"After Dark" by Haruki Murakami

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Posted: 3/5/08

Hakuri Murakami's short novel "After Dark" is a dark, compelling story about the lives of three people during the course of one night in Japan. Instead of by any one character, the story is being told from the omniscient point of view, and in this case it seems to show us the story through the lens of a camera. The story is also told in the present tense, thereby giving a sense of immediacy to the book. This really helps the reader get into the story. Because the book is over the course of one night, there are no dull spots, and every scene helps push the story forward.

The story opens with the first main character, Mari Asai, a young Japanese girl, reading alone in a Denny's. She is soon joined by a young musician named Tetsuya Takahashi and they begin chatting; eventually the subject turns to Mari's older sister, Eri, who has been sleeping for close to two months. Soon Tetsuya leaves and Mari is again reading alone. Not much longer, a woman bursts into the Denny's looking for Mari. The woman runs a "love hotel" - a place for one-night stands - and she has found a Chinese prostitute badly beaten. While Mari goes with this woman to try and help the young girl, her sister is also in trouble.

Eri Asai is a young, beautiful model. She also happens to be in danger. Throughout the story, Eri is in different stages of wakefulness, but for the most part she is sound asleep. However, as our camera-narrator watches her, we see her transported to a very different dream world from which she cannot escape. Her fate is mysteriously tied to a Japanese company-man, who is leading a mysterious double life; one is with his family, the other is spent entirely in the night. The same dark force that is haunting Eri seems to surround and even emanate from this man. Wherever he goes, a shadow of him seems to linger in the room, or his reflection on a mirror.

Murakami's latest novel is interesting and moving, and at the same time, it will send little chills down your spine. The book is a good read, and you will be thinking about it for a long time after you are done with it. Murakami's notions on life and family ties are moving and will have you thinking about your own. This book is definitely worth picking up. It's a fast read, which is good because you won't want to put it down.

- Andrew Myszka
edge staff