今日の「 お気に入り 」は 、村上春樹著「女のいない男たち」についての 「 ウィキペディア 」
掲載記事 。日本語版 、英語版 それぞれ適宜抜粋して引用します 。
まず「 日本語版 」から 、引用はじめ 。
「 『 女のいない男たち 』（ おんなのいないおとこたち ）は 、村上春樹の短編小説集 。
概 要
2014年4月18日 、文藝春秋より発売された（ 奥付の発行日は4月20日 ）。表紙と裏
表紙の絵 、扉絵は信濃八太郎 。装丁は大久保明子 。
2016年10月7日 、文春文庫として文庫化される 。同日 、電子書籍版が配信開始 。
本書には長めの『 まえがき 』が寄せられている 。『 中国行きのスロウ・ボート 』
のまえがき（ ただし文字数としては200字に満たない ）と『 カンガルー日和 』単
行本のあとがきと『 ノルウェイの森 』単行本のあとがきを除けば 、著者の長編小
説 、オリジナル短編集としては異例のことである 。「 余計なことかもしれないが 、
いくつかの事実を『業務報告』的に記させていただきたいと思う 」と村上は述べて
いる 。『 ドライブ・マイ・カー 』と『 イエスタデイ 』の内容が単行本収録にあた
って変更された事情についても述べられている 。
『 ドライブ・マイ・カー 』は 、雑誌発表直後の2013年12月 、梁億寬（ ヤン・オク
グァン ）により韓国語に翻訳された 。掲載誌は季刊誌『 世界の文学 』（ 民音社 ）。
各国における単行本の翻訳は下記を参照のこと 。
翻 訳
海外の翻訳版は『 恋するザムザ 』も収録している 。
翻訳言語 タイトル 翻訳者 発行日 発行元
英語 Men Without Women フィリップ・ガブリエル
テッド・グーセン 2017年5月9日 Harville Secker (英)
Knopf (米)
フランス語 Des hommes sans femmes Hélène Morita 2017年3月2日 Belfond
ドイツ語 Von Männern, die keine Frauen haben
Ursula Gräfe 2014年10月4日
DuMont Buchverlag
スペイン語 Hombres sin mujeres Gabriel Álvarez Martínez
2015年3月3日 Tusquets Editores
カタルーニャ語 Homes sense dones Albert Nolla Cabellos
Jordi Mas López 2015年3月4日 Editorial Empúries
ポルトガル語 Homens sem mulheres Eunice Suenaga
2015年10月1日 Alfaguara（ブラジル）
イタリア語 Uomini senza donne Antonietta Pastore 2015年 Einaudi
オランダ語 Mannen zonder vrouw ヤコバス・ウェスタホーヴェン
2016年3月1日 Atlas-Contact
デンマーク語 Mænd uden kvinder Mette Holm 2015年 Klim
スウェーデン語 Män utan kvinnor Eiko Duke , デューク雪子 2015年4月29日 Norstedts
フィンランド語 Miehiä ilman naisia Juha Mylläri 2016年8月29日 Tammi
ポーランド語 Mężczyźni bez kobiet Anna Zielińska-Elliott 2015年10月21日 Muza
チェコ語 Muži, kteří nemají ženy Klára Macúchová 2015年 Odeon
ルーマニア語 Barbati fara femei Iuliana Oprina, Florin Oprina 2014年 Polirom
リトアニア語 Vyrai be moterų Gabija Čepulionytė 2015年10月30日 Baltos lankos
トルコ語 Kadınsız Erkekler Ali Volkan Erdemir 2016年7月1日 Doğan Kitapçılık
中国語 (繁体字) 沒有女人的男人們 頼明珠 2014年10月27日 時報文化
中国語 (簡体字) 没有女人的男人們 林少華、毛丹青、竺家栄ほか 2015年2月 上海訳文出版社
韓国語 여자 없는 남자들 梁潤玉（ヤン・ユンオク）
2014年8月28日 ムンハクトンネ 」
（ 次は「 英語版 」 。）
「 " Men Without Women ( Japanese : 女のいない男たち , Hepburn : Onna no inai otokotachi ) is
a 2014 collection of short stories by Japanese author Haruki Murakami , translated and
published in English in 2017 . The stories are about men who have lost women in their lives ,
usually to other men or death . The collection shares its title with Ernest Hemingway's second
short story collection . " 」
「 Synopsis ( あらすじ )
" Drive My Car " ( ドライブ・マイ・カー )
Kafuku, a veteran and widowed actor, hires twenty-four year old driver Misaki Watari
to chauffeur him around Tokyo due to his license being revoked due to a D.U.I. and
glaucoma. During their trips, Kafuku occasionally tells her about his life as an actor
and his late wife's extramarital affairs. One tale includes how he befriended her final
lover, Takatsuki, with the intention of harming him. However, over the course of their
six month friendship which was spent mostly binge drinking at local bars, he was
never able to find any damning information and instead sympathizes with Takatsuki's
observations. He also never learns of his wife's motives, calling it a "blind spot" in
his knowledge of her. After hearing his story, Misaki notes that perhaps his wife having
affairs had had nothing to do with love and that was a good enough reason to do so.
