Short Stories

Men Without Women: Stories

Men Without Women: Stories

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  • Create Date：2021-06-04 05:51:50
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
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  • Author：Haruki Murakami
  • ISBN：1784705373
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Summary

Across seven tales， Haruki Murakami brings his powers of observation to bear on the lives of men who， in their own ways， find themselves alone。 Here are vanishing cats and smoky bars， lonely hearts and mysterious women， baseball and the Beatles， woven together to tell stories that speak to us all。

Marked by the same wry humor that has defined his entire body of work， in this collection Murakami has crafted another contemporary classic

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Reviews

Smriti Agarwal ，

Murakami is a Magician。

Esuominim ，

A strange little collection of male perspective stories about boners。This was an interesting read and all the characters and stories too were unique and interesting。 。 。but ultimately the book as a whole fell flat to me。I enjoyed the collection of characters and perspective。 From a story stand point the book was like reading the Twilight series - flat hollow and unsurprising。

Chaimaa ，

I'm not one for short stories， but Murakami made a pretty good case for them。 What would the world be like for men without women？ The 7 short stories don't all tell stories of men who don't have women in their lives; in some cases， It's the being with a woman （Scheherazade story） that makes a man realize how central she is in his life， and how dull and boring to death It can be。 How losing that woman means the loss of any sense of intimacy for good。All in all， I enjoyed reading this book。 It bro I'm not one for short stories， but Murakami made a pretty good case for them。 What would the world be like for men without women？ The 7 short stories don't all tell stories of men who don't have women in their lives; in some cases， It's the being with a woman （Scheherazade story） that makes a man realize how central she is in his life， and how dull and boring to death It can be。 How losing that woman means the loss of any sense of intimacy for good。All in all， I enjoyed reading this book。 It brought me back a few years and being a sucker for nostalgia， I had a blast。 However， There were times where I realized the same ideas are just being retold and not necessarily for the literary 'emphasis' goal repetition is usually used for， and I found it a little hard to flip the pages only to be met by the same sentence again。。。 Also， pro tip : if you don't like open endings， this is probably not the book for youw 。。。more

Aakanksha Dwivedi ，

The last two stories 💖

Socrate ，

Până acum， Kafuku mai mersese de câteva ori în maşini conduse de femei， iar din punctul său de vedere， felul în care conduceau se împărţea în două mari categorii: fie un pic prea agresiv， fie un pic prea precaut。 Cea din urmă era mult mai numeroasă， fapt pentru care probabil că ar fi trebuit să fie recunoscător。 În general， femeile conduc mai grijuliu şi mai atent decât bărbaţii。 Fireşte， nu avea nici un motiv să se plângă de cele care conduc grijuliu şi atent。 Uneori însă， acest stil de a condu Până acum， Kafuku mai mersese de câteva ori în maşini conduse de femei， iar din punctul său de vedere， felul în care conduceau se împărţea în două mari categorii: fie un pic prea agresiv， fie un pic prea precaut。 Cea din urmă era mult mai numeroasă， fapt pentru care probabil că ar fi trebuit să fie recunoscător。 În general， femeile conduc mai grijuliu şi mai atent decât bărbaţii。 Fireşte， nu avea nici un motiv să se plângă de cele care conduc grijuliu şi atent。 Uneori însă， acest stil de a conduce poate deveni enervant pentru şoferii din jur。 tPe de cealaltă parte， multe din cele din categoria mai agresivă par să aibă impresia că sunt şoferiţe pricepute。 În multe cazuri， fac glume pe seama celor prea grijulii şi se mândresc că ele nu sunt aşa。 Numai că nu îşi dau seama că atunci când schimbă cu îndrăzneală banda， mulţi şoferi din jur calcă frâna destul de brusc， oftând sau adresându-le cuvinte nu tocmai măgulitoare。 tFireşte， sunt şi unele care nu aparţin niciuneia dintre aceste categorii。 Nu sunt nici prea agresive， nici excesiv de precaute。 Sunt femei care conduc cât se poate de normal。 Printre ele se numără şi unele chiar foarte pricepute。 Numai că， şi la ele， Kafuku simţea o umbră de încordare。 Nu putea să spună despre ce era vorba concret， dar， aşezat pe scaunul pasagerului， avea senzaţia aceea de „nu merge ca uns” şi nu reuşea să se relaxeze。 I se usca gâtul şi， ca să umple tăcerea， începea să spună banalităţi fără rost。 tDesigur， şi printre bărbaţi există şoferi pricepuţi şi şoferi nepricepuţi。 Numai că în felul lor de a conduce nu se simte， în cele mai multe cazuri， acea încordare。 Nu e vorba că sunt ei mai relaxaţi。 Probabil că sunt de fapt încordaţi， dar par să reuşească – probabil inconştient – să separe firesc această tensiune de propria stare de spirit。 Stau cu atenţia concentrată asupra şofatului， dar încă vorbesc şi se comportă firesc。 Una-i una şi alta-i alta。 De unde venea această diferenţă， Kafuku nu avea idee。 tDe obicei nu făcea deosebiri între femei şi bărbaţi。 Nu era nici de părerea că ar exista diferenţe de abilităţi între sexe。 În munca sa， lucra cu un număr egal de femei şi de bărbaţi， şi chiar prefera întrucâtva să colaboreze cu o femeie。 Femeile sunt în general mai atente la detalii şi au auzul mai fin。 Doar când venea vorba de şofat， dacă se urca într-o maşină， devenea conştient că la volan se află o femeie。 Nu povestise asta nimănui。 I se părea că nu e genul de subiect care să meargă discutat cu ceilalţi。 。。。more

