Men Without Women : Book Review

Earlier this year I had read, Kafka on the Shore, by Haruki Murakami. (Read review here) It was the first time I had read a book by this author. While I had enjoyed reading it, I hadn't fully understood it. So I picked up this collection of 7 short stories titled, Men Without Women, by the same author with trepidation. I knew beforehand, that I will not be fully able to grasp everything, but I took the plunge anyways. I have reached a conclusion that Murakami's writings might enlighten you few times, but mostly they leave you feeling incomplete, incompetent and irritated. But as you try to find answers, you get addicted. Addicted in a bad way, like mind altering substance abuse! I must still confess, that some stories in this collection were highly accessible and enjoyable. 

As the title suggests, each of the seven stories, is about lonely men. Loneliness which may not necessary stem from lack of the company of women. Each story also has some twisted or broken relationship between a man and a woman. While in Kafka on the Shore, there were undercurrents of  Oedipal Complex and Incest, this collection of stories rely heavily on cuckolded men, promiscuity, sadism, fetish etc. But mind it, the stories are not actually about these issues. They are just triggers for a protagonist's journey or for his or her search for answers. The stories are about the emotions or lack of them that emerge out of these triggers. 

The first story, Drive My Car,  is a pleasantly accessible story. The main act in this story is a conversation between Kafuku (a middle aged actor and a widower) and Misaki (a young adroit female driver, he has recently hired and who rarely speaks). During that conversation Kafuku talks about his now dead wife and a question that bothers him. He also talks about a co-actor of his wife whom he befriended after her death. At the end, the usually reticent Misaki says something, that is simple and profound at the same time, which provides a sense of closure both to the reader and Kafuku. For me that is a great reward in a short story. 

A line that stayed back with me from this story - "There's no logic involved. All I can do is accept what they did and try to get on with my life."

Yesterday, is the title of the second story. It was surprisingly underwhelming and felt incomplete. But not incomplete in the sense of wanting more of it. By now a pattern also emerges in the stories. These are stories about men who may not be with women at this point of time, but their presence still looms large in their lives. Also Murakami isn't going for a conclusion or resolution by the end of the story. He just stops at a point, where some resonance happens or a reconciliation appears. This is a story about two boys in their twenties - Kitaru and Tanimura and Kitaru's girlfriend Erik. The story itself is about how Kitaru finds it difficult to take his relationship with Erik to next level and how it impacts others. This simple short, for a non-Japanese like me, gives me an insight into how the haves and have nots are divided in their society. It highlights how your dialect and address can impact your social stature.  

I don't want to give any spoilers, but a quote from the story really resonated with me - "As time passes, memory, inevitably, reconstitutes itself."

One of the weakest stories in the collection, An Independent Organ, has a very laborious narration to make a point which sounds profound but is really not. The story is about a cosmetic surgeon Dr. Tokai who is in his 50s, never married, but is highly promiscuous. So in physical sense he is never without a woman. He finally falls in love at the ripe age and also experiences his first betrayal, which leads him to question his being - "Who am I?"

Despite its obvious trappings, I really like the following extract from the book. It is such a cliche though. "With something like that (love) there's  no such thing as too soon or too late, I told him. Your understanding may have, come a little late in life, but that's better than never realizing it at all."

Scheherzade is highly enjoyable and intriguing account of love. It may be because in this story the male view point of Habara is limited. As a reader, we don't even know who really Habara is and why is he confined to his home or whether it is really his home or why he can't go out. It doesn't matter after a certain point in the story. Because that is not what this story is about. The story is also about Habara's nurse or house-help whose real name is never told, but Habara in his own mind has named her Scheherzade. He names her so because, she narrates strange stories to Habara every time she sleeps with him. The story of her almost debilitating, teenage crush on a boy in her class is told like a thriller. The thrill of doing something taboo is so palpable in this sad account of one sided love. Is Murakami indicating here, that though her love was never reciprocated and she married someone else, but the memories of her early years never make her feel lonely? That she will never be a Woman without Men! The last story she narrates is left unfinished and here I wanted it more. My curiosity kills me here, but no answers are revealed. 

It is in the fifth story, Kino, where Murakami gets surreal. The elements like snakes, rain (and metaphors thereof) and cats make appearance, that reminded me of Kafka on the Shore. Almost till the end I thought I understood everything about this story. The story of a bartender who is going through a divorce. But by the end I lost it. Or may be I think I lost it. Because the core thought of confronting your inner hurt and pain stayed back with me. If you don't confront your inner feelings, they will gnaw at you.

"But there are times in this world when it's not enough just not to do the wrong thing,"a character in this story says so aptly. 

Samsa in Love does it for me. This is the story I loved the most. This is the story which will make me read more of Murakami. A bug turns into a human. It doesn't enjoy being one. It falls in love and it doesn't want to be anything but human. By now I realize that loneliness is not necessarily physical absence of someone.

He thinks to himself , "Yet had he been a fish or sunflower, and not a human being, he might never have experienced this emotion."

The last story, Men without Women, is the story which gives the book its title. Here the narrator is not actually lonely. He has a wife, about whom we don't come to know anything. We also don't know about how is their marriage. It might be actually a happy one. One night he receives a call about the news of the death of one of his earlier lovers. That makes him feel lonely There is lot of rumination after that. Many metaphors are used to drive home the point that she was the kind of love, everyone looks for. But I didn't connect with those allegories at all. I thought this one didn't require more than a page, but the author says this story in about 15 of them.

