The Elephant Vanishes

Stories

By: Haruki Murakami

Narrated by: John Chancer

With the same deadpan mania and genius for dislocation that he brought to his internationally acclaimed novels A Wild Sheep Chase and Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, Haruki Murakami makes this collection of stories a determined assault on the normal. A man sees his favorite elephant vanish into thin air; a newlywed couple suffers attacks of hunger that drive them to hold up a McDonald's in the middle of the night; and a young woman discovers that she has become irresistible to a little green monster who burrows up through her backyard.

By turns haunting and hilarious, The Elephant Vanishes is further proof of Murakami's ability to cross the border between separate realities -- and to come back bearing treasure.





Some of the stories in this collection originally appeared in the following publicatons: The Magazine (Mobil Corp.): "The Fall of the Roman Empire, the 1881 Indian Uprising, Hitler's Invasion of Poland, and the Realm of the Raging Winds" (in a previous translation; translated in this volume by Alfred Birnbaum), The New Yorker: "TV People" and "The Wind-up Bird and Tuesday's Women" (translated by Alfred Birnbaum), "The Elephant Vanishes" and "Sleep" (translated by Jay Rubin), and "Barn Burning" (in a previous translation; translated in this volume by Alfred Birnbaum) Playboy: "The Second Bakery Attack" (translated by Jay Rubin, January 1992).

The elephant vanishes / stories by Haruki Murakami; translated from the Japanese by Alfred Birnbaum and Jay Rubin.—1st Vintage International ed.

Critic reviews

“These are beautifully written stories, often funny, always moving.” –Chicago Tribune

“Eerie, unsettling. . . . [A] wonderful combination of the bizarre and the mundane.” –Village Voice Literary Supplement

“Charming, humorous and frequently puzzling . . . The Elephant Vanishes [is] fun to read.” –The New York Times

“These stories show us Japan as it’s experienced from the inside. . . . [They] take place in parallel worlds not so much remote from ordinary life as hidden within its surfaces. . . . Even in the slipperiest of Mr. Murakami’s stories, pinpoints of detail flash out . . . warm with life, hopelessly–and wonderfully–unstable.” –The New York Times Book Review

“A stunning writer at work in an era of international literature.” –Newsday

“Enchanting…intriguing…all of these tales have a wonderfully surreal quality and a hip, witty tone. Mr. Murakami has pulled off a tricky feat, writing stories about people who are bored but never boring. He left me lying awake at night, hungry for more.” –Wall Street Journal

“The Elephant Vanishes, through [its] bold originality and charming surrealism, should win the author new readers in this country.” –Detroit Free Press

wonderful stories

I had read this collection already, but while I had Covid I listened to it on audible to get me through, and I found the stories had gotten deeper on the return visit. Some of these stories are so human they reach right into my life, and some, like the amazing story of the dancing dwarf, are so imaginative I am filled with wonder.

Great stories but narration was bad

Loved the stories but the voice actors made it difficult to listen to. Over the top and kind of goofy performance that didn’t seem to match the tone of Murakami’s stories

Disappointing

Murakami is a great author. I have completed about eight or nine of his books, but this selection of short stories is not near as strong. At least one story is a fragment from another of his books and out of context it is lacking. Chapters 1 through 10 can be skipped, but the remaining seven are pretty good. Get Murakami's other works first. I recommend strongly 1Q84, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Kafka on the Shore, Killing Commendatore, and The City and its Uncertain Walls.
EDIT: I originally reviewed this after about 6 chapters and I was harsh. I have since upgraded my review. I still recommend Murakami's other work over this one though.

My Favorite Haruki Murakami book!!!

Every story is universal. I found myself enjoying and introspecting in most of these short stories.

Terrible narrator, ruins the stories

The narrator absolutely destroys the beautiful writings of murakami. This is not the voice of the character.