Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
all the 4 stars are for that guy who just discovered hunchbacks, brassieres, erections & love
3.5 stars. A very bleak collection of short stories.
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A good solid short story novel. The men remind me of my dear friends Max and Defty
reflective
You are a pastel-colored Persian carpet, and loneliness is a Bordeaux wine stain that won't come out. Loneliness is brought over from France, the pain of the wound from the Middle East. For Men Without Women, the world is a vast, poignant mix, very much the far side of the moon.
It's 2025 and I'm picking up my first Murakami to see what all the fuss is about. It's not difficult to see why he's such a polarising author. When he's not writing about women, the man writes beautifully. He describes the quiet, in-between-life moments so eloquently and poetically and overall I enjoyed the read. I especially liked 'An Independent Organ'.
But once a female character is introduced, buckle up because it's a given that she will be described from the perspective of the incel male gaze. Apparently no woman is incomplete without at least a passing description of her breasts. The titular short story (Men Without Women) was a beautiful piece on nostalgia and lost love for the most part, but then he had to ruin it with nonsense about some woman lovingly admiring a d*ck as if it were, and I quote, "the Crown Jewels of India". Why.
It's 2025 and I'm picking up my first Murakami to see what all the fuss is about. It's not difficult to see why he's such a polarising author. When he's not writing about women, the man writes beautifully. He describes the quiet, in-between-life moments so eloquently and poetically and overall I enjoyed the read. I especially liked 'An Independent Organ'.
But once a female character is introduced, buckle up because it's a given that she will be described from the perspective of the incel male gaze. Apparently no woman is incomplete without at least a passing description of her breasts. The titular short story (Men Without Women) was a beautiful piece on nostalgia and lost love for the most part, but then he had to ruin it with nonsense about some woman lovingly admiring a d*ck as if it were, and I quote, "the Crown Jewels of India". Why.
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The final story, Men without Women, bumped this entire book up from being good to being great. It's really hard to rate a book of stories because while they go together it's hard not to want to judge the stories independently. That being said, 4/5 because they melded nicely, because I only found 1 or 2 dull, and mostly because the final story made me understand why people adore Haruki Murakami.
Another winner, in a long line. The fear of being alone. Alienation. A theme explored in many stories. Not the first book to start with in Murakami's excellent library. Some of the stories in this volume may leave you scratching your head or just feeling weird, after you finish them. There are a couple in this volume that will surely having me re-reading to make sure I really got what was going on. Everything I have read about Haruki says that he is a happy man in a long term marriage. But even the happiest people realize that it isn't that far a journey for any of us to end up like some of the characters in his books.