I found “Sleep” to be quite possibly my favorite Murakami short story. I was glad to see him write a female protagonist, and found her to be less detached than his other male protagonists. I also found the story to be really relatable as a woman. I too have neglected sleep in favor of reading and have gotten completely sucked into a book or series. I didn’t really like the inclusion of the old man scene, though I understand it can be interpreted as a transition into the Other World. I wish he wrote the transition a little differently, a little less weird, though I guess that’s who he is as an author. I also didn’t like the ending, which stressed me out to an unusual degree.
After “Sleep,” I was excited to read his other female main character stories, but they disappointed me. “Creta Kano” felt unnecessary and was uncomfortable to read due to the many, many references to sexual assault. “Ice Man” wasn’t as offensive, but it didn’t really leave an impact on me at all. When I first read “The Little Green Monster,” I didn’t like it, but it’s grown on me. As a big animal person, I didn’t like to see the monster being emotionally tortured, and I thought her response was excessive and unusually cruel. I didn’t understand her cruelty until I thought of the one person whom I really dislike. Suddenly, the story made sense to me. For all of Murakami’s short stories or books, I always seem to follow “I liked it…” with a “but.” No story fully satisfies me, though “Sleep” came close.
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