After contemplating this propositions, he falls asleep as she continues driving.
Dealing with actors and the world of theatre, " Drive My Car " could be considered as
an example of what Graham Wolfe calls "theatre-fiction".
" Yesterday " ( イエスタデイ )
Tanimura remembers a time in his early twenties when he worked in a restaurant with
his friend Kitaru. Kitaru has a few idiosyncrasies that cause his girlfriend Erika to feel
uneasy about their relationship; he speaks in a Kansai dialect despite living all his life
in Tokyo, does not want to study hard despite having university aspirations, and seems
to be asexual around her. One day, Kitaru proposes that Tanimura go on a "date" with
Erika to which Tanimura reluctantly agrees. On their date, both talk about their personal
lives. Tanimura's girlfriend could not commit to him while Erika admits that she is seeing
another man because of Kitaru's apathy. Despite her "unfaithfulness," she admits that
Kitaru holds a special place in her heart, and has vivid dreams of them as a couple.
Tanimura retells his experience with her to Kitaru during their next shift, omitting certain
details. A week later, Kitaru quits and Tanimura loses contact with both Kitaru and Erika.
Sixteen years later, in his thirties, Tanimura sees Erika at a wine tasting event. He
reveals that he is married, but Erika is still single. As far as she knows, Kitaru is a
sushi chef in Denver and is also still single. He goes on to ask whether she had
sex with the man she mentioned on their date years ago; she replies yes, but that
it did not lead to anything and that she still thinks about Kitaru on occasion.
The title of the story comes from The Beatles' "Yesterday" and how, upon hearing it,
Tanimura is reminded of Kitaru's playful mistranslation of the lyrics into " Kansai Japanese ."
" An Independent Organ " ( 独立器官 )
Tanimura tells of a time in his life when he regularly played squash with Dr. Tokai,
a fifty-two year old cosmetic surgeon and bachelor who has never lived long-term
or fallen into a serious relationship with anyone. However, for the past thirty-six
year old married mother and asks Tanimura for advice. During their conversation,
Tokai mentions how he is struggling with the question, "Who in the world am I?"
and retells a story of a Jewish doctor who lost everything but his life at Auschwitz
and how that could have been him. Tokai also notes that for the first time in his life,
he feels rage.
Tokai suddenly stops coming to the gym soon after and it is not until two months
later that Tanimura learns of his death from Tokai's office assistant Goto; they
arrange to meet and discuss Tokai. Goto tells of how the doctor suddenly changed
his habits at work: he gave off a different aura than before. After Tokai stopped
showing up at work, Goto grows concerned and goes to Tokai's apartment and
finds him bedridden and feeble. He learns that Tokai has given up on life after
the woman Tokai loves abandoned both him and her husband for a third lover.
Tokai, lovesick and heartbroken, condemns himself to a slow death by anorexia.
Goto concludes by giving Tanimura a squash racket Tokai wanted him to have
and asks Tanimura to not forget Tokai.
The title of the story comes from Tanimura's memory of Tokai's observation that
women have "an independent organ" that allows them to lie with a clear conscience.
" Scheherazade " ( シェエラザード )
Unable to go outside of his apartment, Habara relies on a female nurse he dubs
"Scheherazade" for his provisions. Despite being married with children, she visits
him regularly to have sex with him; after each session, she tells him a story. She
also notes that she was a lamprey in her previous life and can sometimes access
those memories of being in the sea.
Over the course of several encounters, Scheherazade tells of how she was madly
in love with a boy from high school, so much so that she discreetly broke into his
house several times with a hidden doormat key during school hours. While inside,
she surveys his stuff, lies on his bed, and "exchanges" her stuff for his, too afraid
to be a burglar. On her first two visits, she trades a tampon for a pencil and then
three strands of her own hair for a small soccer badge. On her third visit, she finally
steals one of his worn shirts. Upon remembering how infatuated she was with him
at the time, she asks Habara to have sex with her again; he finds this session more
passionate than any other.
Upon returning for her fourth break-in, Scheherazade notices that the locks have
changed and reluctantly goes back to her regular schooling. Eventually, she begins
to forget the boy, but during nursing school, she saw the boy again through the
boy's mother. Noticing that evening is upon them, she tells Habara that she will tell
him the circumstances during her next visit. Eager but careful, he acquiesces, but
that night in bed, he worries that he will never see her again.
