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notthatcosta's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I love a short story collection and I found this one to be a great example of an all-killer, no filler collection. Even though I feel like some of the stories would have been even better as a full-length novella (particularly Samsa in Love), I don't think there was a single dud here.
Kino and Drive My Car were the standouts and the ones that stayed with me most, but all were immaculately conceived and bound by a striking and bold thread that perfectly captures a pervasive sense of melancholy and loneliness.
Kino and Drive My Car were the standouts and the ones that stayed with me most, but all were immaculately conceived and bound by a striking and bold thread that perfectly captures a pervasive sense of melancholy and loneliness.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, Abandonment, and Alcohol
antidietleah's review against another edition
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Eating disorder, and Infidelity
Minor: Physical abuse and Suicide
taurusfeelings's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
So in the end maybe that’s the challenge: to look inside your own heart as perceptively and seriously as you can, and to make peace with what you find there. If we hope to truly see another person, we have to start looking within ourselves.
Although it is not my favorite Murakami book, each story makes you reflect. These stories have nothing to do with one another except for its common denominator: loneliness (which, at this point, it’s classic Murakami). I was also happily surprised to find that the award-winning Drive my car was originally written by him.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Mental illness, and Suicide
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
nekoshka's review against another edition
reflective
sad
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
1.5
Maybe this was not the best way to start my introduction to Murakami.
I’ve heard a lot of wonderful things about his writing (except for the misogyny), but this collection of stories left me more disgusted than anything else. Maybe I’m too asexual for this book.
Yesterday was nice though.
I’ve heard a lot of wonderful things about his writing (except for the misogyny), but this collection of stories left me more disgusted than anything else. Maybe I’m too asexual for this book.
Yesterday was nice though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder and Infidelity
Moderate: Sexual content and Suicide
der_pumuckl's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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? It's complicated
2.0
weird stories (not in a good way) with terrible dispictions of women and frankly also men. beautiful style of writing though
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism
Minor: Suicide
neverlandingonabook's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder and Grief
Moderate: Sexual content, Suicide, and Dementia
Minor: Domestic abuse
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: Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, and Grief
j3ss1's review
challenging
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
This miserable book depicts men reminiscing about women they have lost. All the women are seen as bit characters whose motives were all driven by the men. The stories all feel incomplete and rambly. I struggled to finish it and did not enjoy it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexism, and Suicide
hanami_sui's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder
Minor: Suicide