Murakami and The City and Its Uncertain Walls
I read this one so slowly. I didn’t devour it in one sitting like I did All Fours. I would put it down after every few chapters. As I told my boyfriend, I feel lucky to have the discipline that I do, whenever I need to muster it. I first bought this novel when Boyfriend and I were talking again, but once we drifted apart, I knew and felt in my heart of hearts that it was not the time to pick it up. He brought it up again recently and I told him all of this, and now am really glad I read it. It certainly matches the knowledge trail I’m on. Consciousness. Shadow work. Intentional choices. The power of the mind. Our oneness in the world. Reality vs. Dreams. Maybe they’re one but only accessible in certain consciousness states?
I confess that I never considered myself a Murakami die-hard. He is not someone on my radar. I never know when he has a book coming up and have let my friends recommend me his books over the years. My friend, S, from college is the first person to ever recommend me his books. I think it was Dance, Dance, Dance or A Wild Sheep Chase. But, neither of those stories stuck. By the time an ex recommended Norwegian Wood—I didn’t think I would like any of his works. However, I read these titles at a time when I was very hateful and critical of a lot of things. Finally, it was 1Q84 and The Wind-up Bird Chronicles that finally brought me out of my Murakami rut.
I’m glad I waited before getting into this particular one. It feels as though it came from his soul. Learning that this story was re-written from an earlier time when the idea first came to him, added to the feeling of wonder throughout. The Murakami Bingo Card definitely entered my mind as the story went on.
Towards the end, I got excited to finish and then I did the thing that I said I wasn’t doing at the start of this post, and I binge-read the last few chapters. Joke’s on me though, I’ve now read the Part III, a couple more times and it was only in this last listening that I feel as though I ‘understood’ it. ** SPOILER:** I believe he finally returns to face and live ‘reality’/the ‘real’ world he left behind.