Absorbing, But Depressing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                             Darlings, I just bought the new Murakami, "Killer Commendatore," and I cannot wait to get to it--it promises to be the best thing since his "1Q94," which I just loved--but there is so much I must get to before that, and what,  with keeping up this blog, both are a full time job, so it will be awhile before I get to it.

                              But before reading the newest, I wanted to read "Men Without Women."  This is a collection of stories--seven--studying male loneliness in relation to widows.  In the title story, the husband of a woman who has taken her life, phones a former lover of hers to inform him, and his musings thereof are pretty depressing.  "An Independent Organ" has somewhat of a macabre bent, just one step shy of "Fatal Attraction," and I found it disturbing.  Then there is "Drive My Car," a kind of Japanese "Driving Miss Daisy" that is the most benign of all the stories.

                                The collection is impressive enough to recommend, especially to those who prefer them to novels.  I do not; novels, even if of epic scope, are my preference.

                                   Still, it is Murakami, and worth reading.  Now, I am ready for a bigger challenge from him.

                                     Make sure you are in the right place, emotionally, when you read this book.  Anyone depressed who picks this up could tailspin.

                                      It made me yearn for the twentieth century romanticism of the likes of Taylor Caldwell, and Susan Howatch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                      This is definitely anti-romantic, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!