Chapter summaries The City and Its Uncertain Walls Haruki Murakami

Chapter 10: The Officials' District and Dream Reading

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

The narrator is given a small, sparsely furnished home in the Officials’ District. The house contains only a bed, a table, chairs, shelves, a wood-burning stove, a closet, and a bathroom. There is no desk, sofa, decorations, books, or clock. He can prepare simple meals but has no electricity or gas. The slatted shutters are kept closed during the day to protect his weakened eyes. The door has no lock, as is the custom in the town.

He wakes just before noon and eats one meal per day, the only substantial meal his body now requires. After eating, he rests in the darkened room, letting his consciousness wander freely, like a dog off a leash in a meadow—a metaphor for mental escape. As dusk approaches, around the time the Gatekeeper blows his horn, he calls his consciousness back and walks to the library.

The library is located beyond a plaza, near the clock tower with its handless clock. No one else visits the library except the narrator and the girl. He continues his work as Dream Reader but feels no improvement in his skills, only growing doubt and anxiety. The girl reassures him that he is in the right place, doing the right thing, and that it will take time.

During breaks, she prepares a thick green herbal tea from herbs grown in the library’s garden. The herbs have no known names. After work, the narrator walks with her along the river to the Workers’ District where she lives. They walk in silence, which he finds comforting, as it activates memories. On rainy nights, she wears a large yellow raincoat and a green hat, making a rustling sound that he had missed. He longs to put his arm around her shoulders but cannot in this place.

When they reach her housing, she stops and gazes at him, small frown lines forming as if trying to remember something important. But the memory never materializes; it is sucked away. She nods silently, says nothing, and disappears inside. The narrator stands in the drizzle, savoring her presence, then returns to his western hill home.

He questions whether he can trust time in this town. After this endless autumn, he wonders what will come next.

Key Events

The narrator receives a small, sparsely furnished home in the Officials’ District, with no clock, books, or lock on the door.
He adjusts to a new daily rhythm: waking at noon, eating one meal, resting his eyes, and walking to the library at dusk.
He continues his Dream Reading work but expresses doubt about his abilities; the girl reassures him.
She prepares anonymous herbal tea for him during breaks.
After work, they walk together in silence along the river; she wears a yellow raincoat and green hat.
At her communal housing, she seems on the verge of recalling something but cannot; they part with a silent nod.
The narrator questions the nature of time in the town and what will follow autumn.

Character Development

The Narrator: He adapts physically and mentally to the town’s austere lifestyle. His doubts about his role as Dream Reader intensify, yet he continues the daily routine. He experiences a heightened longing for the girl, coupled with an acceptance of necessary distance. His habit of “untangling consciousness” suggests a growing detachment from his physical self.
The Girl (Dream Reader counterpart): She acts with gentle confidence, preparing tea and offering reassurance. She appears trapped between memory and forgetfulness—her frown indicates a struggle to recall their shared past, but the memory is always snatched away. She remains committed to her duties as caretaker of the library and herbal garden.
Gatekeeper (mentioned only briefly): His horn marks the transition from day to night, serving as a time signal in a town without clocks.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Time and its Unreliability: The absence of clocks and the handless clock tower emphasize the town’s distorted temporality. The narrator doubts whether he can trust time here, and the endless autumn rain suggests a suspended season.
Silence and Memory: Silence between the narrator and the girl is comfortable and provokes memory. Yet the girl cannot hold onto the memory she almost grasps. Silence becomes both a conduit for connection and a barrier to recovery.
The Sparse Home: The lack of decorations, books, and locks symbolizes the town’s rejection of personal history, security, and culture. The narrator must exist with only the essentials, stripped of identity markers.
Rain and Sensation: The rustle of the yellow raincoat and the sound of raindrops evoke a lost intimacy. Physical touch is forbidden, so sensory details (rain, rustling, drizzle) carry the weight of unexpressed emotion.
Dream Reading as Questionable Vocation: The narrator’s persistent doubt about his skill reflects a broader uncertainty about purpose and belonging in the walled city.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter deepens the mystery of the town’s rules and the narrator’s place in it. The domestic details of his home underscore the minimalism and lack of history expected of residents. The growing intimacy with the girl, combined with her near-recollection, heightens the tension between the two worlds—the old life they shared and the new reality where memory fades. The narrator’s direct question about trusting time foreshadows a potential crisis: if time is unreliable, what can anchor identity or progress? The chapter sets up a quiet but crucial turning point in the narrator’s attitude toward his role.

Study Questions and Answers

Question: Why does the narrator close the shutters during the day, and what does this reveal about his physical condition? Answer: He closed the shutters to keep out sunlight, a necessary accommodation for his weakened eyes. This suggests that his transition into the town involves physical vulnerability, and that the bright daylight is harmful to his yet-unhealed sight.
Question: How does the girl reassure the narrator when he voices his doubts about Dream Reading, and what does her reassurance imply about her role in the town? Answer: She tells him not to worry, that it will take time, and that he is in the right place doing the right thing. Her confidence is described as sturdy and unshakable like the high wall, implying that she has an authoritative or guiding role in maintaining the town’s order, or at least that she fully believes in the system.
Question: What is the significance of the herb tea that the girl prepares, and why does she not know the names of the herbs? Answer: The tea is thick and green, prepared with care like a scientific experiment. The herbs have no known names, just like many other things in the town. This reinforces the town’s namelessness and the idea that objects and beings here lack fixed identities or histories—they simply exist without the labels of the world outside.