Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Kafka on the Wane?, 4 Sep 2007
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.
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44 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
After Dark is the distilled essence of everything Murakami has ever written., 3 Jun 2007
"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.
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11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Magical, 9 Jun 2008
A girl sitting on her own in a cafe late at night is approached by a boy she dated two years previously. Her beautiful sister sleeps as she has done for two months watched only by a mysterious man on an unplugged television. Another girl is violently beaten. The narratives connect and disconnect. Characters zoom in and out of focus as the night draws on and morning approaches. We observe the scenes as voyeurs looking through a camera tracking its movements. We hear the conversations and the strange, frequently surreal series of events flow. The beautiful descriptions conjure a melancholy feeling, an understanding of why the girl has chosen to sleep. Locations have a mystic and magical quality that disguise their humdrum ordinary nature and allow the novel to flow like a strange dream.
At times, this seductive fable is held back by lengthy passages of rather mundane dialogue but otherwise this is a bold and captivating story.
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