International bestselling author, Haruki Murakami, will be returning to the delights of humble book shops, lovely libraries and dark digital screens later this year with new hardback release, Men Without Women. It’s a collection of short stories this time, but with a central lonesome theme to string it all together under the strength in island numbers that the title hints at.
It’s been eleven years since the Japanese author’s last short story effort, the 24 slices of Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, but with novels, 1Q84 and Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, both out in the intervening years, he’s been pretty busy. While he may not be quite as prolific as he was in the 80s when Pinball, 1973 and Norwegian Wood were released, he’s still able to pierce the literature world with his creativity and insight.
Release date
Men Without Women has been confirmed for a release date of the 9th May 2017, so it’s going to be one to add to your last month of spring hit list. It’ll be available on hardback, along with digital download for e-readerers out there.
About the book
The book is made up of seven short stories, with each one hovering over the lives of different men who, for one reason or another, have found themselves alone. However, as you’d expect with Murakami, they’re each very different stories and while we’re expecting minor flecks of Groundhog Day repetition, it’s bound to be delivered with his varied and sometimes surreal narrative.
There will be everything from vanishing cats to smokey bars, and a good deal in between, so it feels clear that there’s going to be at least a little de ja vu for anyone that has read a lot of his previous books. Old thoughts will be revisited, re-cut and re-invigorated a bit like a thematic timeloop. We’ve also been promised lonely hearts, mysterious women, baseball and the Beatles, so there should be at least a little something for everyone.
First impressions
Haruki Murakami is one of world literature’s iconic voices and with seven new short stories collected under the bereft bosom of Men Without Women it’s bound to be a big tone slicing through the middle of the year. He’s at the shattered front edge of modern day writing and we’re looking forward to the prospect of reading his latest accented snaps on loneliness, isolation, love, relationships and humanity. Wry humour and missing pieces should be the order of the day.
