Men Without Women

Men Without Women, Stories by Haruki Murakami could pass as Women without Men or Murakami without Marathons. He writes of a loneliness; maybe tries to make sense of it. Translated from the Japanese by Philip Gabriel and Ted Gossen, all the stories speak of men losing women. Kafuku, an actor, has a wife he loved and who went with other men. She died. He invites one of her friends to chat.....then a lucid Murakami:  '.....He seemed to be trying to discern what, if anything, might lie behind the invitation. But he could read no intent in the older man's expression. All he saw was the kind of stillness you might expect from someone who had recently lost his wife of many years. Like the surface of a pond after ripples had spread and gone.' And then the demon leaves Kafuku. Murakami then sups a bit of Kafka in Samsa in Love: He woke to discover that he had undergone a metamorphosis and become Gregor Samsa. Like the telling. He meets a hunchback girl. And wants to meet her again. Like Murakami taping one marathon to start another. Marathons are lonely,painful and the stories are marathons run by Murakami. He may have had golds at the end of runs but not the  imaginations in Men Without Women. His men and women are losers. Wonder whether they ever loved. They are left alone to plod. From running to walking or just standing, staring. In a manner Death is a loneliness, though Murakami does not invent revenge or violence. Me bought the book at T2 International Airport on way to Kurampala where did not open a page. There were birds and trees and silences to watch. The book felt an excess. Back in Mumbai and read as me felt damp. Men Without Women is worth a read.