Some people think he’s a genius. Others think he’s a complete pervert. I think it’s a bit of both…
I’ve just finished reading Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami. It’s a collection of seven short stories all tied together by the theme of men… without women… As you can probably tell from the title.
The strange thing about the stories in this book is that in pretty much every story, the woman’s absence is actually caused by her infidelity. And the male characters seem to very submissively accept it and try to move on with their lives but still always preoccupied by the sense that they’ve been cheated on.
I got a big kick out of Men Without Women.
I definitely give Men Without Women five stars.
But the further you get into the book, the weirder it gets.
The first story is called “DRIVE MY CAR” and it’s pretty normal, at least for Murakami.
It’s about a man who meets up with his wife’s secret lover after she dies.
Painful, evocative, and masterful.
Cuckold Level: 7
The next story is “YESTERDAY“.
It’s about a guy who wants his best friend to date, and presumably sleep with, his girlfriend.
Very slice of life, quirky, nostalgic.
Cuckold Level: 8
The next story is “AN INDEPENDENT ORGAN“.
Lovers of Kafka – and lovers of cuckoldry – will adore this story.
It’s about a playboy surgeon who sleeps with tons of women and he never gets attached to them until this one woman comes along who is actually married and cheating on her husband.
But then the surgeon finds out that not only is she cheating on her husband with him but she’s also cheating on them both with another guy.
This sends him into lovesickness and then he stops eating and basically wastes away.
Cuckold Level: 9
You might be noticing a bit of a pattern here…
The next story is “SCHEHERAZADE“.
It’s about a woman who is a carer for a man who is probably an invalid and can’t look after himself too well.
She wants to remain nameless and part of her duties for caring for him include sleeping with him… multiple times… even though, once again, she’s got a husband and a family.
And whilst she’s doing this, she’s getting off to the thoughts of back in her youth when she used to break into her crush’s house and still little items from him and shit like that.
Cuckold Level: 10
Next one is “KINO“.
It starts off when the main guy gets cheated on. He walks in on his wife cheating on him so he just packs his bags, leaves, and starts a bar.
Very slice of life but it gets a bit weird here as well. I actually wanted more from the slice of life aspect because there’s a yakuza character and a conflict scene which was pretty tense.
I really enjoyed it but it descended into a really weird, maybe magical-realist, half-dream state.
Cuckold Level: 8
Next one is called “SAMSA IN LOVE“.
Again, this is kind of like if you took Kafka’s The Metamorphosis and put it through some weird perverse Murakami blender.
Highly sexualised. Probably the weirdest story of all. But I also felt like it could be a full novel. Kind of like Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.
This one stopped quite abruptly. That’s often the case with a lot of Murakami’s stuff.
The last one is “MEN WITHOUT WOMEN“, which is kinda like Murakami’s meditation on love, or a certain type of love that the Japanese call “koi”, which is all about longing.
I loved Men Without Women.
I thought it was very well-written, evocative, moody and I got really taken away by the characters and the world.
There’s no denying the fact that the narratives are extremely sexualised but in a weird, melancholy way. The sexualisation is just all about longing and it’s not really what most people would consider loving.
Murakami paints strange, painful depictions of love.
The title is called Men Without Women but it could have easily been called Men Without Women Cos Da Women Cheated On Em.
I give it five stars and recommend you check it out.