In new book, Murakami explores walled city and shadows
Haruki Murakami wrote a story of a walled city four decades ago TOKYO -- Haruki Murakami wrote a story of a walled city when he was fresh off his debut. More than four decades later, as a seasoned and acclaimed novelist, he gave it a new life as “The City and Its Uncertain Walls.” It was three years ago when he felt the time had come to revisit the story that he thought was imperfect but had important elements, such as the wall and the shadow , and tackle them again based on what he was feeling on his skin. “Because of the coronavirus … I hardly went out and stayed home most of the time, and I tended to look at my inner self. Then I thought, perhaps it’s time to write that story,” Murakami said. And he did, “as if recovering it from the back of a drawer.” He started writing it in January 2020 and finished in December 2022, years that overlapped with multiple earthshattering events. “When I write a novel, I just know it’s time,” he said. There were also Russia’s war on Ukraine, shaken ...