Men Without Women: Stories, by Haruki Murakami

Murakami’s new collection of short stories is addictive and enchanting.

If there’s one writer whose work we sell consistently, it’s that of Haruki Murakami. No other author compares. For years I’ve had people tell me how much they love him and why I should read him. A long time ago I tried Kafka on the Shore, but gave it up after twenty or so pages. Maybe I wasn’t in the right mood, I don’t know. Recently a spare copy of his short story collection, Men Without Women, fell into my hands so I thought I’d give it a go.

The seven stories that make up Men Without Women don’t necessarily follow the title’s theme. In fact, the book probably explores the opposite, how men and women are inextricably interdependent, emotionally and psychologically. Several stories grasp at trying to understand women, particularly in relationships, and why they might act as they do.

In “Drive My Car”, a veteran actor hires a driver due to problems with his eyesight. Soon the two open up a dialogue and the actor talks about his wife, recently deceased, who also cheated on him.  The actor shows no anger at his wife’s infidelities, but merely wants to understand her. “Yesterday” tells of a writer who recalls an old friend and his ambivalent relationship  to his girlfriend.  The book’s title story, "Men Without Women", opens with a man receiving a phone call from the husband of a former girlfriend who has committed suicide. This bad news brings on melancholy reveries of the past, as the man tries to figure out what could have led her to take such a drastic step. Other stories are more quirky. “Samsa in Love” is Murakami’s take on Kafka’s famous story, “Metamorphosis”, while in “Scheherazade”, a middle aged woman tells the man she works for stories from her past, most notably when she was a teenager and would repeatedly break into the bedroom of a boy her age and steal personal items, such as clothing, treating them almost as holy relics.

I found these stories utterly addictive and enchanting. It’s no wonder Murakami has so many fans. His writing has an existentialist flavour, but is warm and human. So many of the stories deal with solitary men and women, trying to fathom life’s mysteries. There’s a sympathy and honesty in this collection of shorter fiction. Murakami gets to the heart of things, in a very appealing, intimate prose.

Men Without Women: Stories, by Haruki Murakami. Published by Vintage. ISBN: 9781784705374  RRP: $19.99