back in the real world, he leaves his corporate job and becomes the head librarian in a small-town library. Here, he forms bonds with the locals, particularly Mr. Koyasu, the previous head librarian, who is known for his eccentric style (a beret and skirt), and a mysterious teenage boy in a Yellow Submarine-themed parka, who spends his days devouring books. This boy, intriguingly, knows of the imaginary City and expresses a desire to go there.
Analysis
Though initially challenging due to alternating timelines between the narrator’s teenage years and his life in the City as an adult, the novel rewards patient readers. The early chapters’ jarring shifts are a deliberate narrative device, weaving a sense of mystery that resolves beautifully as the story progresses.
Murakami’s mastery shines in his characters, whose layered backstories breathe life into the narrative. For example, Mr. Koyasu’s tragic tale mirrors the narrator’s “what if” scenario, showing a potential life path had he pursued his teenage love. Through such characters, Murakami explores the roads not taken and the fragility of happiness.
The novel also delves deeply into duality—a recurring theme in Murakami’s works (1Q84, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle). Here, it questions the nature of the self: Are we our “true selves,” or could our shadows be equally authentic? By blurring the line between self and shadow, the story forces readers to ponder which version of us is real—or if it even matters.
Adding to the intrigue, Murakami reveals in the afterword that this novel began as a novella in 1980, published while he juggled two jobs, including running a jazz bar. Dissatisfied with the original work, he intended to rewrite it after achieving success with two critically acclaimed novels. However, he instead expanded the world, resulting in Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World—a book now on my reading list for comparison.
Conclusion
The City and Its Uncertain Walls is a quintessential Murakami novel: introspective, surreal, and deeply emotional. It resonates with anyone who has ever wrestled with unfulfilled love, the passage of time, or the search for identity. While its layered narrative requires commitment, the rewards—a profound story and a thought-provoking journey—are well worth the effort.
If you’ve enjoyed Murakami’s earlier works, this novel is a must-read. And if you’re new to his world, prepare to lose yourself in the City and its beautifully uncertain walls.