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.