" Kino " ( 木野 )
Kino, with the help of his retiring aunt, decides to open up a bar after he finds his
wife cheating on him. At first no one shows up but a cat, which he lets stay indefinitely.
A week later, a mysterious man, Kamita, begins to frequent the bar because he finds
the establishment a soothing place to read. Some time after, two customers cause a
ruckus and Kino asks them to leave. They react threateningly, but Kamita insists and
they redirect their enmity towards him. The three customers go outside, and shortly
afterwards, Kamita returns and says that those men will not disturb Kino again.
A week later, Kino notes a particular woman who frequents the bar, but on this
occasion, her male companion is absent; she interests him because of their mutual
fondness of jazz. After everyone else has left, she reveals her body to him; she has
many scars, the result of cigarette burns. They subsequently have sex all night in
Kino's upstairs bedroom.
After his divorce is finalized, his wife comes to his bar to settle a few last matters.
She says sorry, but Kino is unable to even understand the meaning of the apology.
Some time later, the cat disappears and does not return; snakes begin to show up
regularly instead. He calls his aunt for advice, and she suggests that it could be an
omen. Kamita returns, and tells him that he has been working for his aunt and
insists that he temporarily close the bar and go on a trip to soul search. During his
trip, he sees people happy doing mundane work and wonders about his own life.
During a night when he perceives there is strange knocking on his door, he comes
to terms with himself, realizing that he has been living for so long in apathy.
" Samsa in Love " ( 恋するザムザ )
Gregor Samsa wakes up in a bedroom of a two-story house, sure of who he is but
unsure of his surroundings. He is hungry, so he slowly goes downstairs to the kitchen,
getting accustomed to moving his body. Food is already prepared on the table, so he
eats everything. He then notices that he is naked, so he searches the house until he
finds a gown.
When the doorbell rings, he opens it to find a young, hunchbacked female locksmith
who says that she is here to fix a lock in the house. Hesitant, he tells her that one of
the room's lock upstairs needs fixing. As they interact, Samsa notices that he is
unable to understand some of the common words she uses. When she tells him
that she needs to take the lock to her family of locksmiths for further work, he asks
her why she rotates her arm so often. She says that her brassiere is uncomfortable
on her; while telling him this she notices that he has a visible erection. Offended,
she scorns him before he says that he has no idea what he is doing. Before she
leaves, he asks her if she could return so that they could talk, as he is still confused
about most of the world. She says perhaps they can do so when she returns the lock,
before she walks back to her family through military-occupied Prague.
" Men Without Women " ( 女のいない男たち )
An unnamed narrator receives a phone call in the middle of the night telling him
that his former lover, who he dubs M, has committed suicide, the caller being M's
husband. He is unbearably anguished upon learning of this news.
The narrator tells of how he imagines himself meeting M when they were fourteen
and in junior high school. He asks her for an eraser in class and she breaks hers
in half and gives the piece to him; this meeting warms his heart. She then breaks
his heart by running off with sailors who promise to show her the world. He chases
her, but is never able to catch up.
In reality, he knew her for only about two years in his adult life and they only saw
each other a few times a month. She loves elevator music, and always plays
"A Summer Place" when they have sex. He notes that because of her death, he
now considers himself the second-loneliest man in the world, after her husband.
He is also in a state called " Men Without Women ," a period of sudden and intense
misery after a man learns of the death of a beloved woman.
