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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
Kinda gross, kinda bleh. If someone says this is their favorite book it’s definitely a red a flag.
dużo złamanych serc. i męskie radzenie sobie z porzuceniem.
feministą to on nie jest ale pisać potrafi pięknie...
feministą to on nie jest ale pisać potrafi pięknie...
Mi sono rivisto molto in questo racconto breve: tendere a –non tanto ignorare– quanto passare oltre al problema senza mai soffrirne a sufficienza. Senza quindi mai guarirne del tutto.
Men without women' is a collection of stories from Haruki Murakami. I have heard a lot about him and his writing and when I saw this at the library I thought it was a perfect opportunity to read and take in the words of Murakami. The title aptly captures the theme of each story. I found the men to be struggling to conceptualize the meaning and worth of these women being part of their lives. Where they described their loss, it was not because of the loss of knowledge, beauty, authenticity or contributions of women to their lives. Some felt abandoned or left without (a little bit of poor me syndrome), and some were still not in reach of coming to come to terms of being without women. The writing was poetic, haunting and melancholically beautiful.
After an summer in Rome with my friend’s Murakami obsessed father, I finally read my first work of his. I was aware of the critic he gets regarding misogyny so baring this in mind I started this short-story collection. I really liked it, my favorite was Scheherazade and An Independent Organ. Also bleh @ the unnecessary Woody Allen reference, already knowing the critic he gets as I mentioned I just know it was an intentional move so … 3/5.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I'm a huge fan of Haruki Murakami, and have read all but one or two of his books. This one didn't much do it for me, but I think the problem was more with me than with Murakami. At the moment, I'm finding myself in a place where I could use more fluff and less about screwed up young men. I'm especially in a place where the sexual fantasies and hang-ups of young men aren't of much interest to me. I admit to being an elderly, repressed Calvinist, and I wasn't able to set that part of me aside while I was reading these seven stories. I'd read several of these stories previously, probably in The New Yorker, or some such place. I think I liked them better then, but then the reading was a one-off thing, not a whole series. So, I'm suggesting one reads this collection a story at a time, with much other stuff in between revisits to this collection. At least that's what I'd have done, were I not under the gun, so to speak, to get the book read before its library due date.
Having written more-or-less of a downer of a review, no one should go to his grave without having read Murakami, and this is as good a place to begin as anywhere else.
Having written more-or-less of a downer of a review, no one should go to his grave without having read Murakami, and this is as good a place to begin as anywhere else.
Having really loved some recent films adapted from his work - Drive My Car; Burning - I was more than a bit disappointed by this. Perhaps it's just not the best introductory work for a Murakami newbie like myself, but I found the stories a little ponderous, and not especially insightful into its primary themes of loneliness, sexuality & gender dynamics. The unresolved mysteries and offbeat approach did occasionally work for me, and the stories Drive My Car & Kino stand out, but I found myself just trying to get through the others.