Ms. Hen reviews Men Without Women

Men Without Women

Haruki Murakami

Alfred A. Knopf

2017

Ms. Hen decided to read this collection of short stories because she is a huge Murakami fan, and she has been reading a lot of books by Asian writers lately, and she thought he would fit in. Lately, Ms. Hen has become a Japanophile: she loves anime, and live action Japanese shows on Netflix, and she loves sushi, and all things that have to do with Japan. She would love to go there someday, but it’s a long plane ride. She will have to wait and see.

This collection of short stories, as the title suggests, is about men without women. Ms. Hen didn’t know if she would like this, because she prefers to read about women’s problems, but all the stories here are excellent. They’re romantic stories from the point of view of men, which Ms. Hen thinks is unique, and not American. American men don’t usually discuss their lack of women at length. But these stories are about Japanese men.

One of the stories that Ms. Hen enjoyed was, “An Independent Organ.” This story is about a man who was a type of playboy, and always had several girlfriends. He was a doctor, and he had his secretary keep track of all his women. He falls in love with one of the women he was having an affair with, and she breaks it off with him, and he stops eating and dies, essentially of a broken heart. When Ms. Hen read this, she doesn't think it is quite realistic that a man like that would die of love, but this is a Murakami story. After she read this story, she had to stop reading and rest for a little while, because she was overwhelmed.

Another story Ms. Hen enjoyed was, “Kino,” about a man whose wife cheated on him and got divorced. He opens a bar where his aunt owned a coffee shop, and tried to make a living. Strange things happen at the bar. Ms. Hen liked this story because it was otherworldly, and despondent. A cat appears in the bar, but then disappears.

Ms. Hen also liked the story, “Samsa in Love,” a sequel or prequel of Kafka’s “Metamorphosis.” The beetle in that story wakes up to find himself as Gregor Samsa, and doesn’t know how to act like a human. He finds himself in an apartment, and his family has gone out, and he eats the food left behind, and figures out that he needs to wear clothes. A hunchbacked locksmith comes to fix the lock to his room, and he becomes enamored of her. She doesn’t know what to think of him, but they make plans to meet at another time. This story is strange, and endearing, but it made Ms. Hen want more. A war is starting outside Gregor Samsa’s house, and Ms. Hen wants to know what will happen.

Murakami has a tone and a voice that is all his own. When reading his work, Ms. Hen knows it is him, and she feels comfortable in his universe. He might be one of the greatest writers alive today. She has read reviews of his work, and even though some people don’t like his short stories, Ms. Hen does. A short burst of a weird world is what Ms. Hen needs sometimes. Maybe all the time. The world doesn’t seem weird enough to her, so we need to find ways to make it weirder J