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i_llumi's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
this is basically a bunch of stories written from the perspective of betas and sigmas who were either cheated on or cheaters ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I'm,,, unsure on how to feel about this book. this was my first ever Murakami, and I definitely understand his fame now - his writing is truly unique and has that bizarre, weird vibe that I've frankly only ever seen from Japanese authors lmao
one of the things I enjoyed the most was the wording shifts from one character to the other. some wrote in formal, almost pretentious styles while others wrote as if this was their diary. it strangely connects the reader to the character, and it's lowkey fascinating.
given my extremely inconsistent reading schedule, I read these stories in a span of 3 long, long months and during that time, passages from them never really left my brain. there's something so uncanny about the writing, the world and the atmosphere that the author creates that although hard to pinpoint what is is, it just exists and permeates the entire 300 pages.
welp. I'd love to come back to this once I get older and have my share of ~relationships~ so I can understand some of the mysteries and questions I have leftover after reading this strange piece of literature.
here's my ranking and take/mini-review of each story (a bit spoilery):
1. kino
i feel like this is the only story I understood most of the metaphors, which by itself is already a feat for my pea sized brain. the ending scene is SO GOOD and I was intrigued throughout the entire thing.
2. scherazade
by far the most fun. mostly because a lot of the story was narrated by a woman (scherazade). her sudden "you know im convinced that i was an eel in my past life" talk lives rent-free in my head. once again, a plot only japanese men could come up with.
3. an independent organ
oof. this one was Sadge. mans was girlbossed
4. drive my car
probably one of the more wholesome ones. the whole thing with kafuku being an actor was quite interesting.
5. men without women
for the story that named the book, if was a bit too short no?
this was rather.. funny? to read? the character is like "omg do you think the woman i dated when i was 14 k*lled herself because of my pEniS???" like bro wake up
I do think this was the perfect closing to the collection though. basically saying that men dont know shit about women and that they spend all their time self-pitying and moping around instead of having you know. empathy.
6. yesterday
if it weren't for the BEATLES IN KANSAI DIALECT this would've been a 3/5 but tbh I think this is the most normal of the 6 stories and 100% the sanest mc of all. see, this is the thing about weird shit: who else would write an entire story about some dude who fakes his accent lmfao
I'm,,, unsure on how to feel about this book. this was my first ever Murakami, and I definitely understand his fame now - his writing is truly unique and has that bizarre, weird vibe that I've frankly only ever seen from Japanese authors lmao
one of the things I enjoyed the most was the wording shifts from one character to the other. some wrote in formal, almost pretentious styles while others wrote as if this was their diary. it strangely connects the reader to the character, and it's lowkey fascinating.
given my extremely inconsistent reading schedule, I read these stories in a span of 3 long, long months and during that time, passages from them never really left my brain. there's something so uncanny about the writing, the world and the atmosphere that the author creates that although hard to pinpoint what is is, it just exists and permeates the entire 300 pages.
welp. I'd love to come back to this once I get older and have my share of ~relationships~ so I can understand some of the mysteries and questions I have leftover after reading this strange piece of literature.
here's my ranking and take/mini-review of each story (a bit spoilery):
1. kino
i feel like this is the only story I understood most of the metaphors, which by itself is already a feat for my pea sized brain. the ending scene is SO GOOD and I was intrigued throughout the entire thing.
2. scherazade
by far the most fun. mostly because a lot of the story was narrated by a woman (scherazade). her sudden "you know im convinced that i was an eel in my past life" talk lives rent-free in my head. once again, a plot only japanese men could come up with.
3. an independent organ
oof. this one was Sadge. mans was girlbossed
4. drive my car
probably one of the more wholesome ones. the whole thing with kafuku being an actor was quite interesting.
5. men without women
for the story that named the book, if was a bit too short no?
this was rather.. funny? to read? the character is like "omg do you think the woman i dated when i was 14 k*lled herself because of my pEniS???" like bro wake up
I do think this was the perfect closing to the collection though. basically saying that men dont know shit about women and that they spend all their time self-pitying and moping around instead of having you know. empathy.
6. yesterday
if it weren't for the BEATLES IN KANSAI DIALECT this would've been a 3/5 but tbh I think this is the most normal of the 6 stories and 100% the sanest mc of all. see, this is the thing about weird shit: who else would write an entire story about some dude who fakes his accent lmfao
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity
Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Death, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
zena_ryder's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I guess profundity is in the brain of the beholder. You can read a story and find it profound, and I can read a story and find it confusing and meaningless — and we can both be right. (Do you agree?)
However, one attempt at profundity in these stories ticked me off. (Although it no doubt appeals to plenty of other readers.)
I really loved the other six stories, though, so this book’s still a 5 star read for me! And I look forward to reading more Murakami. His characters are so believable and wonderful — both the ones who are ‘ordinary’ (like most of use are) and the ones who are ‘quirky’ (and don’t we all have our quirks?).
