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The City and Its Uncertain Walls

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The City and Its Uncertain Walls

By: Haruki Murakami
Narrated by: Philip Gabriel - translation, Brian Nishii
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

The breathtaking new novel about the boundaries between worlds and individuals, from the internationally bestselling author of 1Q84.

When a young man’s girlfriend mysteriously vanishes, he sets his heart on finding the imaginary city where her true self lives. His search will lead him to take a job in a remote library with mysteries of its own.

When he finally makes it to the walled city, a shadowless place of horned beasts and willow trees, he finds his beloved working in a different library – a dream library. But she has no memory of their life together in the other world and, as the lines between reality and fantasy start to blur, he must decide what he’s willing to lose.

A love story, a quest, an ode to books and to the libraries that house them, The City and Its Uncertain Walls is a parable for these strange times.

'It’s safe to say that there’s no one like Murakami' Literary Review

'No other author mixes domestic, fantastic and esoteric elements into such weirdly bewitching shades'
Financial Times

'Murakami is a master storyteller and he knows how to keep us hooked'
Sunday Times

©2024 Haruki Murakami (P)2024 Penguin Audio
Editors Select Literary Fiction Magical Realism Metaphysical & Visionary Occult Heartfelt City Fiction
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What listeners say about The City and Its Uncertain Walls

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

pointless senseless waste of time

there's absolutely nothing to eat there. some rambling about dreams and gender attraction, ghibli movies are doing it so much better. utter waste of time.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Heard it before but new

Different version of a previous story, for that the start was in anticipation if this was a repetition or something else and even though somewhat predictable the narrative got better and better and kept me listening until the end..

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Classic Murakami. More accessible than some.

As always, the reader enters a fever dream from which they are abruptly ejected, unsure of what is or was real or imagined.

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Like revising an old friend

I read HBWL&teotw about 20 years ago, I reread it again before listening to this. I felt the work had morphed somewhat over the years, or maybe it’s me that’s changed. Who can tell?

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    4 out of 5 stars
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hmmm.....

classic Murikami territory. a mostly normal character in a mostly normal world where something else creeps in: a surreal or magical otherness co-exists on a disconcertingly even footing.
it makes for a fascinatingly engaging tale wonderful phrases and observations. but is this more about our inner selves and our subconscious and emotiins; or is it more an enquiry into the nature of reality and truth, and how we tell what is 'real'? I'm not entirely sure and am worried I might just need to read it again!

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Boring.

Nothing of interest. An old story rewritten. Might have been interesting at the time but not if, like me, you have read all Murakami’s translated novels

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Disappointed

Long time fan of Murakamis fiction, this feel meandering, driveling, boring, repeating itself over and over. Usually, his writing is succinct, simple and to the point (or so I thought..) but this time I couldn't even endure the last 4hours on 2x speed. I have better things to do.

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