History & Criticism
![Haruki Murakami - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B000AP7AFI.jpg)
After Dark (Vintage International)
In After Dark-a gripping novel of late night encounters-Murakami's trademark humor and psychological insight are distilled with an extraordinary, harmonious mastery.
Nineteen-year-old Mari is waiting out the night in an anonymous Denny's when she meets a young man who insists he knows her older sister, thus setting her on an odyssey through the sleeping city. In the space of a single night, the lives of a diverse cast of Tokyo residents-models, prostitutes, mobsters, and musicians-collide in a world suspended between fantasy and reality. Utterly enchanting and infused with surrealism, After Dark is a thrilling account of the magical hours separating midnight from dawn.
Nineteen-year-old Mari is waiting out the night in an anonymous Denny's when she meets a young man who insists he knows her older sister, thus setting her on an odyssey through the sleeping city. In the space of a single night, the lives of a diverse cast of Tokyo residents-models, prostitutes, mobsters, and musicians-collide in a world suspended between fantasy and reality. Utterly enchanting and infused with surrealism, After Dark is a thrilling account of the magical hours separating midnight from dawn.
Editorial Reviews
"After Dark [is] hypnotically eerie, sometimes even funny, but most of all, it's [a book] that keeps ratcheting up the suspense." -The Washington Post Book World
"After Dark is a streamlined, hushed ensemble piece. . . . Standing above the common gloom, Murakami detects phosphorescence everywhere, but chiefly in the auras around people, which glow brightest at night and when combined." -The New York Times Book Review
"Murakami is masterful with symbolism. . . . Night . . . can't blacken the ever-shifting shutter speeds of Murakami's cockeyed Kodak. . . . It is straight-ahead jazz with a quiet grace." -The Los Angeles Times Book Review
"A bittersweet novel that will satisfy the most demanding literary taste. . . . Murakami's fiction reminds us that the world is broad, that myths are universal-and that while we sleep, the world out there is moving in mysterious and unpredictable ways." -The San Francisco Chronicle
"Hypnotically eerie, sometimes even funny, but most of all, it's [a book] that keeps ratcheting up the suspense." -The Washington Post Book World
"After Dark is a gripping dream. . . . In Murakami's hands, hope is nothing more nor less than a deep, cleansing breath." -The Boston Globe
"What you'll love: The book's spare yet eerily atmospheric scenes will fester under your skin, poking at your equilibrium long after you've finished reading." -The Washington Post
"There's a dreamlike quality to Haruki Murakami's mesmerizing new novel, [where] amid the alienation are flickers of hopefulness springing from seemingly random, serendipitous human interactions and connections. . . . Like a latter-day Walker Percy or Albert Camus, Murakami raises questions about perception and existence [and] captures the palpable loneliness and essential unfathomability at the heart of modern life." -The Christian Science Monitor
"This strange, mesmerizing, spell-binding, voyeuristic novel is impossible to put down." -The Providence Journal
"A metaphysical mystery. . . . After Dark deftly explores existentialist notions of purpose, control, and identity." -Elle
"Gripping. . . . Creepy!" -Wired
"In After Dark, night seems to be where Murakami was headed all along. . . . He has a natural curiosity about people, a belief that they contain wonders, perhaps none so great as the capacity for human connection." -Newsday
"After Dark is a streamlined, hushed ensemble piece. . . . Standing above the common gloom, Murakami detects phosphorescence everywhere, but chiefly in the auras around people, which glow brightest at night and when combined." -The New York Times Book Review
"Murakami is masterful with symbolism. . . . Night . . . can't blacken the ever-shifting shutter speeds of Murakami's cockeyed Kodak. . . . It is straight-ahead jazz with a quiet grace." -The Los Angeles Times Book Review
"A bittersweet novel that will satisfy the most demanding literary taste. . . . Murakami's fiction reminds us that the world is broad, that myths are universal-and that while we sleep, the world out there is moving in mysterious and unpredictable ways." -The San Francisco Chronicle
"Hypnotically eerie, sometimes even funny, but most of all, it's [a book] that keeps ratcheting up the suspense." -The Washington Post Book World
"After Dark is a gripping dream. . . . In Murakami's hands, hope is nothing more nor less than a deep, cleansing breath." -The Boston Globe
"What you'll love: The book's spare yet eerily atmospheric scenes will fester under your skin, poking at your equilibrium long after you've finished reading." -The Washington Post
"There's a dreamlike quality to Haruki Murakami's mesmerizing new novel, [where] amid the alienation are flickers of hopefulness springing from seemingly random, serendipitous human interactions and connections. . . . Like a latter-day Walker Percy or Albert Camus, Murakami raises questions about perception and existence [and] captures the palpable loneliness and essential unfathomability at the heart of modern life." -The Christian Science Monitor
"This strange, mesmerizing, spell-binding, voyeuristic novel is impossible to put down." -The Providence Journal
"A metaphysical mystery. . . . After Dark deftly explores existentialist notions of purpose, control, and identity." -Elle
"Gripping. . . . Creepy!" -Wired
"In After Dark, night seems to be where Murakami was headed all along. . . . He has a natural curiosity about people, a belief that they contain wonders, perhaps none so great as the capacity for human connection." -Newsday
Readers Top Reviews
TawfiqhPamela ScottJ
I thought it was a usual Murakami, and people who liked his other books would probably like this. Set over the course of one eventful night, each chapter starts with the time as we progress through the night. There are few major events but lots of character building and reflecting on the human condition. This is very good and beautifully written but I feel not as strong as in some of Murakami’s other works. There’s a really good ongoing use of metaphor that gives the disparate events in the book a shared thread and commonality but I won’t spoil what it is! I had unfortunately read beforehand that the book finishes abruptly, however I did not find that all. In fact the book had a much lengthier conclusion than I would have expected from Murakami. Some of the final chapters being more like epilogues round the book off very nicely. Overall a good read that I’d recommend to someone that likes reflecting on the human condition through meandering interpersonal connections and somewhat surreal interactions. However I’d recommend some of Murakami’s other stories first. Desire Minis and Men Without Women are both much shorter but I think stronger entries to start with.
