56 pages 1 hour read

Haruki Murakami

The Elephant Vanishes: Stories

Fiction | Short Story Collection | Adult | Published in 1993

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics.

“Family Affair”

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

“Family Affair” Summary

The narrator is a young man who lives with his younger sister in a Tokyo apartment. When the narrator’s sister decides to marry her boyfriend, a man named Noboru Watanabe, the narrator immediately disapproves. One day, while eating spaghetti at a restaurant, the narrator’s sister tells him he should grow up: He cannot continue avoiding serious relationships. The narrator, annoyed, goes on a date with a girl who is not his girlfriend and drinks heavily. He reflects on his relationship with his sister and how it began to deteriorate when she started dating her fiancé, whom he disliked from the very beginning. He eventually meets him on a few occasions, has dinner with his family, and even admits that he is not a bad guy, but he still does not like him.

Shortly after the “spaghetti argument,” the narrator’s sister has Noboru over for dinner at their apartment and the three eat together. Noboru, an engineer, fixes the narrator’s stereo set. The narrator drinks heavily during dinner and makes jokes, and his sister chides him again for not taking anything seriously. After dinner, the narrator goes out, sleeps with a girl he meets at a bar, and comes home drunk after midnight.

Related Titles

By Haruki Murakami

Study Guide

logo

After Dark

Haruki Murakami

After Dark

Haruki Murakami

Study Guide

logo

A Wild Sheep Chase

Haruki Murakami

A Wild Sheep Chase

Haruki Murakami

Plot Summary

logo

Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman

Haruki Murakami

Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman

Haruki Murakami

Study Guide

logo

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

Haruki Murakami

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

Haruki Murakami

Study Guide

logo

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

Haruki Murakami

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

Haruki Murakami

Study Guide

logo

Kafka on the Shore

Haruki Murakami

Kafka on the Shore

Haruki Murakami

Plot Summary

logo

Killing Commendatore

Haruki Murakami

Killing Commendatore

Haruki Murakami

Study Guide

logo

Norwegian Wood

Haruki Murakami

Norwegian Wood

Haruki Murakami

Plot Summary

logo

South of the Border, West of the Sun

Haruki Murakami

South of the Border, West of the Sun

Haruki Murakami

Plot Summary

logo

Sputnik Sweetheart

Haruki Murakami

Sputnik Sweetheart

Haruki Murakami

Study Guide

logo

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

Haruki Murakami, Transl. Jay Rubin

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

Haruki Murakami, Transl. Jay Rubin

Plot Summary

logo

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Haruki Murakami

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Haruki Murakami