The Elephant Vanishes: Stories

Must read

I am admittedly a huge Murakami fan. I started re-reading this collection just after finishing 1Q84. I wanted to get back to some of his earlier works so I could see his growth as a writer.I have to say that I am enjoying these stories more than I enjoyed his most recent novel. The stories were written fairly early in his writing career and many are used as the basis, or pieces of later novels. Those who have read Wind Up Bird will smile at a few references to the novel, such as a character named Noburu Watanabe, or the earlier written version of the first chapter of Wind Up Bird. It is very interesting to see what minor tweaks and changes were made to the short story 'The Wind Up Bird and Today's Women' to become the beginning of arguably (and in my opinion) his greatest work.Several stories are pretty far out, but enjoyable. 'Second Bakery Attack' was interesting and a joy to read, while Kangaroo Communique was kind of weird but not as clever. But one of the best short stories I have EVER read is 'Barn Burner'. An amazing piece. 'Family Affair' is another favorite of mine.Overall this is not quite up to the level of 'Blind Willow Sleeping Woman', but it's still a solid collection of short stories from a master storyteller. If you like this, then I also recommend  Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (Vintage International) .Murakami's short stories are interesting and they tend to grab you right off. They are also masterfully translated by Jay Rubin and Alfred Birnbaum. The book lists, near the beginning, the stories and which person translated them. Just in case you were interested.

Short stories are not like novels. The art form is different for the writer and the experience is different for the reader. There are authors whose short stories stay in my heart long after I've read them - Flannery O'Connor, Borges, George Saunders - and this collection by Haruki Murakami is among the tops on my heartthrob list. The stories are sneaky good. They make me wish I'd written them. (Alas, I am a nonfiction writer, unable to make up stuff.) But above all they make me want to read them again, which is why I bought a copy on Amazon after giving away a couple of previous. "The Second Bakery Attack" is awesome. Worth the price of admission alone.

One of my favourite Japanese writers. There is no one else who can write about loneliness the way he does. Murakami's collection of stories is simply superb! I was struggling to find a good blip from this book, one that will give a proper sense of Murakami's style and material. It's a problem, because when I pick something out of context, it sounds plain and ordinary. If I pick something from his dream-like sequences it sounds kitschy. This would be messing with the impact of his stories, which aren't even close to being simple or over-cute... Profound is a better description fo Murakami's work, and mystic in an urban, understated kind of way. The Washington Post Book Review says (on the book cover) that Murakami "takes big risks." and one can see why they might say that. My strong impression is that fully half of his stories are drawn from his dreams, and you know how wonky dreams can get. His work often takes a sudden shift, or it stops, without full resolution. But it's okay, dangling bits can add to the richness of a good story. The story titles are quite illustrative:-The Wind-Up Bird and Tuesday's Women -Sleep -The Fall of The Roman Empire, The 1881 Indian Uprising, Hitler's Invasion of Poland, and The Realm of Raging Winds -The Little Green Monster -TV People -The Dancing DwarfAside from these dream-like stories he's got more matter-of-fact ones (see more titles below). One of Marukami's strengths is that he can write a story almost as one tells one in conversation, starting with the bit that made you think of it in the first place, mentioning 'real life' asides and in the process including the reader in a subtle and complex experience.

The quote from Henry David Thoreau goes something like, "Most men live lives of quiet desperation." I thought of that quote a lot when reading this book. This book is a series of short stories. It seemed to me, the recurring theme in these stories is this: The main character gets a glimpse of something extraordinary (sometimes potentially supernatural, sometimes not, but always extraordinary). But, then the pull of the mundane life takes over and they are drawn back into it. The book is full of missed opportunities to experience the extraordinary.As with all of Murakami's books, this one is well written, especially the character development. In some of these short stories, there are hints of his longer works. Such as, one is practically a prologue to The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. This book is worth reading, for sure. The only reason I didn't give it a 5, is that these short stories left me feeling like there should be more. I like his novels better, when he actually gives us more.

Murakami's short stories deal with big themes so precisely and delicately that they barely intrude for the enjoyable first reading and then they flood in on me for the more enjoyable second reading. The third story of the collection is The Kangaroo Communique. It is a second person narrative between a male department store employee who is responding to a letter of complaint from a female customer. This story is followed by another, called On Seeing The 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning, which is a narrative, within a narrative, within a story. They both are love stories Murakami-style, reality and subjective experience communicated simultaneously. My personal favorite of the collection is called The Silence. In it a man recounts his experience of being shunned in high school on the basis of a slanderous lie. He remains undefeated by his tormentors due to the mental lessons he received from the martial art of boxing. Murakami's fiction is informative in so many ways; full of psychological, historical, and cultural facts. Amazingly, this short-fiction may be fuller than his five-hundred plus page novels.

I absolutely love Murakami, but I didn't know that this is a collection of short stories that are actually fragments from other books, so I was a bit dissapointed to read parts of books that I have already read. I wouldn't have bought it if I knew that.

Very well written as always and respect to the translated who obviously does a great job.The stories are surreal and we go off on an interesting journey with each one.I'm a recent convert to Murukami and intend to read lots more of his work.

Collection of unconnected short cameos exploring the depth and breadth of human emotions and psyche. Enjoyable read but can be viewed as either a brief introduction to characters that you couldn't care less about, or that you frustratingly wish to get to know better.

Great collection of short stories Shows Murakami's mind blowing perception of daily life

Unique and strangely beautiful.This book takes you through the spectrum of human emotions,with Murakami’s trademark touches all in there..