Keith M
As I work my way through the works of Haruki Murakami, this 2004 short novel, running to around 200 pages, has (thus far, at least) provided the most 'perfectly formed’ blend of surreal elements, affecting characterisations and resolved narrative. Charting one night (indicated by chapter headings with a time-advancing clock) in the intertwining lives of various big city dwellers, the author paints (at the tale’s centre) a beautifully fragile portrait of the budding friendship between two unassuming young protagonists, the 19-year old Mari, pining for a seemingly lost relationship with her older, more glamorous sister (Eri), and the carefree trombone-playing student, Takahashi, who spends his nights jamming with his musician friends. Around this central narrative, Murakami gives us a taste of the seedier side of urban nightlife, including an assault on a Chinese prostitute and a potential revenge attack by pimps/gangsters, repeatedly being taken in via a surreal bird’s eye view of proceedings. Along the way, many of the author’s characters give us their philosophical take on life and the circumstances that have led to them being marginalised characters in mainstream society and all of this is captured via the author’s deliciously easy-to-read, but highly evocative, prose. I noticed one of the critical blurbs of the book likened it to a literary equivalent of the Richard Linklater film Before Sunrise, as if it had been directed by David Lynch. More simply for me, After Dark (once again for this author) conjured up the films of the Hong Kong film-maker Wong Kar-Wai and, in particular as far as the central relationship was concerned, that film-maker’s urban masterpiece, Chungking Express.
A
I have never read anything by Haruki Murakami before this was my very first book from him and I cannot express how in love I am with his writing. Ive had this book for three days and I've only just finished it. I had to force myself to out this book down and take a break or sleep or eat. Ive never had a book I absolutely could not put down and this was it. I ordered 4 more of Murakami's books and I cannot wait until they arrive. I think I've found my favorite author. If your new to this author like I am definitely start with this book first. you won't regret it!
Wilson
After Dark is a quick and interesting read that unfurls over the course of one night. We get a glimpse into the lives of people who work, play, or party when most people sleep. The time between dusk and dawn is explored as a metaphor on many levels, in several ways. It gives the reader a lot to think about and reflect upon. I loved the storyline with Mari (19 yr old student) and Takahashi (a trombone player in a band). They share a connection through Mari’s sister, Eri, who is in a deep and possibly dark sleep. I didn’t not like the unseen observer “point of view” narration in the Eri storyline. I found it distracting. I did enjoy the cast of “night people” encountered throughout the story. Two quotes that state what the book tries to capture are: “The new day is almost here, but the old one is still dragging its heavy skirts. Just as ocean water in the river water struggle against each other at a river mouth, the old time and the new time clash blend. He is unable to tell for sure which side, which world, contains his center of gravity.” “It could be a day like all others, or could be a day remarkable enough in many ways to remain in the memory. In either case, for now, for most people, it is a blank sheet of paper.” Not my favorite Murakami book, but it certainly caused me to pause and pay closer attention to the world/people around me.