Piper Avery ，

Really enjoyed it and think I’m going to read more short stories from now on。My favourites were ‘drive my car’ and ‘yesterday’。

Andrea Matteazzi ，

C'è una cosa che tutti i racconti di Murakami hanno in comune: raccontano eccezionalmente bene dei fatti di per sé piuttosto comuni。 E i brani di questa raccolta non fanno eccezione， come sempre lo scrittore cattura non per ciò che dice ma per come lo dice， e lo fa con la maestria cui mi ha abituato。Ho preferito， personalmente， altre opere dell'autore （la raccolta "L'elefante scomparso e altri racconti"， ad esempio， per non scomodare il più famoso "Norwegian wood"） ma anche qui si dimostra l'alt C'è una cosa che tutti i racconti di Murakami hanno in comune: raccontano eccezionalmente bene dei fatti di per sé piuttosto comuni。 E i brani di questa raccolta non fanno eccezione， come sempre lo scrittore cattura non per ciò che dice ma per come lo dice， e lo fa con la maestria cui mi ha abituato。Ho preferito， personalmente， altre opere dell'autore （la raccolta "L'elefante scomparso e altri racconti"， ad esempio， per non scomodare il più famoso "Norwegian wood"） ma anche qui si dimostra l'altissimo livello di Murakami e la sua bravura。 。。。more

Sathiya Shree ，

Men without women is a collection of stories about men struggling without their women of their lives。 Loneliness， depression， disease even death is all about。1st story is well written and others are better。 An emotional stories。。。。。

Rutger Gerrits ，

Masterpiece

Ngọc ，

Một cuốn sách nhợt nhạt như chính cái tên lửng lơ của nó。 Nó không nhạt， nhưng khi nhắm mắt lại và nghĩ về một màu sắc， mình chỉ nghĩ đến sự nhợt nhạt， và trơn tuột như da cá mút đá của nó。 Một sự cô đơn không màu sắc， không tính chất， lơ lửng và không tài nào nắm bắt nổi được sự biến động trong lòng tay。Kết thúc cuốn sách này trong một buổi sáng sạc năng lượng， mình cảm giác như được lấp đầy và ôm ấp。 Có lẽ vì cái sự chênh vênh， cô đơn， trống rỗng và sợ hãi trong sách của Murakami thỏa lấp nhữn Một cuốn sách nhợt nhạt như chính cái tên lửng lơ của nó。 Nó không nhạt， nhưng khi nhắm mắt lại và nghĩ về một màu sắc， mình chỉ nghĩ đến sự nhợt nhạt， và trơn tuột như da cá mút đá của nó。 Một sự cô đơn không màu sắc， không tính chất， lơ lửng và không tài nào nắm bắt nổi được sự biến động trong lòng tay。Kết thúc cuốn sách này trong một buổi sáng sạc năng lượng， mình cảm giác như được lấp đầy và ôm ấp。 Có lẽ vì cái sự chênh vênh， cô đơn， trống rỗng và sợ hãi trong sách của Murakami thỏa lấp những cơn sóng cảm xúc lớn mà không gây thêm bất kì một thương tổn toxic nào cho mình， nên mình cảm thấy an toàn？ Đợt trước sập nguồn như vậy đọc Thư xong rồi lag mất mấy ngày mới trở lại bình thường =））））。 Lần sau chắc thế này lại đọc mấy kiểu truyện ngắn như vầy， nghĩ nghĩ， nhưng cũng đủ ngắn để chúng không cắm rễ thật sâu vào mình khi xây dựng được sự kết nối với tâm tưởng。 Về lại cuốn sách này， theo mình thấy， 7 truyện ngắn được chia làm 2 loại chính dựa trên phương diện cảm xúc: （1） Loại một rõ ràng， thực và đời; （2） Ảo， mơ hồ， không đầu không cuối， mờ nhạt và rất có thể là đọc xong không hiểu gì - một cảm giác rất giống Nhảy， nhảy， nhảy。 Duy chỉ có truyện về bác sĩ là chuyển đổi giữa hai loại trên。 Nhưng nhìn chung， chúng đều lắt léo， cô đơn và mắc kẹt trong những cảm xúc lộn xộn và chênh vênh。 Đọc mà mình cứ nghĩ， làm người mà khổ sở thế này， nghĩ nhiều thế này， thì sống chẳng phải là một địa ngục hay sao？ Nhưng nếu không có những lúc nghĩ nghĩ nghĩ thế này， thì mình sẽ không sâu sắc được và sẽ vô tình làm tổn thương những người khác xung quanh mình？Một cuốn sách lẫn lộn cô đơn， chênh vênh và rất đỗi nhợt nhạt。 P。S。 Viết xong chiếc note này mới cảm thấy mình bị lạm văn bác Murakami rồi =）））， bắt đầu viết nhưng không ai hiểu gì =））））） 。。。more

