Men Without Women: Stories by Haruki Murakami has had what I like to call a satisfyingly depressive effect on me after reading it. I happen to be a single man at the time of reading, with a few long relationships behind me, and for that reason, reading through these short stories resonates.
In Men Without Women: Stories, Japanese author Haruki Murakami highlights different men with different kinds of relationships with women. Some of these men are widowed, married, divorced, or single. Each story is completely disconnected from the last, with the only reoccurring theme being their relationships (or friendships) with women.
What Murakami is a master of, is creating subtext. With such short stories, you begin to feel like you know a decent amount about these characters, even though the author is pretty ambiguous when writing about them. We typically get some kind of background about the characters, but there are also many things about them that are merely hinted at. It’s reading through the story that really fills in the blanks in your mind, and allows you to understand the meaning based on your own life experiences.
The types of relationships featured in these stories include a male widow who confesses to his female driver about his dead wives’ lovers on the side. A young student who allows his friend to go on a date with his girlfriend, knowing that something may happen between them. A cosmetic surgeon who sleeps with multiple married women. A disabled man who enjoys hearing stories from his female care worker and more.
Before reading this, the book can sound simple in concept, but the amount of depth in each story will play on your emotions. Sure, the male to female connections are the forefront of the book’s theme, but beyond that theme, there’s so much substance about life in Japan itself.
Men Without Women: Stories is written so beautifully that it flows like water. Even as a slow reader, I found myself able to fly through the stories without exerting much reading effort. The translators Philip Gabriel and Ted Goossen really did a superb job.
Men Without Women: Stories may also shred any enthusiasm you had about the concept of marriage. The book is full of infidelity and the author normalizes it to the point you begin to think marriage is simply about committing adultery and trying to get away with it. It makes me wonder if this is the common marital experience for Japanese people, or whether it’s merely based on human nature and the basic sexual desires all people have.
The book’s final passage contains an incredible quote that stings the soul of any single male reading the book. “Losing one woman means losing all women.” This quote resonates because it sums up the empty feeling that one can feel after losing someone they love. Your life begins to feel hopeless, like you’ll never experience the joys of sharing life with a female companion again.
On Goodreads, I initially scored Men Without Women: Stories 4/5, but this book has left such a lasting impression on me that I’m tempted to bump it up to a 5. It’s one of those books I’m going to remember for a long time and I would recommend it to anyone.