I love how his characters can do odd things that somehow make perfect sense for that character. For example, one of the characters learns and then fully adopts a new dialect of Japanese — which seems similar to learning a whole new language — for no really good reason. He wanted to and he did. Creating fully-formed characters and developing their relationships within a short space is remarkable. The stories reveal so much about the characters’ personalities and emotions. I loved all that!
To turn to the one story that bugged me: Kino
I loved many things about the story. It’s snapshot of an ‘ordinary’ character at a crucial time in his life (getting divorced after discovering his wife is having an affair with one of his colleagues). He quits his job and opens a bar. Some mysterious patrons come into the bar and their lives intersect with Kino’s for a while, and loose ends aren’t tied up. I’m totally OK with that. In fact, I like it. Life is like that. We don’t always have the closure of knowing what happened to someone, or understanding an event we didn’t witness. That open-endedness isn’t the problem I have with the story.
What I didn’t like is that towards the end of the story, it got completely weird and obscure. Call it magical realism, if you like. But I have no idea what it was supposed to mean (if anything). Obscurity is not profundity. (If you understand it and feel it’s profound, that’s great. Or if you can live with obscurity and are happy with the freedom to interpret it and supply your own meaning, that’s great too. Rock on.)
Personally, I can’t stand obscurity. That doesn’t mean I need or want everything spelled out in a story. But if a story ends in a way that makes no sense, or is sooooo open to interpretation that every reader could come up with a different meaning, that bugs me big time. And that’s the case with Kino.
Another thing that bothered me about Kino is the promise to the reader at the beginning of the story is broken. Kino started off realistic and then took a turn into weird obscurity at the end. In contrast, I had no problem with the largely metaphorical titular story or with the wonderful magical realist story Samsa in Love, which begins: "He woke to discover that he had undergone a metamorphosis and become Gregor Samsa." Those stories delivered on the promises given to the reader at their beginnings. Not so with Kino. They also made sense, they had meaning.
One final note: The narrators and focal characters sometimes have superficial or objectifying attitudes towards women, and this often contributes to their unhappiness. There’s also some sexual abuse. It’s not depicted, but the resulting scars are. Something to be aware of if you plan to read these stories.
However, one attempt at profundity in these stories ticked me off. (Although it no doubt appeals to plenty of other readers.)
I really loved the other six stories, though, so this book’s still a 5 star read for me! And I look forward to reading more Murakami. His characters are so believable and wonderful — both the ones who are ‘ordinary’ (like most of use are) and the ones who are ‘quirky’ (and don’t we all have our quirks?).
I love how his characters can do odd things that somehow make perfect sense for that character. For example, one of the characters learns and then fully adopts a new dialect of Japanese — which seems similar to learning a whole new language — for no really good reason. He wanted to and he did. Creating fully-formed characters and developing their relationships within a short space is remarkable. The stories reveal so much about the characters’ personalities and emotions. I loved all that!
To turn to the one story that bugged me: Kino
I loved many things about the story. It’s snapshot of an ‘ordinary’ character at a crucial time in his life (getting divorced after discovering his wife is having an affair with one of his colleagues). He quits his job and opens a bar. Some mysterious patrons come into the bar and their lives intersect with Kino’s for a while, and loose ends aren’t tied up. I’m totally OK with that. In fact, I like it. Life is like that. We don’t always have the closure of knowing what happened to someone, or understanding an event we didn’t witness. That open-endedness isn’t the problem I have with the story.
What I didn’t like is that towards the end of the story, it got completely weird and obscure. Call it magical realism, if you like. But I have no idea what it was supposed to mean (if anything). Obscurity is not profundity. (If you understand it and feel it’s profound, that’s great. Or if you can live with obscurity and are happy with the freedom to interpret it and supply your own meaning, that’s great too. Rock on.)
Personally, I can’t stand obscurity. That doesn’t mean I need or want everything spelled out in a story. But if a story ends in a way that makes no sense, or is sooooo open to interpretation that every reader could come up with a different meaning, that bugs me big time. And that’s the case with Kino.
Another thing that bothered me about Kino is the promise to the reader at the beginning of the story is broken. Kino started off realistic and then took a turn into weird obscurity at the end. In contrast, I had no problem with the largely metaphorical titular story or with the wonderful magical realist story Samsa in Love, which begins: "He woke to discover that he had undergone a metamorphosis and become Gregor Samsa." Those stories delivered on the promises given to the reader at their beginnings. Not so with Kino. They also made sense, they had meaning.
One final note: The narrators and focal characters sometimes have superficial or objectifying attitudes towards women, and this often contributes to their unhappiness. There’s also some sexual abuse. It’s not depicted, but the resulting scars are. Something to be aware of if you plan to read these stories.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual violence
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