Grace ，

There are a few givens in every Murakami book: references to The Beatles and/or jazz music， an overly emo and introspective male protagonist yearning over a woman。 Super predictable。 This is the third or fourth book by him that I have read and it actually confirms another given in his books: he doesn't really like women and is quite sexist。 In previous books I've felt like women weren't really well written。 The men would have these long， ultra descriptive references to what they look like and wh There are a few givens in every Murakami book: references to The Beatles and/or jazz music， an overly emo and introspective male protagonist yearning over a woman。 Super predictable。 This is the third or fourth book by him that I have read and it actually confirms another given in his books: he doesn't really like women and is quite sexist。 In previous books I've felt like women weren't really well written。 The men would have these long， ultra descriptive references to what they look like and what they were thinking and women are more like "she had big boobs and asked him what the bulge was in my pocket"。 This book almost had an incel vibe。 I finished it only for the sake of completion and nothing more。 I don't get why Murakami is so popular and I definitely don't think I'll be coming back for more any time soon。 。。。more

Ian Binek ，

I thought this was a relatively solid read for my book club。 The short stories are all relatively different， which provide some life lessons for the reader。

Maria ，

I appreciated this book; it kept me engaged and interested。 It's a collection of stories about men and the women in their lives; even if the women aren't physically there anymore。 The book contained beautiful descriptions of intimate encounters and is a fascinating peek into the characters' minds。 I appreciated this book; it kept me engaged and interested。 It's a collection of stories about men and the women in their lives; even if the women aren't physically there anymore。 The book contained beautiful descriptions of intimate encounters and is a fascinating peek into the characters' minds。 。。。more

Deborah Miccolis ，

che poi 。。。 dietro ad un grande uomo c'é sempre una grande donna e se non fosse il caso， beh l'uomo é una donna！ che poi 。。。 dietro ad un grande uomo c'é sempre una grande donna e se non fosse il caso， beh l'uomo é una donna！ 。。。more

Wiktoria Piotrzkowska ，

Kocham klimat trzech ostatnich opowiadań

Aria Izik-Dzurko ，

Mixed feelings about this one because I did enjoy some of the stories。 I would say about 4 out of the 7 were worth reading， the other three seemed rambling and filled with very clinical-sounding sexual references。。。 I do enjoy his writing style， but sometimes it becomes abstract and confusing without any apparent aim。 Unless confusion is what he meant to produce？ Overall， I am unsure how to feel about this book。

Katie Brenner ，

Though I’ve read many of Murikami’s novels， this was my first foray into his short stories。 I found it delightful to have bite sized ventures into his mind and the worlds that he creates。 This collection in particular seems to grapple with feminine power， which was lovely to behold。

mo ，

this was the first book i've finished in about two years， because finishing university and the pandemic absolutely destroyed me。 murakami's writing style （or maybe the translation style） is different than my own preference， but the characters and their stories stayed with me as i moved through the stories and i loved seeing the little connections between different characters， places， and themes。 four stars instead of five because of that subtle "i hate women" aftertaste。 this was the first book i've finished in about two years， because finishing university and the pandemic absolutely destroyed me。 murakami's writing style （or maybe the translation style） is different than my own preference， but the characters and their stories stayed with me as i moved through the stories and i loved seeing the little connections between different characters， places， and themes。 four stars instead of five because of that subtle "i hate women" aftertaste。 。。。more

