Murakami's 1st novel in 6 years to hit stores in April

A once great who declined substantially.

“The City and Its Uncertain Walls” will be released on April 13

Cool title. Murakami is hit-or-miss for me, but I'm always curious about what he's come up with this time. Will give it a read.

Murakami is marmite. I respect and admire his hard work, talent ,sincerity and dedication to the written word and his translation work promoting literature, but his imagined world isn't where I want to spend my time. I doubt if this latest novel will bring him any closer to the Nobel that his many fans have long been hoping for.

Sure with 1,200 pages is certainly takes 6 years to put it together, not unusual.

Can't wait! Hopefully a film will be in the works too.

I doubt if this latest novel will bring him any closer to the Nobel that his many fans have long been hoping for.

Murakami is not the type of writer who wins a Nobel - not that it really means anything. The most interesting and talented writers in history don't have a Nobel. Leave it to people like Bob Dylan lol.

This dude is so repetitive and formulaic, that there is actually a Haruki Murakami Drinking Game:

If a character has a beer, drink.

If a character has liquor, drink a shot.

If a character listens to jazz, take a hit of MJ.

If a character listens to classical music, savor a sip of wine.

If a character listens to late ’60s/early ’70s rock & roll, drink and take a hit of MJ.

If a character senses that he or she exists in a parallel universe, drink and drop half a bottle of shochu.

If a significant female character disappears without warning, drink and take 2 Vicodins.

If a character expresses existential angst using an ambiguous metaphor, drink and practice transcendental meditation for 20 minutes.

If a character becomes involved with an unorthodox but highly efficient metaphysical organization, drink and tell a semi-employed 30 year-old Japanese fellow that you can refurbish his soul with these weird powers you discovered you had when you were 16.

If a semi-employed 30 year-old Japanese fellow becomes friendly with an eccentric teenage girl, drink and describe a young woman’s breasts in a gratuitous yet tasteful manner.

If an older character describes a traumatic World War II-era experience, drink and thank fate you didn’t live in Japan during World War II.

Kanpai!

Liked his novels before the 2000's, but after that they simply stopped being even remotely entertaining, maybe he changed, maybe I did. Still re-read Norwegian Wood some times.

I suppose there will be a hole in the ground that someone sits in

Murakami likes to revisit symbols and motifs in his works. He admits that he often repeats the same story but in different forms. A bit like how we are trapped in our own repetitive routines and lives. The walled city idea was used in the novel Hard-boiled Wonderland and represented an uncomplicated and idealised subconscious state away from the conflicted ‘real’ world. Commentators here dismiss Murakami’s later work but he is still a great writer in my opinion. I teach his books (which now appear on set curriculum in International schools) and kids really engage with his work.

@Ego Sum Lux Mundi

Well done.

I like Murakami's Bubble Era inventiveness.

But Iain Banks should have a posthumous Nobel before Murakami.

Who cares

Murakami Haruki with his obsessive motifs can seem trapped in a Groundhog Day of his own making. The world he conjures up and the characters he creates with words won't be everyone's cup of ocha. I prefer a stronger brew than the predictable surreal whimsy he serves up. Now if you put the Ryu into the Murakami, you'll get a stronger literary concoction that'll make for a more satisfying cerebral workout and put hairs on your chest.

Who cares

You do - which is why you commented.

@ reamer - Sure, Murakami can dwell too much on the surreal and the whimsical but when he wants to be he can shock with the best of them. Wind up Bird human skinning scene comes to mind. That’s a scene that stays with you even if you consider American Psycho light reading!