After Dark (Vintage International) by Haruki Murakami Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of After Dark (Vintage International)
Book Review: Surreal family drama
Summary: 5 Stars
A great description of night time modern Tokyo, where Muri flies to from home, trying to escape her sister Eri's "coma" sleep. Only after meeting Tokyo's night time characters and dragged into a mini adventure, she realises that she is the only one who can save her sister. The whole story happens in one single night and Muri's reality is superbly mixed with Eri's dream world. The message about family values and downsides of modern society is clear but the surreal stuff really keeps you puzzled long after you've finished the book. My first Murakami and I certainly go for more!Book Review: Imagination
Summary: 1 Stars
I know it's not cool to say this but what does it all mean? Eri asleep, Eri asleep on the television, dark shadows moving between the real and the television. None of this seems to link with the main story, which itself is far-fetched. I think the king has new clothes!Book Review: One for insomniacs
Summary: 3 Stars
It takes place in one night. Another great Haruki novel though not his best.Beautifully descriptive. Brilliant ending very human.Book Review: A cut above most other novelists, but not Ms best
Summary: 3 Stars
Firstly, i must say that i rank Murakami among the finest novelists writing today, and it is a travesty that (as far as i can make out) he is largely ignored by the general reader. For those that wish to read the creme de la creme of his output, then Dance Dance Dance, The Elephant Vanishes, Kafka on the Shore and especially The Wind Up Bird Chronicle are the books to read. That is not to say After Dark is bad, but i imagine it could put of anyone wishing to plunge themselves into the beguiling pit of images that is the imagination of Mr Murakami.
Taking place over the course of one night, the novel concerns a young girl in a cafe, there to escape the duties her unconscious sister has bestowed on her, for she has been 'asleep' for three months. The book shifts between the journeys both of these women go on, both very different but extremely significant. I won't tell you the details of the plot for fear it would spoil it but what i would say is that never before have i read a novel that created the strange alien atmosphere of night so completely, so much so that it is by far the most interesting character in the book, for a character it is. Night is the main protagonist in the story, evoking a mood from everyone, allowing some to hide and plot whilst others bloom and flourish. As well as telling a specific story, as the novel progresses i felt many other stories were there waiting to be told, with some characters barely given room to breathe. The effect of this is two-fold; a sense that we are looking through a family photograph album, focused on a series of individuals but occasionally others will slip in, and a feeling of disappointment that the writer did not give space to flesh these characters out. This is my main criticism of the book, its length. Like its predecessor Kafka On The Shore the novel poses far more questions than it answers, but the reader is given no time to ponder the significance of them, or their perceptiveness.
If you are looking for a quick, enjoyable and reasonably thought provoking read, then this is perfect, but for those that are seeking to sink your teeth deep into something, then look somewhere else.
Book Review: Kafka on the Wane?
Summary: 2 Stars
I came to Murakami's work a little late - there's no excuse, really - but 'Kafka on the Shore' won me over. For better or worse, almost certainly the former, its enigmatic characters and calculated prose struck a chord in this reader. Plus, cats. It's a book I've recommended to many, and I'll continue to do so. It also started me on quite the trip, as over the next few years I travelled through Murakami's back catalogue, largely loving those fictional delights I found there. There were a few hiccups, of course - although some of the author's short stories are unqualified successes, the vast majority of them simply didn't have the length to exude the sense of depth that is perhaps the greatest draw of Murakami's work. But overall, it would be difficult to argue that we are witnessing anything less than the development of one of our era's greatest literary minds.
Sadly, I can't proclaim that 'After Dark' continues this evolution. Murakami's premise is an uncharacteristically simple one, which certainly contributes to the brevity of the text - but this is not a novel you want to go on for any longer than it does. The notion of the night as a character is tired as is, and regardless of the length of 'After Dark', it is a premise stretched far beyond its means. We have much to be grateful to longtime translator Jay Rubin for, but his work this time around is particularly literal, and to the reader's detriment. Add to this Murakami's jarringly self-conscious use of certain narrative devices, an overwhelmingly uninteresting cast of characters, stilted dialogue, I could go on. Some of these failings would be easier to forgive if they were enveloped in better developed narratives such as those to be found through Murakami's back-catalogue, but in 'After Dark' they stand out, silhouettes against the tacky neon twilight of the city at night.
I for one won't be giving up on this author - most every writer makes a misstep or two over the course of their career, and when you consider the sheer depth of his talent as evident in texts such as 'The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle' and 'Kafka on the Shore', to ignore Murakami on the basis on one misguided novella would be a sore loss indeed. I certainly won't be alone in waiting with baited breath for his next work, but perhaps, for the future, Murakami might benefit somewhat from turning the lights back on.