I also didn't connect with the central thought of this one - "That's what it's like to lose a woman. And at a certain time, losing one woman means losing all women."

Yes! There are few rewarding moments and stories in this one. As I said earlier, the highs are addictive and thus those lows really leave you vacant. Just like I have heard drugs do!!!

B : Books that I read in March'18 #AtoZchallenge

I have taken a goal of reading at least 24 books this year - at least 2 each month. I am happy to report that I am doing good so far. I was aware that in April due to the daily blogging challenge, I would be hard pressed for time, as my reading hours will be taken over by writing. So I finished reading my 8th book for the year, in March itself. I read an eclectic mix of books last month. That helped me cut through the monotony. I normally read during my travel time and for sometime before sleeping. In March, I spent my weekends reading voraciously, so that I don't fall back. 

The three books I read in March and my views on the same follow. March's reading amazed me because I realized that I haven't explored many genres of books so far.

Book 1 : Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

This was the toughest book I read in March, due to multiple reasons. 

One, this is the first book of Murakami, I have ever read. Understanding the syntax of a new author always takes time and as I understand now, this is one of his less accessible books, which can have multiple interpretations.  

Second, this is the first time I read a book which explores magical realism and I dare say pop-philosophy. As I read through its chapters, it became increasingly difficult to differentiate real and surreal. 

Third, the book is an English translation from Japanese. That was another first for me. There are chances, that few things got lost in translation. Also the Japanese context was new for me. So on a positive note, I am more aware and I think that is the idea of reading about 'others.' 

Lastly, this book was really thick and long and for a large part of March, this book was with me always.

The book works on two levels - On one hand, it is a fast paced and gripping thriller, (gripping, if you fill holes or open ends with few convenient assumptions of your own) and thus a page turner. On other hand, the underlying themes the book explores, it forces you to read again the pages you read minutes ago, thus slowing you down. The book deserves a second reading. I don't think I am going to do that soon. 

While the lead characters in the book are Kafka and Nakata, but I identified with Hoshino - the truck driver the most. His point of view reflects the agony and then the acceptance of a reader like me, who is clueless most of the time. His is the glass through which I understood the narrative of the book. 

Book 2: Byculla to Bangkok by S. Hussain Zaidi

This book is touted as the sequel to Zaidi's previous book Dongri to Dubai, which chronicled the rise and escape of India's most dreaded gangster, Dawood Ibrahim. But truly speaking, Byculla to Bangkok is not really a sequel. It just focuses on a different set of gangs and gangsters (Hindus / Maharashtrian) with overlapping timelines from Dongri to Dubai. 

At level of each chapter, the book is engaging and interesting. It is insightful, how crime world operates and how human frailties, ultimately bring down some of the most ferocious killers.  Also, unlike Dongri to Dubai, the author here doesn't glorify crime. That was my biggest complaint about his earlier book. At the same time, unlike Dongri to Dubai, this book has structural issues in its overall narrative. With no particular gang or gangster in focus, there is a lack of continuity. The author jumps from one gang / gangster to another, with too many similar sounding names of henchmen being thrown at the reader at a rapid pace. As a reader, it didn't give me satisfaction of grasping the whole, while I understood the parts.

Despite the above flaw, there is one particular storyline - Neeta Naik / Ashwin Naik from Naik brothers' gang - that was most complete and a strong one at that. Their lives had the essential drama - the rise, the fall, the betrayal, the revenge and the redemption - to sustain my interest. Their story amazed me for its sheer humanity and lack of it as well.

While glorification of crime is missing, thankfully; the vilification of police and security forces is complete. I believe the view point of policemen is completely missing. 

Book 3: The Everything Store : Jeff Bezos and the age of Amazon by Brad Stone

It is neither a complete work on Amazon story nor a definitive bio of Jeff Bezos. But it still gives you a ring side view of the key happenings in Amazon growth story. Though if you search hard on internet, most of these stories are in public domain. 

While reading it, I was constantly doing a mental comparison between this book and the biography of Steve Jobs by Walter Issacson. And sadly, The Everything Store, pales in comparison.  While you get to know key milestones of Amazon, Bezos personal story is missing. You don't get much sense of Bezos as a person. Yes, some indicators are there about his leadership style and related aspects. But it stops short of really fleshing him out. 

Also in terms of tonality it is different than Steve Jobs bio. In Steve Jobs bio, there was no effort made or counter-views presented to deify Jobs. On the contrary, The Everything Store, constantly tries to perform a balancing act and tends towards justifying Bezos' actions that may be considered strong-arm otherwise. 

There is an interesting side story of Bezos and his biological father Ted Jorgensen. It is amazing that for large part of his life Ted didn't know about his famous son. As I finished this book, I was left with the sadness I felt for the things that remained unsaid between them.  

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My last year's challenge post from letter B was about my journey with books, right from my childhood. Read it here.

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My theme for this year's #AtoZchallenge is all about writing stories, anecdotes and observations from my life in form of easy to read listicles. You can read the theme reveal post here.