Peter Carrier
The quote that serves as the title of my review aptly demonstrates the deftness with which Murakami not only involves his audience in the scene, but also in telling the story. It's simple, unobtrusive and powerful. Profound without being pretentious. The whimsy and post-modernism of Nabokov with the gripping relentlessness of Matheson. Thanks in no small part to Rand's translation, the clarity, focus and purpose of the prose is unmissable. Informative but still emotionally resonant. In a word: outstanding. What begins as a tale of seemingly unrelated characters going about their seemingly unrelated lives quickly becomes something else; an intersection of choices and consequences from a divergent cross-section of city residents. While their paths become more and more connected, their individual lives seem to become less cohesive until each is left to ponder what's truly important. A fantastic example of the difference between day-life and night-life. A wonderful allegory for late-night musings and the confusion that often accompanies said thoughts, as well as the inevitable outcome of those ruminations. I'm glad I finally got to read Murakami and am looking forward to more of his work in the future. "Wouldn't it be too sad to walk into Denny's and order chicken salad without looking at the menu? It's like telling the world, 'I come to Denny's all the time because I love the chicken salad.' So I always go through the motion of opening the menu and pretending I picked the chicken salad after considering other things." "The mask possesses equal levels of sorcery and functionality. It has been both handed down from ancient times with darkness and sent back from the future with light." "Near the head of the bed a digital clock soundlessly and steadily renews its display of the time. For now, the clock is the only thing in the room evidencing anything like movement: a cautious nocturnal creature that runs on electricity. Each green crystal numeral slips into the place of another, evading human eyes. The current time is 11:59 p.m." "I got this absolutely hopeless feeling. I don't know how to put it: it was like the whole world's electricity supply suffered a voltage drop. Everything got one step darker, one step colder." "He is considering the aspects of the interrelationship of thought and action. Is action merely the incidental product of thought, or is thought the consequential product of action?" "What we see now is a gigantic metropolis waking up. Commuter trains of many colors move in all directions, transporting people from place to place. Each of those under transport is a human being with a different face and mind, and at the same time each is a nameless part of the collective entity. Each is simultaneously a self-contained whole and a mere part."
Short Excerpt Teaser
Chapter One: 11:56 p.m.Eyes mark the shape of the city. Through the eyes of a high-flying night bird, we take in the scene from midair. In our broad sweep, the city looks like a single gigantic creature-or more like a single collective entity created by many intertwining organisms. Countless arteries stretch to the ends of its elusive body, circulating a continuous supply of fresh blood cells, sending out new data and collecting the old, sending out new consumables and collecting the old, sending out new contradictions and collecting the old. To the rhythm of its pulsing, all parts of the body flicker and flare up and squirm. Midnight is approaching, and while the peak of activity has passed, the basal metabolism that maintains life continues undiminished, producing the basso continuo of the city's moan, a monotonous sound that neither rises nor falls but is pregnant with foreboding.Our line of sight chooses an area of concentrated brightness and, focusing there, silently descends to it-a sea of neon colors. They call this place an "amusement district." The giant digital screens fastened to the sides of buildings fall silent as midnight approaches, but loudspeakers on storefronts keep pumping out exaggerated hip-hop bass lines. A large game center crammed with young people; wild electronic sounds; a group of college students spilling out from a bar; teenage girls with brilliant bleached hair, healthy legs thrusting out from micromini skirts; dark-suited men racing across diagonal crosswalks for the last trains to the suburbs. Even at this hour, the karaoke club pitchmen keep shouting for customers. A flashy black station wagon drifts down the street as if taking stock of the district through its black-tinted windows. The car looks like a deep-sea creature with specialized skin and organs. Two young policemen patrol the street with tense expressions, but no one seems to notice them. The district plays by its own rules at a time like this. The season is late autumn. No wind is blowing, but the air carries a chill. The date is just about to change.We are inside a Denny's.Unremarkable but adequate lighting; expressionless decor and dinnerware; floor plan designed to the last detail by management engineers; innocuous background music at low volume; staff meticulously trained to deal with customers by the book: "Welcome to Denny's." Everything about the restaurant is anonymous and interchangeable. And almost every seat is filled.After a quick survey of the interior, our eyes come to rest on a girl sitting by the front window. Why her? Why not someone else? Hard to say. But, for some reason, she attracts our attention-very naturally. She sits at a four-person table, reading a book. Hooded gray parka, blue jeans, yellow sneakers faded from repeated washing. On the back of the chair next to her hangs a varsity jacket. This, too, is far from new. She is probably college freshman age, though an air of high school still clings to her. Hair black, short, and straight. Little makeup, no jewelry. Small, slender face. Black-rimmed glasses. Every now and then, an earnest wrinkle forms between her brows.She reads with great concentration. Her eyes rarely move from the pages of her book-a thick hardback. A bookstore wrapper hides the title from us. Judging from her intent expression, the book might contain challenging subject matter. Far from skimming, she seems to be biting off and chewing it one line at a time.On her table is a coffee cup. And an ashtray. Next to the ashtray, a navy blue baseball cap with a Boston Red Sox "B." It might be a little too large for her head. A brown leather shoulder bag rests on the seat next to her. It bulges as if its contents had been thrown in on the spur of the moment. She reaches out at regular intervals and brings the coffee cup to her mouth, but she doesn't appear to be enjoying the flavor. She drinks because she has a cup of coffee in front of her: that is her role as a customer. At odd moments, she puts a cigarette between her lips and lights it with a plastic lighter. She narrows her eyes, releases an easy puff of smoke into the air, puts the cigarette into the ashtray, and then, as if to soothe an approaching headache, she strokes her temples with her fingertips.The music playing at low volume is "Go Away Little Girl" by Percy Faith and His Orchestra. No one is listening, of course. Many different kinds of people are taking meals and drinking coffee in this late-night Denny's, but she is the only female there alone. She raises her face from her book now and then to glance at her watch, but she seems dissatisfied with the slow passage of time. Not that she appears to be waiting for anyone: she doesn't look around the restaurant or train her eyes on the front door. She just keeps reading her book, lighting an occasional ciga...
