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43 of 55 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Toast so crispy it is almost burnt, May 15, 2007
Writing about one's favorite author is a hard thing to do. Like many other Murakami fans, I have been anxiously waiting for the release of After Dark after the short story collection Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman whetted my appetite. However, after having been a fan of Murakami's fiction for almost six years now, I am well aware that in all likelihood that After Dark would be a lighter work after the considerably larger volume of Kafka on the Shore. Also, having read bits of the Japanese edition, I was aware that After Dark was written in a different style than Murakami's previous novels. Most readers are familiar with Murakami's deadpan, first-person narrator and not with some of his latter third person work and some critics wonder if Murakami's style is truly suited for third person writing. Yet, in this slim volume, Murakami takes things even further. Our omniscient narrator continually uses the pronoun "We" throughout the book thereby smashing the fourth wall and bringing the reader into the mix, but he continually reminds us that we are a powerless spectator that out personal actions have no bearing on what occurs in the book itself, but the personal involvement within the book and Murakami's use of cinematic style in framing scenes, including detailed lists of montage, adds considerably to the book. The reader might notice that this book is Murakami at his most descriptive. Never have I seen him detail the setting as much as he does within this book.
As for the story itself, in some ways it is not quite as interesting as the mechanics of writing that Murakami uses in this book's fewer than 200 pages. The story centers around a nineteen-year old girl named Mari who one night decides that she wants to spend the night reading within the confines of a Denny's instead of going home. While there she encounters a young man named Takahashi who invites himself to sit at her table to order a chicken salad. During their conversation we soon learn that Mari has an older sister named Eri who is strikingly beautiful and Mari is considerably less than happy at home. Also, we learn that, although she is Japanese, Mari is quite fluent in Chinese and in fact speaks it more than her native language. Takahashi soon leaves, but soon a large woman, pure muscle not fat, named Kaoru comes to seek Mari in order to gain her help. It seems that a young Chinese prostitute was beaten severely by a patron and she does not speak a word of Japanese. We also learn that the name of the love hotel is Alphaville and for those who are fans of Godard's film of the same name will have many levers switched.
Like in many of his other novels, the conscious and the unconscious states of mind play large parts within this book, but unlike many of the earlier ones, Murakami writes directly on the subject and many of his common themes are tied together within this book. Also, it is quite interesting to read Murakami's take on urban life in Japan and making the city itself a living, breathing creature and how it thrives off its denizens. While not one of his best books, After Dark displays Murakami's evolution as a writer and shows him breaking away from some of the plot devices that are common in his novels, no missing women in this one!, some might find this change to be a bit much, but it shows growth within the being of a writer in his late fifties, and makes one wonder what is to come in the future.
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30 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Doesn't meet the standard set by his earlier works, October 8, 2006
As much as it pains me to say this, After Dark is by far my least favorite Murakami novel. Murakami had already begun to experiment with his style in Kafka on the Shore, but After Dark is clearly a large leap in a new direction. Unfortunately, I can't say this first effort is successful. The story is cryptic as expected but for a Murakami novel the pace and writing is oddly flat. Unlike works like Wind-Up Bird and Hard-boiled Wonderland, I just was not able to care enough to fully immerse myself in this book. In some ways this story just felt like a bit of a private experiment of sorts, where Murakami spent more time focusing on technical issues (perspective in particular) rather than developing the story. In the end, as an old Murakami hand, I can't give this story more than 3 stars based on the high quality of his other works.
Where Murakami will go next is a bit of a mystery. The final five stories in Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman were written after After Dark and bear more of a similarity to his earlier style than they do to this novel. Will he return to a brand of the mystic realism that has made him popular both in Japan and abroad, or will he continue the difficult process of reinventing himself? I hope Murakami has not run out of steam, but if After Dark is a sign of things to come then I'm afraid the period from the mid-80s through the mid-90s will be remembered as Murakami's halcyon days. His next work will be the key--as a fan of his work, I hope that my pessimism is unfounded and his next novel is a return to the greatness he is capable of. Personally, I look forward to reading other reviews of this book (as well as feedback on my own) to see what other readers think ... I have a feeling opinions will be divided.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Murakami's Surprise, May 29, 2007
The latest from Haruki Murakami, "After Dark" is more meditation than novel. And yet that floating sensation I got when I read the best of Murakami, "Windup Bird Chronicle", "Kafka on the Shore," didn't happen for me with "After Dark."
One character never awakes and her sister never sleeps. The plot, such as there is one, revolves around a brutal midnight attack on a girl by a john at a love motel.
One of the characters says, "It used to be after the sun set, people would just crawl in their caves and protect themselves. Our internal clocks are still set for us to sleep after the sun goes down." "After Dark" is about how we resist this biological imperative and how that resistance messes with our heads.
I'm a huge Murakami fan and I admire what he does here. Yes, it has some of the usual touches; alienated youth, the pop culture references and weird points of view. But there is very little of his trademark magical realism or narrative development in "After Dark." So while I liked "After Dark" and respect Murakami's willingness to venture into new territory, I can't recommend a newcomer to his work to start here.
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