Haruki Murakami Manga Stories, Vol. 2

With their trademark mix of realism and fantasy, centering around Murakami’s signature themes of loss, remorse and confusion. The three stories in this volume are:

The Second Bakery Attack: A newlywed couple lie in bed, hungry. The man tells his wife about when he and a friend robbed a bakery and stole bread to feed themselves for two days. On hearing this story, the woman suggests they try the same thing again.

Samsa in Love: An extension of the tale of Gregor Samsa in Kafka’s The Metamorphosis. The main character wakes up to find himself transformed into someone named Samsa, then falls in love with a hunchback woman who comes to fix the lock on his door.

Thailand: A middle-aged woman takes a break from her job as a doctor to go on holiday in Thailand. She learns from a spirit doctor that her sterile life and inability to forgive have created a rock in her gut, which will be all that remains of her after she is dead.