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A review by thebookofbanana
Men Without Women: Stories by Haruki Murakami
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