Critical reception
Reception for the collection has been mostly positive. Lucy Scholes, writing for
The Independent, states that the stories " strung together [a]re a sparkling strand
of precious stones, the light refracted from each equally brilliant but the tones
varying subtly ." Heller McAlpin, writing for The Washington Post, states that
" [ Murakami's ] meandering, mesmerizing tales of profound alienation are driven
by puzzling circumstances that neither his characters nor readers can crack —
recalling existentialist Gabriel Marcel’s assertion that ' Life is not a problem to
be solved but a mystery to be experienced . ' "
Adaptation
The short stories " Drive My Car " and, to a lesser degree, "Scheherazade",
served as the basis for the 2021 film of the same name by Ryusuke Hamaguchi . 」
引用おわり 。
仮に 、日本人でノーベル文学賞に手が届きそうな現役作家のリストがある
とすれば 、村上春樹さんは 、今でもそのトップ・ランナーであるらしい 。
短編小説集「 女のいない男たち 」のタイトルを英訳すれば 、" Men without Women "
になること 、言い換えれば ノーベル文学賞作家 アーネスト・ヘミングウェイ
の短編小説集 " Men without Women " と同名になることは 、編集者・事務所
スタッフは勿論 、作家も承知して、一連の短編小説執筆に着手したようで 、
短編集の「 まえがき 」にわざわざ次のような一節を書き加えた理由もわかる
というもの 。
「 『 女のいない男たち 』と聞いて 、多くの読者はアーネスト・ヘミングウェイ
の素晴らしい短編集を思い出されることだろう 。 僕ももちろん思い出した 。
でもヘミングウェイの本のこのタイトル " Men Without Women " を 、高見
浩氏は『 男だけの世界 』と訳されているし 、 僕の感覚としてもむしろ
『 女のいない男たち 」よりは『 女抜きの男たち 』 とでも訳した方が原題
の感覚に近いような気がする 。しかし本書の場合はより即物的に 、文字通り
『 女のいない男たち 』なのだ 。いろんな事情で女性に去られてしまった男
たち 、あるいは去られようとしている男たち 。
どうしてそんなモチーフに僕の創作意識が絡め取られてしまったのか（ 絡め
取られたというのがまさにぴったりの表現だ ）、僕自身にもその理由はよく
わからない 。そういう具体的な出来事が最近 、自分の身に実際に起こった
わけではないし（ ありがたいことに ）、身近にそんな実例を目にしたという
わけでもない 。ただそういう男たちの姿や心情を 、どうしてもいくつかの
異なった物語のかたちにパラフレーズし 、敷衍してみたかったのだ 。
それは僕という人間の『 現在 』の 、ひとつのメタファーであるのかもしれ
ない 。あるいは遠回しな予言みたいなものなのかもしれない 。
それとも僕はそのような『 悪魔払い 』を個人的に必要としているのかもしれ
ない 。そのあたりは僕自身にも説明できない 。しかしいずれにせよこの本の
タイトルが『 女のいない男たち 』になることは最初から決定されていたよう
だし 、それが揺らぐことはなかった 。言い換えるなら 、僕はおそらくこの
ような一連の物語を心のどこかで自然に求めていたのだろう 。」
作品が多様な言語に翻訳される 、コンテンポラリーかつ 国際的な作家 になるのは実に大変
なのだ ！？
そう言えば 、村上作品に「 チエーホフの『 ワーニャ伯父さん 』 」は出てくるけれど 、
村上作品がロシア語に翻訳されることはなさそう 。文化的には 、明治以来 、露→日の一方通行
なのかな 。
ついでながら 、「 ウィキペディア 」の「 村上春樹 」解説記事の中で 、筆者の目を引いた記述を
いくつか 。
「 国外の評価
・ イギリスのカズオ・イシグロは 、現代作家のなかで最も興味のある作家に村上を挙げ 、
『 世界中の人が彼のことを日本人と考えることができません 。国を超えた作家です 。
現時点で 、村上春樹は現代文学の中で非常に関心を引く何かを象徴しています 。』と
述べている 。」
「 発言・エピソード
『 作家は批評を批評してはならない 』
『 まず妻より始めよ 。あとの世間は簡単だ 』
『 個人と組織が喧嘩をしたら 、まず間違いなく組織のほうが勝つ 』 多勢に無勢だから
・ 好きな日本の小説家は吉行淳之介等の第三の新人や夏目漱石 、谷崎潤一郎などで 、
川端康成はそれほど好きではない 、という 。また 、太宰治や三島由紀夫などが書く
『 いわゆる自然主義的な小説 、あるいは私小説はほぼ駄目 』、としており 、その理由
について『 そういう小説には 、どうしても身体が上手く入っていかないのです 。サ
イズの合わない靴に足を突っ込んでいるような気持ちになってしまうのです 。」と
述べている 。
・ 選択的夫婦別姓について賛同する 。『 結婚したからどちらかが姓を変えなくちゃ
ならないというのは 、憲法に保障された男女同権とあきらかに矛盾することです 。
そんなの不公平ですよね 」と述べている 。
・ 村上春樹のデビュー作である『風の歌を聴け』にでてくる作家デレク・ハートフィ
ールドは架空の人物であり 、大学図書館などでは、『 デレク・ハートフィールドの
著作を読みたい 』という学生のリクエストに応えて司書が著作を探しては首をかし
げるという誤解が後を絶たない 。『 図書館司書という仕事 』久保輝巳著「 1章
ある図書館司書の生活 」はこのエピソードを描いたものである 。
『 締め切りは嫌い 。〆切のある仕事はしない 』
・ エディンバラのイベントで作家になった理由を『 団体に所属する必要もないし 、
会議に出る必要もなく 、上司を持たなくてもいいからだ 」と答えた 。
・ １９８３年時の自身の談話によれば 、『 ２９歳にもなって小説を書いていること
が恥ずかしく 、妻に隠れて執筆し 、群像新人文学賞にはペンネームで応募した 』
という 。 」
