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A review by nicole_reads_everything
The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki Murakami
3.0
Around the World Reading Challenge: JAPAN
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3.5 rounded down
I knew I wanted to read a short story collection by Murakami for Japan, as I've been meaning to give him another go after the unbearble slog that was [b:The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle|11275|The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle|Haruki Murakami|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327872639l/11275._SY75_.jpg|2531376]. I'd heard good things about the female protagonist in Sleep (as in, unlike all of his other female characters, she came off like a complex being), so I figured I'd give this collection a go. While I can't say I'm in love with his writing style, these certainly worked much better for me than the long book of his I read. Which I think is mostly because they were shorter. I find all of his characters to be sort of vague, apathetic, untouchable creatures, entirely divorced from reality--as in, they don't feel real to me, and it's almost impossible for me to connect with or empathize with them. That's not so bad in a short story, but it's brutal with a 600-page one. There were a number of stories here that I found fascinating and compelling, all the more so for their open endings. I continue to feel disappointed with the vast majority of the female characters he writes, who feel even more insubstantial than the men, as their primarily purpose is entirely in relation to men. I also find his obsession with sex, and the way that he writes it/alludes to it, to be sort of gross and uncomfortable--I can't quite place it, but it's very off-putting to me.
So, on the whole, I did enjoy reading this, and I'd read more of his short stories, but it confirmed for me that I'm not really interested in reading any more of his novel-length stuff.
===
3.5 rounded down
I knew I wanted to read a short story collection by Murakami for Japan, as I've been meaning to give him another go after the unbearble slog that was [b:The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle|11275|The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle|Haruki Murakami|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327872639l/11275._SY75_.jpg|2531376]. I'd heard good things about the female protagonist in Sleep (as in, unlike all of his other female characters, she came off like a complex being), so I figured I'd give this collection a go. While I can't say I'm in love with his writing style, these certainly worked much better for me than the long book of his I read. Which I think is mostly because they were shorter. I find all of his characters to be sort of vague, apathetic, untouchable creatures, entirely divorced from reality--as in, they don't feel real to me, and it's almost impossible for me to connect with or empathize with them. That's not so bad in a short story, but it's brutal with a 600-page one. There were a number of stories here that I found fascinating and compelling, all the more so for their open endings. I continue to feel disappointed with the vast majority of the female characters he writes, who feel even more insubstantial than the men, as their primarily purpose is entirely in relation to men. I also find his obsession with sex, and the way that he writes it/alludes to it, to be sort of gross and uncomfortable--I can't quite place it, but it's very off-putting to me.
So, on the whole, I did enjoy reading this, and I'd read more of his short stories, but it confirmed for me that I'm not really interested in reading any more of his novel-length stuff.