The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami BOOK REVIEW
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- Опубліковано 14 жов 2024
- I was lucky to get my hands on Murakamis new novel that is being published in Norway today and this is my SPOILER FREE review! I am also doing my first ever GIVEAWAY so watch until the end and participate if you feel like it!
What is your favourite Murakami novel?
Thanks to paxforlag for sending me this copy!
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Really looking forward to this new Murakami. The worlds he creates - even if on the surface normal and mundane - are always incredibly interesting and full of depth that I always get so drawn in.
Thanks for the early review going to be a good chance to reread his other books whilst I wait till November
Absolutely agree. His books are my perfect escape. What is your current favourite of his novels?
I have really enjoyed Hard-boiled wonderland/End of the World. But my go to would have to be Wind up Bird.
I've been very curious about this book and now I'm more excited to read it! Thanks for sharing your thoughts 🌟
Hope you enjoy it when the time comes :)
I need to read more Murakami! I also need to become more hip! LOL! Thanks for the great review!
I can wholeheartedly recommend it :) Who does not need that bag 😅
I've been hooked on Murakami ever since I read A Wild Sheep Chase on a trip to Iceland. During that trip, I snapped a great picture of a wild sheep crossing our path, and it's been on my wall ever since! Can't wait to read this book in November!
Cool! I love when fiction penetrates real life or is woven together in a way.. I have not been to Iceland but really want to go!
Looking forward to this one being published in the US. I tend to find Murakami's method (or style) to be most successful in his short stories, but maybe that's because I'm such a huge fan of the short story as a format. I read all of his stories before taking on his novels. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on his latest.
I am also becomming a short story fan. I have almost only read short stories from Murakami but I am thinking of doing something about it this year :)
I love that artwork. Looks so cool.
You’re making me add his books to my TBR 📚 😊
Hurray! :)
Oh wow! This looks exciting! I know the biggest Murakami fan! ❤
I bought the Spanish version (all other Murakami books I’ve read in English) and was disappointed. It feels like a complete different author. The first part of the book felt unnecessary. I’ve heard that English translators “improve” the books in the process I guess I’ll see when the English version comes out next November.
Have read about ten of his books. Top one for me is also 1Q84 but also loved Killing Commendatore. Fantastic author! Looking forward to November release...
Thank you for this review. I just finished this book today. I am a big Murakami fan and I really loved this book but my favorite one continue to be 1Q84. I read this book in Spanish and I am waiting the English version since there are some phrases, specially the dialogs, that I will like to review them in the English version.
1Q84 is amazing! Interesting that you would like to read it in both languages. I usually have a preference, but I don´t think I would ever read a book in several langauges.
Love me some murakami. Currently reading all of his books. I’m over halfway done with The Wind-up bird chronicle. Definitely one of his best.
Looking forward to reading that one in the future!
I agree with you about 1Q84, it is my favorite Murakami as well.
Love it! I try making everyone I know, read it :)
Many years ago i read some chapters from a book, but after that i couldnt remember author or title so I googled something like «man drinks beer and goes in a well sometimes book». After a while I found out it was «The wind up bird chronicle». Read it and loved that book. I also really liked «What I talk about..». Murakami seems like a cool guy.
Actually, the many "I"s and "me"s have a reason. In the Japanese version the narrator switches the pronouns he uses for himself ("boku" is a very informal, boyish way to say "I", and "watashi" also means "I", but it's more formal and more neutral).
I'm so envious. I am in the U.S and can't believe i need to wait until November!
Yes, I we Norwegians were really lucky this time. Hope you enjoy it once it’s published :)
Great review on a book I am so looking forward to! Amazing that the Norwegian translation came out before the English! I would love to win the "net", the closest thing to the book I will have until it's released in English 😊
Thanks! I love that we got it in Norwegian first and I have no idea why this is.. I am also excited to see who will win the totebags. I thought I´d try one of those "spin the wheel" kind of things.
I always enjoy your review of a Murakami novel. My favorite Murakami is still Norwegian Wood but I am embarking on IQ84 so we shall see. Keep up the reading and reviewing.
Thank you! Hope you like 1Q84, I am constantly trying to lend out my copy to people I know.
This sounds similar to “Hard-boiled wonderland and the end of the world”. It was the first Murakami book I read and it really opened my appetite for magical realism. Also, what you mentioned about the sentences starting with “me”, “I” and “you” might be a wordplay because the names of the main characters (Boku , Kimi and Watashi) translate as such (or so I read). But I don’t believe it can overrun “Kafka on the shore” at mind-twisting. Still, I am very curious.
Cool! I have not read that one yet, but I am sure i will. Cool what you mention about the names, would be interesting to get that confirmed sometime. I have not yet read kots, because I am scared. I am thinking of having that one as my vacation read this year. Either that or The wind-up bird chronicle. Time will tell.
@@becomingabookworm I’d say delay reading “Kafka on the shore” as much as possible and read other Murakami books before. After reading it, anything else from Murakami didn’t feel that exciting because at least for me Kots set the bar very high style- and story-wise. Even after 7-8 years, some imagery is still very vivid in my mind and I’m planning to reread it soon. Also, be aware that there’s a scene which some people might find triggering.
Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World was my first Murakami as well. And so far it's my favorite. I never see anyone talk about it, though. Given, I haven't read what seem to be the most popular of his, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and Norwegian Wood.
@@karakask5488 I haven’t read “Norwegian wood” either, but I feel like I wouldn’t appreciate it to its true value, given the fact that I read other Murakami’s before. Also, I haven’t heard anyone talking about “Hard-boiled Wonderland..”. “A wild sheep case” is also great and not that talked about.
@@czt76 Thanks for the advice! There is a possibility that I will do it that way but I would all the time feel as though I missed out. I struggle to imagine that I could enjoy it more than 1Q84 but I am very happy if that is the case.. Also I have a friend that REALLY wants me to read it, so there is some pressure.. haha..
Incredibile i will buy it next November in Italia Version and I pray🙏🏻 for that release
Can't wait for the book to be released in the United States. Been reading Murakami since the early 90s.
I would say it´s worth the wait :)
@wandercyclist YOU ARE ONE OF THE WINNERS OF THE GIVEAWAY! Send me your name and address to oystein.hoff.nesheim@gmail.com and you will hopefully receive the totebag pretty soon :)
I can’t wait for this - in English unfortunately!
It´s worth the wait, but yes, a bit weird that you´ll have to wait until November..
Where should a newbie start with Murakami? I have access to a copy of Norwegian Wood, but I know someone who didn’t enjoy it.
I think Norwegian Wood is a great introduction to Murakami. You get a sense of his writing style but in a more accessible story. Once you have read that one you can delve into his other works as they can get a bit "out there" but in a good way! He truly is a genius and well worth the hype he generates!
As commented here I think a lot of people start with Norwegian Wood and I do believe that is a safe bet. I do agree that you get a feeling for his style but that it´s a lot more normal than some of his other novels. I like him best when he writes weirder stories so Norwegian Wood was not my favourite but I liked it. He has written a whole lot of short stories and I personally liked his "Men without women", so that could also be a choice to try his books out.
@Barklord YOU ARE ONE OF THE WINNERS OF THE GIVEAWAY! Send me your name and address to oystein.hoff.nesheim@gmail.com and you will hopefully receive the totebag pretty soon :)
Do u think u have to read Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (which is the companion novel) first before u can read The City and Its Uncertain Walls?
I have not yet read that one, so I don’t think so. After what I have read this novel is a bigger version/completion of it.
Thus far every cover is better than the English one, Idk what they were thinking
Yes, the English edition doesn’t look all that great.. There are a lot of strange choices being made with the Murakami covers in general.
The UK cover is great, you can order it in the states from Waterstones and probably other uk booksellers
I'm excited for this book to come out in English, but as with all Murakami, I am simultaneously intimidated
Haha, I know the feeling..
@karakask5488 YOU ARE ONE OF THE WINNERS OF THE GIVEAWAY! Send me your name and address to oystein.hoff.nesheim@gmail.com and you will hopefully receive the totebag pretty soon :)
@becomingabookworm Yay!!!! Will do! Thanks so much!
Oh hey! :) Very pleased that I just stumbled upon your channel and subscribed .
Thanks! I´ll put your name in the hat and we will see what happens :)! Good luck!
@@becomingabookworm Thank you as well :)
I will become a hipster if I win. Even if I am not accepted by the other hipsters, they'll have to give me some kind of honorary membership for having a Murakami-Nord totebag.
That's only fair 😄 However in my experience hipsters become disdainful toward anything they do that they start seeing others do, so it seems like a delicate balance is required 🤔
Haha! I think this bag could really help your mission to become a hipster!
Maybe this bag will make the person who carries it a hipster for about 10 minutes or so. Or maybe it depends on the environment.
My hipster level is minus 12; if that does not disqualify me, put my name in the hat. If I win I'll reimburse your postage. Some BookTubers use a Random Number Generator but I don't know how they apply that to the comments unless the comments have a number attached that the viewers can't see.
Haha! I am not sure if I have to do this thing the digital or analoge way yet. I have looked into a couple of those sites that pick a winner based on comments, but I am not sure how well they work. Will try and film the process, so winners there will be :)
Win me it.
It's mine!
Let´s see if the wheel of fortune spins your way!
L love Murikami but please, don't read his books on running or writing!!! x
Oh wow! What i talk about when i talk about running is actually what got me into reading Murakami. I will probably also read his book about writing. Can I ask what you don´t like about them?
@@becomingabookworm Sorry, but I found them incredibly boring! What I love about him is the strangeness and there is no well or hole in the ground!! lol
@@davidharber6790 That I find to make perfect sense! I think he is a fascinating guy, so at this point everything he does becomes interesting to me 😅
Love the books on running and t-shirts
I bought the Spanish version (all other Murakami books I’ve read in English) and was disappointed. It feels like a complete different author. The first part of the book felt unnecessary. I’ve heard that English translators “improve” the books in the process I guess I’ll see when the English version comes out next November.