TEHRAN – A Persian translation Japanese writer Haruki Murakami’s novel “The City and Its Uncertain Walls” has recently been published by Milkan Publications in Tehran.

The book has been translated into Persian by Araz Barseqian.

The story of “The City and Its Uncertain Walls” begins with a 17-year-old boy winning an essay contest with a girl who is 16. The girl keeps her distance, revealing that her true self exists in a city beyond a wall—an imagined or dreamlike place representing longing and mystery. Together, they envision this city in great detail, and the boy records their shared imaginings. One day, the girl vanishes, leaving the boy with an unfulfilled longing that persists into adulthood, symbolizing the enduring ache of lost love and unreachable dreams.

As an adult, the protagonist returns to the city beyond the walls, a surreal realm he had only imagined. To enter, he must separate himself from his shadow, a metaphor for relinquishing part of his identity. His daily routine involves reading dreams from strange orbs at a small library, assisted by the girl—who, curiously, has not aged and has no memory of their past. This suggests themes of reincarnation, memory loss, or archetypal persistence across time.

The shadow begins to fade, and the protagonist faces a choice: leave the city with his shadow or let it go. He ultimately releases his shadow, symbolizing acceptance of loss. Returning to everyday life, he works at a publishing house but remains haunted by his experiences and yearning for the girl. Driven by this longing, he leaves his job and moves to a secluded countryside to become the head of a private library.

There, he meets Koyasu, an eccentric old man who wears a beret and skirts, later revealed to be a ghost. Koyasu, after losing his family, turned his family’s sake refinery into a library, believing that only someone with experience of the city beyond walls could care for it. The protagonist takes over, symbolizing the passing down of wisdom and memories.

He also befriends a teenage boy in a Yellow Submarine hoodie, who has photographic memory but cannot attend normal school. Fascinated by stories of the city beyond walls, the boy asks to go there himself. One night, he mysteriously disappears, prompting a supernatural rescue by his family, hinting at the city’s otherworldly nature.

Meanwhile, the protagonist falls in love with a divorced woman who runs a coffee shop. His dreams blend his past and present loves, transporting him back to his youth. In the city beyond the walls, his body appears alongside the boy—who arrives illegally—and offers to become part of the protagonist by biting his ears, symbolizing merging identities.

The protagonist agrees, gaining heightened dream-reading abilities and passing his role to the boy inside him. Yet, ultimately, he desires to reunite with his shadow, realizing that embracing all parts of himself is true fulfillment. The boy, content to stay and read dreams forever, chooses to remain behind as a guardian of dreams and memories.

Ultimately, the story explores the fluidity of identity, the power of love and memory, and the mysterious boundaries between worlds—showing that some walls are both barriers and gateways to understanding oneself and others.

SAB/