James ，

I'm not really a fan of short stories and this collection illustrated why， it was Murakami condensed but without the building blocks that make his novels interesting， when done well。Some of the earlier stories were ok but I didn't really get much from them and the last two were awful。 As usual there is a lot of Murakami breast talk and clunky sex passages in general along with his descriptions of seemingly banal activities， although at least a few of them also had some sort of theme or message。T I'm not really a fan of short stories and this collection illustrated why， it was Murakami condensed but without the building blocks that make his novels interesting， when done well。Some of the earlier stories were ok but I didn't really get much from them and the last two were awful。 As usual there is a lot of Murakami breast talk and clunky sex passages in general along with his descriptions of seemingly banal activities， although at least a few of them also had some sort of theme or message。The one set in the Czech Republic was so horrendous that it brought down my rating a star but more generally the characters are all quite similar， too passive observers （much like his usual protagonists） 。。。more

Chris ，

Murakami never fails to deliver - a series of short stories that， as usual， stray in to magic realism but always close enough to reality to leave the reader identifying with the character's emotions。 Murakami never fails to deliver - a series of short stories that， as usual， stray in to magic realism but always close enough to reality to leave the reader identifying with the character's emotions。 。。。more

Eva Mensink ，

Favorite stories:- Yesterday， - An independant organ- Men without woman More unfavorable:- Samsa in Love

Amit Kumar Pandey ，

“But the proposition that we can look into another person’s heart with perfect clarity strikes me as a fool’s game。 I don’t care how well we think we should understand them， or how much we love them。 All it can do is cause us pain。 Examining your own heart， however， is another matter。 I think it’s possible to see what’s in there if you work hard enough at it。 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 w “But the proposition that we can look into another person’s heart with perfect clarity strikes me as a fool’s game。 I don’t care how well we think we should understand them， or how much we love them。 All it can do is cause us pain。 Examining your own heart， however， is another matter。 I think it’s possible to see what’s in there if you work hard enough at it。 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 see another person， we have to start by looking within ourselves。”A collection of seven（7） short stories and none disappoints。 I simply love Murakami’s style of writing。 。。 the way he has used metaphors to describe the fellings of the protagonists men who have lost their women and dealing with their absence in various ways。 Men encountering loneliness and other emotions without women。。that’s what been told through these stories。 I loved it。💐🙏 。。。more

Kasia ，

3，5

Manju ，

Well this is my first review。 I read this book after watching the name。 Expected that it will explain something about men's mentally or men's observation towards women。 Which I think a quiet interesting subject。 Yes ， this book is something about that。 Each story is related to a man who is either alone or in their life woman is present for limited time period。 He either falls in love for her or he is influenced by her or he spoiled his life for her。 Overall the main theme is woman 。 And man is s Well this is my first review。 I read this book after watching the name。 Expected that it will explain something about men's mentally or men's observation towards women。 Which I think a quiet interesting subject。 Yes ， this book is something about that。 Each story is related to a man who is either alone or in their life woman is present for limited time period。 He either falls in love for her or he is influenced by her or he spoiled his life for her。 Overall the main theme is woman 。 And man is somehow dependent on her。 The author explained it beautifully as I can feel each sentence from the men's viewpoint。 The story "Scheherazade" I love most where the viewpoint of the woman charecter and her thought about life and her craziness towards life when she was a student and she recalls her memories 。 Believe me I feel the character most， Dr Tokoi is a male charecter whose thought about life and his strong movement from first line to last in the story remains me thinking that why he do that。Overall I like this book a lot。 。。。more

