My tryst with Haruki Murakami began two years ago, when a College Professor recommended that I read his book, The Wind Up Bird Chronicle . As a student of Exhibition and Spatial Design, I was to learn and understand how space can be manipulated and transcended, and expressed across media.
I picked up many of Murakami san's books, except the one recommended to me. In time, I've grown to like the way he writes, to accept his brand of surrealism that is typically Japanese.
So, when I saw After Dark in a good friend's collection, I immediately asked to borrow it.
The story centers around the late night goings-on , centering around a young Japanese college girl Mari specializing in Chinese language studies, trying to while time away in a fast food joint reading to put off going home. She meets a young aspiring musician, a guitarist in a band, who happened to meet her a few years ago, along with her elder sister Eri, a model, on a group date. He tries to chat her up, and she responds a little coldly as they catch up .
He practices in a garage near a Love hotel, and after a while, she gets a call, asking for help from a hotel manager of a love hotel. A Chinese prostitute has been brutalized at the Love hotel, and her client vanishes without paying up. The hotel manager can't understand what the poor girl is trying to say, and asks Mari to help translate.
Eventually the girl is picked up by one of her pimps, and the pimp and his gang are on the look out for the man who brutalized the girl.
We meet the offender, a late night office worker , and his lone time at work, and returning home at dawn. While the elder sister, Eri sleeps a long sleep full of mystery without showing signs of waking up.
I immediately fell in love with the book , as there are a lot of elements I can relate to and enjoy(yes, I'm a night bird). The late night stay-ups, the coffee, meeting people, and the mystery that only the night can possibly hold.
Haruki Murakami's writing is brilliant. Usually, in his other books, there is a certain consciousness crossover that happens when the reader encounters the surreal aspect, but in this book, it is a lot more constrained, and subtle. As usual, it stays surreal because Murakami san doesn't bother with explanations. Possibly, the surrealism in his book is far more muted than the others, and it is far more realistic.
His characters say things without actually stating them, and things that happen in his book spark possibilities , but ones that are deliberately not used (will he go out with her? Is he haunting her dreams?) and that choice not made establishes the sense of the mundane everyday.
His book is not to be analysed though, We just need to allow it to wash over us , sink into the feeling of late night neon light urban Japan, and the angst of college going people, awaiting the choices dawn brings them.
A very enjoyable read. Best read in a busy all night cafe, overnight, with a cup of strong espresso, and good music for company.
I picked up many of Murakami san's books, except the one recommended to me. In time, I've grown to like the way he writes, to accept his brand of surrealism that is typically Japanese.
So, when I saw After Dark in a good friend's collection, I immediately asked to borrow it.
The story centers around the late night goings-on , centering around a young Japanese college girl Mari specializing in Chinese language studies, trying to while time away in a fast food joint reading to put off going home. She meets a young aspiring musician, a guitarist in a band, who happened to meet her a few years ago, along with her elder sister Eri, a model, on a group date. He tries to chat her up, and she responds a little coldly as they catch up .
He practices in a garage near a Love hotel, and after a while, she gets a call, asking for help from a hotel manager of a love hotel. A Chinese prostitute has been brutalized at the Love hotel, and her client vanishes without paying up. The hotel manager can't understand what the poor girl is trying to say, and asks Mari to help translate.
Eventually the girl is picked up by one of her pimps, and the pimp and his gang are on the look out for the man who brutalized the girl.
We meet the offender, a late night office worker , and his lone time at work, and returning home at dawn. While the elder sister, Eri sleeps a long sleep full of mystery without showing signs of waking up.
I immediately fell in love with the book , as there are a lot of elements I can relate to and enjoy(yes, I'm a night bird). The late night stay-ups, the coffee, meeting people, and the mystery that only the night can possibly hold.
Haruki Murakami's writing is brilliant. Usually, in his other books, there is a certain consciousness crossover that happens when the reader encounters the surreal aspect, but in this book, it is a lot more constrained, and subtle. As usual, it stays surreal because Murakami san doesn't bother with explanations. Possibly, the surrealism in his book is far more muted than the others, and it is far more realistic.
His characters say things without actually stating them, and things that happen in his book spark possibilities , but ones that are deliberately not used (will he go out with her? Is he haunting her dreams?) and that choice not made establishes the sense of the mundane everyday.
His book is not to be analysed though, We just need to allow it to wash over us , sink into the feeling of late night neon light urban Japan, and the angst of college going people, awaiting the choices dawn brings them.
A very enjoyable read. Best read in a busy all night cafe, overnight, with a cup of strong espresso, and good music for company.
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