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.

Murikami

It’s been a while since I’d read Murikami, and as I work my way through the read around the world challenge, I thought he’d make a good pick for Japan. I have read quite a few of his releases, but this was one that had sat in the TBR digital pile for some time.

There’s just an atmosphere to his books that’s hard to describe - a thin divide between this world of people and relationships and things, to that of talking cats and reflections in mirrors that take on a life of their own. I often think of the late great David Lynch when I consider Murakami’s work, where the conscious and subconscious overlap.

You just know you’re reading Murikami from the feel of the book. I know it’s a translation, but his writing feels so unique. This one is no different and has the feeling of Hoppers ‘Nighthawks at the dinner’ transported to downtown Tokyo.

Characters and plot

The book centres around Mari, a college student whiling away the hours in an all night diner. She’s soon joined by a Takahashi, a young man who plays trombone, who is friends with her oldersister Eri, a literal sleeping beauty who won’t wake up and is a mystery to her family and medical profession. Before long, we’re introduced to love hotel owners, Chinese gangsters and prostitutes, as well as a violent salary man. Oh, and a mysterious figure who watches sleeping Eri through a TV set. Just the usual Murikami cast of oddballs and memorable characters.

Plot? Honestly, there’s not much of it but enough to keep you anchored to this somewhat odd world. This is a book more about feeling and mood, and that will pull you along. Hey, it’s a Murikami novel, whatdoyouexpect?

There’s so much going on under the surface in his novels, and it’s as always my opinion, but this to me was a novel about loneliness and the disconnect we feel from the modern world. Like Eri, there’s a desire to withdraw completely from the world. But where is she - it feels like some sort of inbetween place.

But going by the odd television man - can we ever truly escape these days? It feels like we’re constantly under surveillance. Maybe my understanding is too simplistic, but that’s how it felt to me. There’s a feeling of emptiness in this book for me, a disconnect.

This feels a bit slighter than other Murikami novels, and it finished too early for me. Not that I ever expect answers from his novels. The plot is fairly simplistic, but that didn’t bother me. I did enjoy this twilight world, and liked the budding relationship between Mari and Takahashi.

Murikami has been one of my favourite authors over the years. Apart from having read most of his back catalogue, I listen to his jazz collections on Spotify. I don’t think this is top tier Murikami for me, but I think I’ll probably enjoy it more next time I read it.

Amazon US Amazon UK

256 Pages

Published April 29 2008