Published: 2020 (Bungeishunju)
Summary (of each story):
Cream: A young man gets stood up by an old piano partner and decides to sit on a park bench. He has a panic or stress-induced attack and hallucinates. His hallucinations bring him a form of reprieve he can come back to that allows him to forget moments that aren’t the crème de la crème.
On a Stone Pillow: A man remembers a tryst with a woman named Chiho who writes Tanka poetry and bites on a towel in lieu of yelling her lovers name during sex with the young man. Some things fade while others some stick, but in the end maybe those things we do not name are the ones that mean the most to us.
Charlie Parker Plays Bossanova: This story is a Murakami fever dream of actually meeting Charlie Parker. Murakami juxtaposes his late start to his writing career with Charlie Parker’s early death. Jimi Hendrix’s Crosstown Traffic is Murakami’s dreamscape, two ships passing but giving life to each other as they careen towards life (Murakami) and death (Parker).
With the Beatles: A man from Kobe learns and loves with a high school sweetheart, Sayako. He goes to meet her at her house one day and ends up having an awkward yet deep conversation with her brother about his momentary memory loss and Akutagawa’s short stories. They later meet in Tokyo and in a predictable Murakami fashion, she has committed suicide mysteriously, mirroring Akutagawa. The story was interesting enough but Sayako but Sayako’s suicide seemed a cheap way to end this story, the fact that it hit the narrator like a ton of bricks losses its edge when you have read Murakami repeat that choice over and over, it is tired.
Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey: A Monkey steals women’s identities to replace a lack of sexual contact. The amorous monkey shares this fact with our narrator, who runs across a woman who suffered from identity theft, and all the pieces come together. This is vintage Murakami, and it doesn’t play on the hollow tragedy as the previous story. This story was well-placed in the collection.
Carnaval: A man recounts how he spent six months listening and rating Schumann’s Carnaval with a strange woman, F*, who was ugly and irresistibly interesting. She turns out to be a criminal arrested on fraud charges, and our narrator tries to reckon with the mask that she had on, and how he never tried to cajole it off of her.
The Yakult Swallows Poetry Collection: Murakami waxes poetic about baseball, perhaps the short story that gives the most fan service. I love this essay and I cherish its vulnerability.
First Person Singular: Murakami has a weird encounter with an old suit and an old friend of a friend. He feels some remorse, but mostly confusion. A dull thud to a decent collection.
Quote of the book: “I’m praying that our team wins. But at the same time quietly steeling myself for the possibility of yet another loss”
Favorite character: The Shinagawa Monkey, this monkey is able to reckon with sexual feelings, aware of his outcaste status he resourcefully fulfills his desires in ways that are discrete yet impactful for him. He is far from blameless but he isn’t vain or vague.
Favorite setting: Sayako’s House, the conversation with the narrator and Sayako’s brother is enhanced by the locale of the house paired with crumbs and coffee.
Favorite pop culture reference: Miles Davis, he figures prominently into Murakami’s stories so this isn’t exactly shocking. Yet, I was reminded a few days ago of a professor I had in college who played Miles Davis and made us close our eyes and think of Zen Buddhism. Both were Japanese, and both love baseball. Both held a residence in Cambridge, Massachusetts as well. I wonder what else they have in common.
Please Stay for: Some vintage Murakami.
Please Question: Too much of an old thing. Murakami leans on the mysterious and coincidental so frequently it makes you wish for something less predictably unexpected.
Will Reviews Things 