Small town and the wall of uncertainty (街とそのuncertain wall)
Six years later, Haruki Murakami presents a brand new novel. At 71, Murakami rewrites his uncertain love story from when he was 17.
I first understood when I was seventeen:
Most of the major events in life happen at moments we never expected.
For example, your leaving without saying goodbye.
All you left me with were enigmatic words and that abruptly ended love affair.
You said you were just a shadow, and the real you was in a small town;
Outside the city wall is a living wall, both indestructible and unpredictable.
All I knew was that I had to reach that small town surrounded by high walls.
I want to see you again.
Even if all that awaits me in the city is uncertainty.
Haruki Murakami
Haruki Murakami
An internationally renowned Japanese writer, translator, and marathon runner.
Born in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan in 1949, he later graduated from Waseda University.
On April Fool's Day in 1978, Murakami was watching a professional baseball game as usual. The moment he saw Dave Hilton hit a double, an idea suddenly struck him: "That's it, let's try writing a novel." After that, he began writing novels while running a café with his wife.
The following year, he won the Qunxiang Newcomer Literature Award with his debut work, "Hear the Wind Sing," making a name for himself in the literary world. Subsequently, he won prestigious awards such as the World Fantasy Literature Award and the World Literature Award.
In 1980, Murakami published a novella in the magazine "Bungakukai" (Literary World). This work was unusually not published separately and became a mysterious "phantom work" in the eyes of many readers. In 2020, Murakami decided to make up for the "regret" of forty years ago and spent nearly three years rewriting the work that had special significance to him, namely "Small Town and the Wall of Uncertainty".