Rinee ✨ ，

𝘿𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙧: 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬 𝙢𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙛𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜It is a collection of seven short stories each centred around isolated， despairing male characters。 These men suffer from loneliness and grief because of the loss of a woman or lack of them in their lives。Sadly， I could not connect to his style of writing in this。 Somehow， I felt annoyed after reading most of the endings。 The endings will leave you pondering over all these men and their choices。𝘿𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙘𝙖𝙧 - 3* I liked it just a little𝙔𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙙𝙖𝙮 - 3。5* 𝘿𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙧: 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬 𝙢𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙛𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜It is a collection of seven short stories each centred around isolated， despairing male characters。 These men suffer from loneliness and grief because of the loss of a woman or lack of them in their lives。Sadly， I could not connect to his style of writing in this。 Somehow， I felt annoyed after reading most of the endings。 The endings will leave you pondering over all these men and their choices。𝘿𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙘𝙖𝙧 - 3* I liked it just a little𝙔𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙙𝙖𝙮 - 3。5*𝘼𝙣 𝙄𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙊𝙧𝙜𝙖𝙣 - 4* - I really enjoyed this one。 A sad but good one。𝙎𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙯𝙖𝙙𝙚 - 1*𝙆𝙞𝙣𝙤 - 3*𝙎𝙖𝙢𝙨𝙖 𝙞𝙣 𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚- 2*𝙈𝙚𝙣 𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙒𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣 - 1* Quite odd， didn't really enjoy it。I wouldn't recommend this to be the book to introduce yourself to a typical Murakami！ 。。。more

Avni Singh ，

My favourite has to be Samsa In Love， where Murakami essentially flips the metamorphosis and Gregor Samsa wakes up as a human。 The last piece talking how life is without women is brilliant。

Deep Shikha ，

When I started reading this book I was intrigued because it's a collection of short stories which a different concept from the title of the book。 The stories even may make u uncomfortable at times。 But the beauty of this book lies in those flawed， weird but real characters going through life。The sentiments involved in the subconscious minds while reading this book。 It was an average book， this was my first Murakami Book， However， I liked the flow of the stories and the book。 I look forward to re When I started reading this book I was intrigued because it's a collection of short stories which a different concept from the title of the book。 The stories even may make u uncomfortable at times。 But the beauty of this book lies in those flawed， weird but real characters going through life。The sentiments involved in the subconscious minds while reading this book。 It was an average book， this was my first Murakami Book， However， I liked the flow of the stories and the book。 I look forward to reading more books by the author。 。。。more

Jackie ，

Can’t decide between 3 or 4 stars。 Some of the short stories were really engaging while some others didn’t quite hit it for me。

Max Wolffe ，

I did not， on the whole， enjoy this anthology。 Short stories can be magical and are one of my favorite styles to read when done well （thinking "Exhalation" by Chiang or even "Men without Women" by Hemingway） - they're an opportunity to get a little taste of a story， experience a new style of writing from an author， experience a novel new character who didn't make the cut to the full novel， etc。 This collection was a huge let down for me - the stories have a repetitive tone and characters （which I did not， on the whole， enjoy this anthology。 Short stories can be magical and are one of my favorite styles to read when done well （thinking "Exhalation" by Chiang or even "Men without Women" by Hemingway） - they're an opportunity to get a little taste of a story， experience a new style of writing from an author， experience a novel new character who didn't make the cut to the full novel， etc。 This collection was a huge let down for me - the stories have a repetitive tone and characters （which Murakami is guilty of on the best of days）， but without the more interesting wild dream like plot Murakami is known for， maybe he's trying something out here。。 There's also a lot of objectifying of women and outright sexism throughout these stories， maybe this is the case throughout his novels and I'm just noticing it more。Story descriptions （with some spoilers）（view spoiler）["Drive my car" - Actor hires a woman driver to drive him around and tells her a story about wife's infidelity。"Yesterday" - Young man borrows his friends girlfriend？ Kind of yuck。"An independent organ" - The independent organ is that women can lie。"Scheherazade" - Helper has sex with patient。 "Kino" - was a notable exception - I really enjoyed this story from start to finish。 A classic Murakami protagonist （mid-thirties male who enjoys whisky and jazz music） meets a mysterious character in the bar he runs and a strange adventure unfolds。 "Samsa in Love" - Interesting story centered around "What if Gregor Samsa from Kafka's Metamorphosis turned back into a human"。 Pretty good， but with odd unnecessary sexual stuff。 Why dude。 "Men Without Women" - incomprehensible - unreadable。 If you've read "Valis" by PKD - this was of that same vein of stream of consciousness， which I can't hang with。 （hide spoiler）] 。。。more

Chiara ，

Terzo libro di Murakami che ho letto sotto prezioso consiglio di una fan :） Il suo stile è unico - apprezzati tutti i 7 racconti che compongono il libro， tranne l’ultimo， che ho trovato。。 “esageratamente esagerato”

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Men Without Women: Stories

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Men Without Women: Stories&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Men Without Women: Stories&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0