Men Without Women - Review

Men Without Women

The vast amounts of high praise for Murakami’s unique writing style compelled me to pick up his book and see what the fuss was all about and my gosh, it blew my mind. As a newcomer to his work I didn’t know what to expect which is just as well, because the seven short stories included in this book are like no other story I have ever read.

The first story is Drive my Car. There is no plot. The story is mostly a conversation between Kafka, an actor still mourning the death of his wife, and his female driver Misaki. We listen to him open up about his relationship with his wife, how she had multiple affairs during their many years together and how he had to watch her die from the terrible illness that is cancer. Despite knowing his wife was seeing other men, he never once discussed this with her. He never let on that he knew and he never asked her why. Now he must forever live with the grief, the pain and the unanswered questions. 

I felt quite relieved once the story was over. Not because I didn’t enjoy it. Because reading the story made me feel like I was actually there, with Kafka, in the car. I felt like I was eavesdropping on deeply personal conversation. I wanted to quietly exit the car at the next set of lights and leave him to grieve in peace. 

I closed the book and just sat for a while, thinking. Going over what Kafka had said. Why didn’t he ever confront his wife? Was he frightened of what she would say? Was it easier for him to pretend it wasn’t happening and still have his wife rather than confront her and risk losing her? Had he confronted her and lost her, he would have at least had closure. Now he had lost her anyway and would forever be haunted by the what ifs and whys.

These questions and more swam around my head. Drive my car had given me no satisfactory conclusion and I needed to clear my head of all the thoughts and feelings the story had filled me with before I could even think about moving on to the next.

After reading the next couple of stories I noticed a pattern. None of the stories have a plot. Nothing much ever happens yet I couldn’t tear myself away for fear of missing the big reveal, which never ever came. Each and every time I would finish a story, switch off the light and just lay there, sleep eluding me because I had a heart full of mixed up feelings and a head full of questions I would never know the answers to.

Half way through we get to An Independent Organ. The story is about fifty-two-year-old Dr Tokai told from the perspective of his gym partner. He is a cosmetic surgeon who has never been married, never had children and is quite happy to live alone, believing that he isn’t suited for married life. Dr Tokai chooses to have relations with women who were either married or already in a relationship. He feels more at ease knowing these women are unlikely to be seeking long term relationships or anything too meaningful from him.

“But one day, quite unexpectedly, he fell deeply in love. Like a clever fox suddenly finds itself caught in a trap”

The story follows his struggle with the feelings of love, his devastation when just as he feared he loses the only woman he ever loved and how his theory that all women have an independent organ which allows them to lie without any change in their voice or expression because it is not them, it’s their independent organ.

Now hang on a minute Dr Tokai…. Yes, I accept that women lie. I have lied in my lifetime and I’ll probably lie again. But surely you don’t mean to say that only women lie? Do men not have an independent organ too? Do men never lie? 

Once again, I’m laid in bed, light off, thoughts whizzing round in my head. I was still smarting after the independent organ theory. And anyway, Dr Tokai is a man who deliberately sought out dishonest women to have relations with. Would it really have been such a surprise that the woman eventually left him for a third? Why was he so frightened to go out and find real love, with a woman who was free to love him back without any complications? Oh man… I could go on for days. 

This is what Murakamis stories do to me. They give me more questions than they do answers. The stories have layers upon layers and I’m never quite sure how I’m supposed to interpret them. There are multiple ways his stories can be interpreted, and I feel like this was Murakamis intention.

He draws you in, waits until you’re invested then flips everything upside down and inside out and leaves you to make of it what you will. 

Men without women is not for everyone. Some might say the stories are dull. I might even agree. It’s the layers. I wanted peel away each one and get to the true meaning of the story. I don’t feel I came anywhere close, which is why I’ll probably read them all again. This book is like an itch, the more I scratch, the more it itches. Yet I keep on scratching…

Killer Affair - Book Review

Killer affair

Whether we like it or not, reality TV is big business. 

Reality TV in my eyes is a load of trash. That doesn’t change the fact that if I happen to be unlucky and catch an episode of Big Brother by accident, the next two months of my life are over. I get sucked in. There’s no point in fighting it, it’s just a fact of life. And don’t even talk to me about I’m a Celebrity….

So, if like me, you can’t stop watching reality TV shows even though you probably hate every celebrity on them, Killer Affair is the book for you. 

