Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - After Dark

Reviews tagging Sexual assault

After Dark, by Haruki Murakami

16 reviews

whosjessanyway's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

I am struggling to rate this book. The atmosphere is fantastic. The night life, the loneliness of some characters was depicted perfectly. However, I kind of felt the need to get some answers that never came.

Spoiler

Why did that man did what he did to the Chinese girl? What actually happened to Mari’s sister? Who was the man without face?

The story felt a little bit disconnected at times but I don’t think I will forget this reading experience any time soon, and there’s also a lot of value in the ability to make a story stick with the reader.

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frog8716b's review

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mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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exocbx's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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caitlinderocker's review

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reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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eisenbuns's review

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dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

It feels appropriate to finish this after sunset. This was my first Murakami and while I’m not sure exactly how to analyze it right now, I’m definitely going to be sitting with it for a long time. Atmospherically, it really captured the strange liminal spaces that can only be accessed in the middle of the night. I loved how experimental the writing was— it read more like a screenplay than a novel, complete with a fly-on-the-wall narrator which broke the fourth wall, making the audience complicit in its voyeurism.

Reading this, I had no idea how I’d end up rating it. I think I have to give it five stars. The more I think about it, the more I love it.

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stormking7's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I really like reading this again and again to dive deeper into the world; hoping to grasp answers to all questions I have yet to get an explanation for.

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aspenpastore's review

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dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

"After Dark," is a haunting reflection on the ephemeral fleeting nature of who we are in relation to others. We follow characters Mari -- a University student fluent in Chinese aspiring to be a translator, and Takahashi -- a law student stealing away at night to practice Jazz trombone. We meet Mari and Takahashi in a Denny's, and Mari is soon needed to translate for a Chinese prostitute in a love hotel. After the incident, Mari shares that her sister Eri has grown distant over the years and they have grown apart due to Eri's modeling career. Eri has recently entered a deep unending sleep, and Mari realizes how much she misses her sister.

This book is dark, covers some challenging topics, and is mysterious. The prose is excellent and immersive. I enjoyed it immensely save for certain sexist passages.

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