The City and Its Uncertain Walls

I think that this was a really worthwhile revisiting of the original story in End of the World. I enjoyed this the most out of his post 1Q84 books.

(I'm an editor at The Chicago Review of Books, and was sent an ARC for consideration for coverage.)

Funny a book so concerned with shadows and vestiges ended up feeling like a shadow of another book. I'm a Murakami defender till-I-die, but this one lacked some of the distinct pleasures I find in other Murakami novels:

1. A protagonist searching for something they can't have, either because it's permanently lost or simply a mirage.
2. A strong perspective or voice that feels relatable in terms of their aesthetic sense and what they find beautiful.

This book superficially has 1., but perhaps because it's so futile in this case or simply how it's handled, I didn't find it that compelling. I also wasn't that bought in to the protagonist's voice this time around.

It was interesting to see Murakami handle another sequel or reimagining, but especially after revisiting Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, The City, and its Uncertain Walls feels like a bit of a mirage. Not sure it really expanded upon that earlier world in a meaningful way.

This book is the second rewrite of the 1981 novella that bears the same title. The first rewrite is the "End of the World" section of "Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World." It still reads as fresh even after all these years.