The story follows sexy Lexy, a footballers wife and reality TV Queen. There is nothing this woman wouldn’t do to stay in the public eye. She is forever courting the press and pulling off publicity stunts. 

Dowdy blogger Carline has been drafted in to ghost write Lexys autobiography. She is being paid peanuts shadow Lexy, get to know her and learn the tricks of the trade so that she can mimic her tone for the book. Caroline dreams of writing a book of her own one day. She longs to earn enough money be able to escape the dilapidated terraced house she shares with 4 other people. Could ghost writing for Lexy could be the big break she’s been waiting for?

Caroline soon learns that the most important person in Lexys life is Lexy. She has the perfect life, the perfect husband, the perfect house and Caroline thinks she needs to be brought down a peg or two.

It quickly becomes clear that Caroline’s plans go way beyond bringing Lexy down a peg or two. Caroline wants what Lexy has, the house and the fame and most of all Lexys husband Frank and she plans on using Lexys own tricks against her to get exactly that. Poor Frank is stuck in the middle and with both women being as cunning as they come, it’s not surprising that he hasn’t got a clue what’s really going on.

This book is full of revenge, bitchiness, fake friendships and steamy sex scenes. There may even be a few celebrities in this book that you recognise – names have been changed obviously!

I am fully aware that this book is a work of fiction but I have a sneaky suspicion that one or two reality tv stars could well read this and tell us that the truth isn’t that far off. 

Rebecca Chance’s writing had the same effect on me as a reality TV show. It had me well and truly hooked. Almost every character was vile and the worse they became the more I wanted to see of them. My opinion of each character changed from chapter to chapter, just like it does from episode to episode on a reality TV show. And when the story ended I was relieved to return to my ordinary life, with my ordinary friends and ordinary job, only this time I didn’t have to look at their faces on the cover of gossip magazines for weeks on end!!

This book was a giveaway win from the Trip Fiction Facebook page.

JoJo Moyes - Paris for One

We all lead busy lives.

Holding down a job, juggling family life and attending social engagements (when we’d much rather be in our PJs scoffing chocolate) means that we have to make the most of every scrap of me time we can lay our hands on. 

One of my favourite things to do is lock the bathroom door, light a candle and sink into the bath with a good book. I’ll be lucky to get half an hour before someone starts knocking on the door demanding food or to let me know the dog has peed on the carpet so short stories are an absolute blessing. 

JoJo Moyes does short stories brilliantly. The stories in Paris for One are fairly light hearted, so nothing too taxing after a tough day and one story a night is easily achievable.  

The first story in this book, Paris For One, follows Rosie who has booked a trip to Paris with her boyfriend. Rosie has never been abroad and is well known and often teased for following a strict routine and sticking to what she knows, so a trip to Paris is a big deal for her. Standing at the train station, all set to go, Rosie receives word that her boyfriend is running late and will meet her there. She makes the brave decision to board the train and head to Paris alone. It soon becomes apparent that Rosie’s boyfriend has no intention of meeting her at all. Scared and alone in a strange country Rosie realises that she has two choices… Go home with her tail between her legs or put on a brave face and flipping well enjoy her holiday – boyfriend or no boyfriend. 

A few stories in we meet Sam who after a kitbag mix up at the gym finds herself arriving to work in someone’s else red Louboutins instead of her own sensible black pumps. The shoes raise a few eyebrows but Sam is determined to not let it spoil her day. Sam soon realises that the shoes change the way other people perceive her, which changes the way she perceives herself. She’s not just sensible Sam, she’s also strong and confident and more than capable of playing hard ball in the boardroom– it just took a day of walking in someone else’s shoes for her to realise it.

Each of the stories in this book feature the struggles of ordinary women, all of which are easy to identify with because the problems they face are real. They are problems that ordinary women face every day whether it’s an unhappy relationship, low self-esteem, stuck in a rut at home or feeling undervalued and unappreciated at work. That's what I like about JoJo Moyes's writing, she has the ability to make me root for the characters, even when they make mistakes or show poor judgement, because I see a part of myself in these women. I understand why they feel the way they do and I get why they do the things they do, because I once felt that way too. 

I love that the stories are uplifting and heartwarming. Despite finding themselves out of their comfort zone, the characters all find a way to make the best of things and for me, the most important lesson comes from Miranda in Thirteen Days with John C. The grass isnt always greener on the other side. If you concentrate on watering your own garden, you'll see its pretty damn good, just as it is.