I was fortunate to read an ARC of Monkey volume 2 and once I saw volume 3 was available I had to request it. This time I was a bit disappointed in the selection. I got really upset about Murakami's "Creta Kano". I understand it was written in 1989 but it's just so bad. UTTER TRASH. He can't write and shouldn't write from a woman's perspective. It's quite frankly offensive (and I've read his major works: Norwegian Wood, 1Q84 (Aomame is another botched female character), Killing Commendatore, which is the only one I really enjoyed).

*SPOILER ALERT*
Creta basically states that she always gets raped and she can't go out of the house. So she lives with her sister. She also thinks "it's partly her fault"!!!!!!!! because she looks like a victim. Wtf.
Then she gets raped and killed in the end. What on earth was the point of this story?! I feel like there should have been a warning or explanation attached to this piece. I honestly felt the editors should have left this story out. I know he's a big author and has his fanbase but this really brought down the quality of the collection.
*SPOILER END*

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

I was disappointed with the selection of short stories, especially Murakami’s Creta Kano. Besides Furukawa’s short, the only parts I truly enjoyed of this collection were the translator “voices” and the selections of poetry. I struggled to understand this collection’s themes on “crossings”, unfortunately.