Men Without Women

by Haruki Murakami

Music has that power to revive memories, sometimes so intensely that they hurt.

Physical relations were, after all, just physical.

In this huge world there are some beautiful, happy families where parents and children maintain a close, warm relationship—a situation about as frequent as hat tricks in soccer.

That was the kind of music Kino sought, music that no longer existed.

What was right, and what was wrong? Just learning how to dress was a riddle.

And from land, the horizon was infinite. As was the horizon at sea.

For Men Without Women, the world is a vast, poignant mix, very much the far side of the moon.