Murakami & Short Stories

In my opinion, Murakami is really in his element when it comes to short stories.

That's not to say all of his short stories are exempt from Murakami's signature portrayal women, but I found myself enjoying his short stories more than his full length novels. Maybe Murakami is just more manageable in smaller doses - like hydrogen cyanide. Murakami is like a cherry, there are parts of him/his writing that are enjoyable but there are also parts that are awful and might kill you (Alexis),(Government of Canada).

The first story in Murakami's collection titled Men Without Women, is a story called Drive my Car. The premise of the story is, most women are terrible drivers, either "a little too aggressive or a little too timid", except for this one unattractive woman, Misaki, who is a surprisingly good driver (Murakami, p.3). The perfect candidate for the aging male protagonist, Kafuku, who needs a driver but not one "too pretty" otherwise there might be "nasty rumors" (Murakami,p.6). Thank god for this "brusque, close-mouthed and not at all cute" woman (Murakami, p.6). Kafuku spends his time in the car talking about or just thinking about his deceased wife whose sexual desires were reawakened after their child died and thus she began having affairs (Murakami, p.19). Her affairs are not exactly demonised but they are not lauded or encouraged like male infidelity is, like in South of the Border, West of the Sun. The conclusion is there is no logic in affairs, and, Misaki shatters this idea that Kafuku had of his wife loving another man; "Isn't it possible that your wife didn't fall for him at all?... And that's why she slept with him?" (Murakami, p.39). The idea of a woman having casual sex clearly hadn't

Image from Goodreads

struck Kafuku despite his own casual flings following his wife's death. Both instances involving filling a hole created by grief. Kafuku lost his wife, she had lost her child and both turned to casual sex but Kafuku doesn't seem to make this connection, or doesn't care to perhaps. Misaki's beauty seems to be at the centre of her character arc. In the beginning she's described as less than ideal in looks. We're given more background on her character and, again, it is focused on her looks. Misaki's mother blamed her for her father leaving. Her mother believed that if Misaki had been prettier her father might have stayed. It all comes full circle though and she seems to get closure from Kafuku, a man the same age as her absent father, saying "there's something very attractive about you, you're not homely at all" (Murakami p.36). One reader commented on the story stating that on the surface the story appears misogynistic but if you delve deeper, you discover that the author is just depicting the world and circumstances through Kafuku's perspective(Natkunam). So, the story isn't misogynistic but Kafuku is? Or the world and circumstances are misogynistic and Kafuku is a medium to illustrate this? In my opinion, the tweet below is a more accurate analysis.

Credit to @vonMandelbrot on Twitter

I have not yet completed this short story collection. The title alone should have been warning enough about what I was getting myself into but the first story certainly stopped me in my tracks. It will likely end up as one of those books that sits idle on the shelf, a permanent bookmark forever wedged between the pages. A sign of my weakness, a signpost of where I gave up and was beaten. Murakami - 1, Ellen - 0.

Now onto a short story collection I did complete and that is After the Quake. The uniting factor in Men Without Women is, as the title suggests, the relationships between men and women however, the uniting factor among the stories in After the Quake is the Kobe earthquake. The cultural context of the collection makes it automatically more engaging. There are six stories in total and of course, I do have criticism of the stories. For example in UFO in Kushiro Komura's wife unexpectedly leaves him with no explanation. It's not because of his looks though! Of course, not. Komura has "clean, classic good looks", according to himself, while his wife "could not have seemed more ordinary...and it wasn't just physical: there was nothing attractive about her personality either" (Murakami, p.3). With a description like that you'd think he'd be happy to see her go. He goes to Hokkaido to do a favor for a friend and here he meets a girl named Shimao who enlightens him with lines such as "I'll bet the world is full of women who would understand you and fall in love with you" (Murakami, p.18). There are several failed attempts at sex but that's about it. In the story All God's Children Can Dance, we're shown this unusual bond between mother and son where Yoshiya is terrified of "stumbling into a fatal relationship with his own mother" (Murakami, p.44). There is one story in the collection that I thoroughly enjoyed. It's the best short story in this collection, in my opinion, and it's called Super-Frog Saves Tokyo.

Image from Google Images

Katagiri is a salaryman whose mundane life is changed entirely when he is visited by a giant, human sized, talking frog aptly named Frog. Frog has appeared to enlist Katagiri's help in fighting a giant underground worm who's anger will result in an earthquake that will destroy Tokyo. The inclusion of Frog in this normal, mundane setting shows the magical realism that Murakami is noted for. The story has clear lessons, for example, it highlights the idea of virtue as its own reward. Frog saves Tokyo, loses his life in the process, and is never acknowledged for it. We aren't certain if any of the events that occurred are actually real or if it all transpired in Katagiri's head. The contentment Katagiri feels at the end of the story proves that regardless of Frog legitimacy, the encounter Katagiri had with him restored him in some capacity. He seems to have formed a friendship with Frog if nothing else. Of course ,Tokyo was saved as well, but was it ever really in danger? Frog saved both Katagiri and Tokyo, nevertheless. The story, as many others in the text do, emphasizes the fragility and impermanence of the lives we know. Human fragility is never so obvious as in the wake of a cataclysmic natural disaster. In the wake of the Kobe earthquake, Japan was a widely traumatised nation (Watanabe). I think this story serves as a comfort of sorts. First, I think the story shows the importance of community and friendship. Secondly, it shows that even the most ordinary of people, like Katagiri, can make a difference if they choose to do so.

I think this story shows Murakami's strengthens and part of the reason why this story is so enjoyable, for me personally, is because he doesn't include any female characters. There are no women present to write poorly (bar a nurse who escapes, along with her breasts, without unnecessary comments). Maybe it's worth considering that perhaps Murakami would be better off not writing women at all. I certainly prefer it.

Works Cited

Alexis, Amber Charles. “Are Cherry Pits Safe to Eat? Cyanide Content and More.” Healthline, Healthline Media, 14 Apr. 2021, https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/cherry-pits#cyanide-levels.

Government of Canada, Canadian Food Inspection Agency. “Natural Toxins in Fresh Fruit and Vegetables.” Canadian Food Inspection Agency, / Gouvernement Du Canada, 9 Dec. 2019, https://inspection.canada.ca/food-safety-for-consumers/fact-sheets/specific-products-and-risks/fruits-and-vegetables/natural-toxins/eng/1332276569292/1332276685336.

Murakami , Haruki. Men Without Women . Vintage , 2017.

Natkunam, Parthipan. “A Review of ‘Drive My Car.’” Medium, Medium, 5 Aug. 2022, https://parthipannatkunam.medium.com/a-review-of-drive-my-car-9ad6c37bf085.

Murakami, Haruki. After the Quake. Vintage, 2002.

Watanabe, Teresa. “Illness, Mental Problems on Rise after Kobe Quake.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 25 Jan. 1995, https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-01-25-mn-24205-story.html.