Book 8: After Dark - Haruki Murakami

After Dark is a snapshot of one night in Tokyo spanning from 11:56PM to 6:43AM. It didn't feel like a full-length novel, though it was, but it acted like one because it took me long enough to get through it (if you pay close attention you'll see that there is a one month gap between my blog posts). It reminded me of a short movie I saw last week, Osvaldo's, in that you dive into a specific moment in someone's life, you experience one event, and then you leave. It's like you're visiting the novel, just like you visit a person. You get a taste of them and their experience for the brief time that you're with them, but you don't live with them, so you don't really know.

The action point that moves the story forward is: a Chinese prostitute gets beaten by a Japanese businessman in a love hotel. He takes all of her clothing and possessions leaving her bleeding naked on the floor. She can't speak a word of Japanese. Enter Mari a Japanese student who speaks Chinese reasonably well. She consoles her and with the help of the love hotel manager contacts the Chinese mob man to come pick her up. And that's the only action point in the entire novel really. Thereafter, Murakami switches scenes cycling between conversations with Mari and acquaintances, glimpses at the overworked Japanese businessman's work life that night post-'love hotel beatdown,' and Eri Asai, Mari's picture perfect sister who has been sleeping for 2 months straight.

To me, this novel can't be described by the events that happen. That's why I didn't do a good job at explaining them. This novel was about relationships, about people. I feel that Murakami uses certain circumstances to reveal personalities, to reveal the nature of existence. The events themselves don't have much depth. Not romantic relationships. Not strong relationships. Just people, every day people. How people affect each other. Sometimes these people know each other, sometimes they affect each other in passing. Regardless, people are pretty ordinary and all the same. If you're looking for a heroine or an extraordinary person, this book is not for you. This book is about regular people, and Mari who is the center of attention isn't all that special. She's a regular girl like any other. I like that.

The one thing I really appreciated about this book was the music. Murakami has been known for incorporating music into his novels and for his strong taste and love for Jazz. After reading blurbs about the book, taking advice from people I decided to play the songs Murakami mentioned as he mentioned them, as I was reading. He does have great taste in music. Playing the music as I read brought my experience more to life.

Should you read this book? I don't know what to tell you. I'm a Murakami junkie, so I should.