Book Shorts. Reviews in a Nutshell.
FEATURED REVIEW
The City and Its Uncertain Walls
by Haruki Murakami
Murkami’s new book is an exploration of love, life, aging and death.
The unnamed narrator spends his life in two parallel worlds. One in what we know to be the "real" world and the other in a "walled city."
In the real world, a young narrator meets and falls in love with a mysterious girl. Soon after, she moves away beyond his reach to the walled city. He travels between the two worlds searching for her. In the real world the passage of time is what we know to be. In the walled city, time is measured by clocks with no hands. Only the sunrises and sunsets of each day and the changing seasons indicate time is moving forward. In the walled city, unicorns roam freely and when you first enter the city, you are stripped of your shadow. In the real world, the narrator works in a library and is a voracious reader. In the walled city, he works in a library where there are no books. He is hired as a reader of dreams.
Do the two parallel worlds exist? I'm not sure but The City and Its Uncertain Walls is a good read for you to draw your own conclusions.
Review by Barry Novick
March 9, 2025
So many books, so little time. Right, right - we’ve all heard it many times. Hummingbird's new BOOK SHORTS will present book reviews you can read in a minute and capture the essence of the story, thumbnail reviews that hopefully will entice you into your next read. I read constantly. My tastes vary, so I’ll review books that I love, not necessarily current books. Other HB contributors will review books that follow their interests, both newly published and past. All in all, we’ll review books we think are captivating, compelling, unputdownable. If you’re looking for a good book to take to the beach, make that long commute shorter, or curl up with, hopefully our reviews will help you find it. Lynda Bernard
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