Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami Review

I say this in the most respectful way possible, but why did I think Murakami had passed already? I found out he’s 75 years old after reading this, my first Murakami ever. Anyways, I guess all I’m trying to say is that his work seems so prolific in culture and the sphere of well-known books that I had kind of assumed his works are classics when they’re actually contemporary fiction, or I guess modern classics? Is that a compliment? Maybe. (Not sure where the line gets drawn for what’s considered a modern classic.)

I really enjoyed this collection of short stories. My dad tells me that there are either good books or bad books, in the sense that they’re either enjoyable to read or not. And this is a truly enjoyable book to read and experience. Not a single moment dragged, not a page was wasted. This is the second short story collection I’ve read this month that I’ve really enjoyed, so I’m surprised because I never really enjoyed collections of stories or poems—I’m more of a novel person.

Murakami gets a bad rap for his misogynistic themes, but what I’ve learned about books and reading and reviewing is to accept books as they are. Murakami is an old Japanese man. Not to say we can’t criticize older generations or cultures or people or men, but I accept that his writing is affected by this and shrug and read it anyways. I’m not gonna defend him, but I’m also not gonna triumph him for his character or representation of women, who are mostly cheaters or just embellish the lives of his male characters rather than stand as their own people.

Murakami has a wonderful way of peering straight into the nature of humans (mostly men, but anyways) with vivid and sharp perception. There were so many moments in this short book where I truly felt what his characters were feeling, understood what they were going through, sympathized with them. I loved “Drive My Car” and “Kino” a lot.

I’m not crazy about magical realism, which I’ve heard is more prevalent in his other works, so I thought this was a good introduction to his work.