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thebookofbanana's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Didn't enjoy this one tbh. At their core, the stories are all too similar. They focus on a man with no personality beyond his incomprehension of women and his lust, as he deals with being enamoured with these women in a very self-centred way. The men in these stories do not consider the woman’s perspective on their relationship (or former relationship) at all, coming across as only perpetual victims who, for all the wrongs they've committed, are apparently the only ones truly suffering.
The worst of these men is the 52-year-old plastic surgeon in The Lying Organ. Having never been married, he carries out multiple simultaneous affairs with married women. He prefers to not "deal" with the emotional side of a relationship at all, valuing only quick satisfaction from intermittent women who will not ask for anything more. Yet, when he falls for one of these women and his worldview is challenged, he doesn't re-evaluate his life; he chooses to do nothing and remain confused. So, when the woman leaves him, and her husband, for a third man, playing her own game, the man has a breakdown. Instead of it being a learning experience, in the wake of the first challenge to his easy life, he chooses to starve himself to death. Tad bit melodramatic, mate. Men will do anything except go to therapy, I swear.
The only story that was exempt to these problems was Drive My Car, the story of an actor whose wife has passed away. They loved each other, but he discovers that she had been actively cheating on him with many partners over the years. The idea of the story is that you can't truly know someone no matter how much you're in love with each other. It's possible that there may be some dissatisfaction beyond that love, and this is just a fact of life that needs to be accepted to move on. An interesting idea.
However, even this story wasn't great, especially when compared to the fantastic 2021 film directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi. The film allows the characters feelings to develop organically and logically, in comparison to the short story where everything is just stated.
Overall, just very disappointing. I still want to try one of his longer works to see some of his more fantastical ideas on display. There wasn't much of that here.
Maybe M told her husband how beautiful my penis is. When we lay in bed in the afternoon, she used to lovingly hold it on her palm and gaze at it like she was admiring the legendary crown jewels of India. “It’s sooo beautiful,” she would say.
https://lithub.com/a-feminist-critique-of-murakami-novels-with-murakami-himself/
The worst of these men is the 52-year-old plastic surgeon in The Lying Organ. Having never been married, he carries out multiple simultaneous affairs with married women. He prefers to not "deal" with the emotional side of a relationship at all, valuing only quick satisfaction from intermittent women who will not ask for anything more. Yet, when he falls for one of these women and his worldview is challenged, he doesn't re-evaluate his life; he chooses to do nothing and remain confused. So, when the woman leaves him, and her husband, for a third man, playing her own game, the man has a breakdown. Instead of it being a learning experience, in the wake of the first challenge to his easy life, he chooses to starve himself to death. Tad bit melodramatic, mate. Men will do anything except go to therapy, I swear.
The only story that was exempt to these problems was Drive My Car, the story of an actor whose wife has passed away. They loved each other, but he discovers that she had been actively cheating on him with many partners over the years. The idea of the story is that you can't truly know someone no matter how much you're in love with each other. It's possible that there may be some dissatisfaction beyond that love, and this is just a fact of life that needs to be accepted to move on. An interesting idea.
However, even this story wasn't great, especially when compared to the fantastic 2021 film directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi. The film allows the characters feelings to develop organically and logically, in comparison to the short story where everything is just stated.
Overall, just very disappointing. I still want to try one of his longer works to see some of his more fantastical ideas on display. There wasn't much of that here.
Maybe M told her husband how beautiful my penis is. When we lay in bed in the afternoon, she used to lovingly hold it on her palm and gaze at it like she was admiring the legendary crown jewels of India. “It’s sooo beautiful,” she would say.
https://lithub.com/a-feminist-critique-of-murakami-novels-with-murakami-himself/
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny
Moderate: Suicide
abookwormspov's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Self harm, Drug use, Alcohol, Death, Grief, Mental illness, Animal death, Chronic illness, Classism, and Sexual content
lovelylilelle's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
the misogyny was rife in this
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Eating disorder, and Suicide
keqingtan's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Murakami spins oddly specific scenarios into fables of human nature. Within each story, he suspends characters between growth and stillness, the past and the present. The result is an anthology that depicts grief, loneliness, disconnect, hatred, and love, but magnified.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Misogyny
fionnlister's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Sexual content
ccs's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexism, and Misogyny
audc's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
A large portion of the story is men’s perspective (as expected). Halfway through the book, I just wanted to stop. I think you get a wrong perspective or implication of women lurking and waiting to cheat. Either it’s a thing in Japan or Murakami has some stuff to work through.
A lot of mention of songs (appreciated that).
There’s an amount of stuff written that I don’t understand what the author was trying to get across or whether they really are ignorant (;misogynistic).
“That really turned me on…Maybe it was because I was so turned on that my period started almost immediately after that.”
Unfortunately, the relationships that are explored between men and women is sexual (often with infidelity on the woman’s part) and the way women described often relates to whether they’re conventionally attractive or unattractive.
Very simple, nail-on-the-head descriptions. Perhaps, that’s possibly why many of the stories just blend together monotonously.
I had a lot of questions about what a book titled “Men Without Women” would be about.
At first; When would a man not have multiple women in his life? What sort of impact did these women have one these men’s lives?,
And later; Does a relationship with a woman/women only count through a consensual agreement? What about friendships?
“…losing one woman means losing all women.”
Favorites: (Drive My Car) , (An Independent Organ) , and (Samsa in Love) I just liked the premise of the story.
The last story (Men Without Women) was an okay ending.
A lot of mention of songs (appreciated that).
There’s an amount of stuff written that I don’t understand what the author was trying to get across or whether they really are ignorant (;misogynistic).
“That really turned me on…Maybe it was because I was so turned on that my period started almost immediately after that.”
Unfortunately, the relationships that are explored between men and women is sexual (often with infidelity on the woman’s part) and the way women described often relates to whether they’re conventionally attractive or unattractive.
Very simple, nail-on-the-head descriptions. Perhaps, that’s possibly why many of the stories just blend together monotonously.
I had a lot of questions about what a book titled “Men Without Women” would be about.
At first; When would a man not have multiple women in his life? What sort of impact did these women have one these men’s lives?,
And later; Does a relationship with a woman/women only count through a consensual agreement? What about friendships?
“…losing one woman means losing all women.”
Favorites: (Drive My Car) , (An Independent Organ) , and (Samsa in Love) I just liked the premise of the story.
The last story (Men Without Women) was an okay ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Eating disorder, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Child death, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Cancer, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Cursing, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Grief, Infidelity, and Sexual content
Minor: Emotional abuse and Bullying
bookishlucy's review against another edition
Lots of misogyny. Murakami isn't good at writing about women and it really shows in this book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny
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