A new Haruki Murakami novel, the first in six years, is getting its English release this autumn. Described as bewildering and moving in equal measure, “街とその不確かな壁” (Machi to Sono Futashikana Kabe, “The City and Its Uncertain Walls”) is an enigma. It may be no more than a rehashing of the 1985 novella of a similar title that was later adapted into “世界の終わりとハードボイルド・ワンダーランド” (Sekai no Owari to Hādo Boirudo Wandārando, “Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World”); it may be Murakami’s pandemic-era masterpiece.
