The Elephant Vanishes
Ratings85
Average rating3.7
A dizzying short story collection that displays Murakami's genius for uncovering the surreal in the everyday, the extraordinary within the ordinary *Featuring the story ‘Barn Burning’, the inspiration behind the Palme d’Or nominated film Burning* When a man's favourite elephant vanishes, the balance of his whole life is subtly upset. A couple's midnight hunger pangs drive them to hold up a McDonald's. A woman finds she is irresistible to a small green monster that burrows through her front garden. An insomniac wife wakes up in a twilight world of semi-consciousness in which anything seems possible - even death. In every one of these stories Murakami makes a determined assault on the normal.
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— Fascinating collection of short stories. My favorites: On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning, Sleep, Barn Burning, The Dancing Dwarf, The Elephant Vanishes
It's hard giving a rating for the collection as each story made me feel differently.
I sort of hated the first few short stories but going on forth with the rest, I started feeling differently and quite enjoyed some of the tales. These stories are bizarre... more of psychological explorations, experiences and feelings that we can't really put to words but Murakami does just that. I'd say if you're to read this collection, go with a bit of an open approach, not expecting any plot or satisfactory endings. The characters aren't the most likable and there's some apathy, some undistinguished personality trait that seems to be shared by almost all of them. You can't attach yourself to the storyline or the characters, but you see the shades of human nature and at times it may even resonate with you. I wholly dislike his explicitness though and strongly believe the stories could do well without them.
Also, each of these tales seems to have some connection between them which was another point of interest for me personally.
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