The fourth story is titled “ Scheherazade”. The third one is titled “Independent organ”. There was a lot to ponder upon this tale towards the end. An Independent organ is a portrait of Doctor Tokai in the eyes of Mr. Tanimura. Dr Tokai was a fifty-two-year-old cosmetic surgeon. Tokai was always on the look for a casual fling and never wanted to get into a serious relationship.Ĭontradicting his principles, Tokai fell in love for the very first time with a married mother. Tokai felt a rage unsure how she felt about him. Two months later, Mr Tanimura learns a piece of terrible news from Tokai’s office assistant. Something terrible makes Mr Tokai erase himself from the world. The title of this story comes from a theory given by Dr Tokai. Kitaru’s girlfriend Erika was disturbed by his traits, but he had a special place in her heart. Something held Kitaru back from taking things to the next level in his relationship and he even suggests that Tanimura must go out on a date with his girlfriend. Having heard about their date from Tanimura, Kitaru leaves without any notice. Sixteen years later, Tanimura hears something about Kitaru. Kitaru had a peculiar mannerism and often people found him to be weird. The second short story is titled “ Yesterday” (referring the song by Beatles). Tanimura revives memories of an old friend named Kitaru. The first short story is titled “ Drive My Car”. With his license being revoked due to glaucoma, Kafuku is urged to hire Misaki, a female chauffeur. Kafuku is a middle-aged widowed actor and during his short trips Kafuku shares stories about his beloved to Misaki. Kafuku tries to comprehend what made his late wife cheat on him.

Men without women is a collection of seven independent short stories of men who live without women translated and published in English in the year 2017. The title attracted me, and it was one of the reasons why I decided to make this my first Murakami book. Murakami’s work has been translated into 42 languages and appeared on best-selling lists across the world, from South Korea to Australia, Italy, Germany and China.

I picked Men without Women by Haruki Murakami, a Japanese author. This is my first attempt in reading a translated book.

Language must never be a barrier to enjoying literary works by foreign authors.

Men without women by murakami