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A review by ibnu12
After Dark by Haruki Murakami
4.0
Murukami is sometimes unfairly pigenholded as a chronoclier of male brooding and isolation, "he can write only on charecter" is something even some of his fans asset. That assesment is rather unfair, and ignores one of the reason why his books retain their sense of popoularity. He excels par excellence in capturing the atomosphere and phaots of elements of urban life. The connection and isolation that comes with large cities, the freeedom to be alone that comes with proximity and density.
By itself the story of After Dark, set across one singular night is rather boring. Mari our most followed charecter's persoanlity so so withdrawn that beyond a general sense of disinterent and nihillism, she seems to lack any distinct persontality. Nor do any of the other charecters realy shine, they are all rather one note and flat. Karou is nice but drifting, her lifestory is told across a chapter before she leaves. Tetsuya is annoyingly nice and persistn in trying to get into Mari's pants, a sort of unnervingly reconizable outgoingess. Shirakawa is just banaly evil and brutal, hurting his family mundane and others even more deeply.
Rather what makes this story stand out is Murukamis excellent capture of the late night urban fabric and those drawn to it. Students looking for love or escaping the suffocation of home, those trying to hide from something in fringers of society, or a place to express their depravity in the darkness or simply those trying to strike a simple living.
The plot threads never realy resolve, we never find out if the chinese mafia take their revenge, or if Esai wakes-up or if Mari ever responds to Testuya's letter or if he even writes a letter. Rather as day breaks we are left uncomfortable knowing something has happend. The night bleeds cleanly into the day, but the actions and conseuquences are never resolved. I leave the book feeling something familiar, to my own night wandering the city seeking out nothing in paricular. But it is hard to put into words quite what that it is.
The weakes parts of the books were the metaphysical elements that seemed to come from some other narrative and clashed badly with the downtown late night urban fabric most of the story is set in.
By itself the story of After Dark, set across one singular night is rather boring. Mari our most followed charecter's persoanlity so so withdrawn that beyond a general sense of disinterent and nihillism, she seems to lack any distinct persontality. Nor do any of the other charecters realy shine, they are all rather one note and flat. Karou is nice but drifting, her lifestory is told across a chapter before she leaves. Tetsuya is annoyingly nice and persistn in trying to get into Mari's pants, a sort of unnervingly reconizable outgoingess. Shirakawa is just banaly evil and brutal, hurting his family mundane and others even more deeply.
Rather what makes this story stand out is Murukamis excellent capture of the late night urban fabric and those drawn to it. Students looking for love or escaping the suffocation of home, those trying to hide from something in fringers of society, or a place to express their depravity in the darkness or simply those trying to strike a simple living.
The plot threads never realy resolve, we never find out if the chinese mafia take their revenge, or if Esai wakes-up or if Mari ever responds to Testuya's letter or if he even writes a letter. Rather as day breaks we are left uncomfortable knowing something has happend. The night bleeds cleanly into the day, but the actions and conseuquences are never resolved. I leave the book feeling something familiar, to my own night wandering the city seeking out nothing in paricular. But it is hard to put into words quite what that it is.
The weakes parts of the books were the metaphysical elements that seemed to come from some other narrative and clashed badly with the downtown late night urban fabric most of the story is set in.