After Dark (Vintage International)
by Haruki Murakami
List Price:
Our Price: $8.00
You Save: $5.95 (43%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $7.00 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Haruki MurakamiEdition: Paperback
Published: 2008-04-29
ISBN: 0307278735
Number of pages: 256
Publisher: Vintage
Book Reviews of After Dark (Vintage International)
Book Review: After Dark is the distilled essence of everything Murakami has ever written.
Summary: 4 Stars
"It's not as if our lives are divided simply into light and dark. There's a shadowy middle ground. Recognising and understanding the shadows is what a healthy intelligence does. And to acquire a healthy intelligence takes a certain amount of time and effort."
2007 has been a good year for short novels. Ian McEwen returned to form with `On Chesil Beach,' his best work for years and I was desperately excited to get my hands on the long awaited return of Haruki Murakami with his latest novel, `After Dark'. After all, Murakami, like McEwan is one of the leading short story writers in the world and `Sputnik Sweetheart' remains his finest work to date.
The first thing to say is that this is a very short novel. At just 201 pages it took me barely 4 hours and I am not a fast reader. Some may say this is not value for money but does quantity really equal quality? This, like everything Murakami writes, is worth every penny you spend on it.
The story is that of Tokyo after darkness, when the sun goes down and the lights go on. It is the perfect setting for a Murakami novel: jazz records play leisurely in the background of late night bars, the streets are deserted and his usual ensemble of well meaning loaners in search of themselves have deep, revelatory conversations which unwind slowly over a cup of coffee and a cigarette. `After Dark' is like the distilled essence of everything Murakami has ever written.
Mari, a nineteen year old girl, is sitting alone in a coffee bar reading a thick novel and waiting for the night to pass. Takahashi is savouring his bands last all-night rehearsal and has stopped in for some coffee. It is almost midnight. Back at home, Eri Asai (Mari's sister) has been asleep for two months, a sleeping beauty. As we watch the strange events of the dense night unfold it is as if the night has been personified, and the people are just encroaching on its time. Revelation and transition is in the air, it is `After Dark' and the possibilities are endless.
The atmosphere lurks somewhere between awake and asleep, we feel the neon signs lighting up the darkness and smell the hazy smoke of insomnia in the gaps between the words. Murakami is incapable of writing a dull story and `After Dark' is no different. It may not be his best ever work, but once you pick this book up and feel the darkness enshroud you like a blanket you will not dare put it down until the morning has arrived and there is nothing to do but wait for night to return.
Literature & Fiction Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in No Mumbo Jumbo Here, Just Good Books
Dead Timeby Stephen White
Dutton Adult; Published: 2008-03-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.14
Price in other shops:
Fidelityby Thomas Perry
Harcourt; Published: 2008-05-12; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.45
Price in other shops:
Friend of the Devilby Peter Robinson
William Morrow; Published: 2008-03-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.00
Price in other shops:
Where Memories Lie: A Novel (Duncan Kincaid/ Gemma James Novels)by Deborah Crombie
William Morrow; Published: 2008-07-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $16.47
Price in other shops:
Beverly Hills Deadby Stuart Woods
Putnam Adult; Published: 2008-01-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.68
Price in other shops:
Winter Study (Anna Pigeon Mysteries)by Nevada Barr
Putnam Adult; Published: 2008-04-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.88
Price in other shops:
Devil Bones: A Novelby Kathy Reichs
Scribner; Published: 2008-08-26; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $16.52
Price in other shops:
Sailby James Patterson, Howard Roughan
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 2008-06-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.49
Price in other shops:
Wash This Blood Clean from My Handby Fred Vargas
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2007-07-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.24
Price in other shops:
After Dark (Vintage International)by Haruki Murakami
Vintage; Published: 2008-04-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.72
Price in other shops:
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
Dance Dance Danceby Haruki Murakami
Vintage; Published: 1995-01-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.00
Price in other shops:
Norwegian Woodby Haruki Murakami
Vintage; Published: 2000-09-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.29
Price in other shops:
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World: A Novel (Vintage International)by Haruki Murakami
Vintage; Published: 1993-03-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.42
Price in other shops:
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (Vintage International)by Haruki Murakami
Vintage; Published: 2007-10-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.99
Price in other shops:
Divisadero (Vintage International)by Michael Ondaatje
Vintage; Published: 2008-04-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.16
Price in other shops:
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: A Novelby Haruki Murakami
Vintage; Published: 1998-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.35
Price in other shops:
Falling Man: A Novelby Don DeLillo
Scribner; Published: 2008-06-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.20
Price in other shops:
A Wild Sheep Chase: A Novelby Haruki Murakami
Vintage; Published: 2002-04-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.43
Price in other shops:
Kafka on the Shoreby Haruki Murakami
Vintage; Published: 2006-01-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.00
Price in other shops:
Blind Willow, Sleeping Womanby Haruki Murakami
Knopf; Published: 2006-08-29; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.87
Price in other shops: