It’s also a rare Murakami novel that is narrated in the third person, with particular significance. In After Dark, it’s the night that takes center stage.įrom the opening, the night is kept alive as the city pulses: “Midnight is approaching, and while the peak of activity has passed, the basal metabolism that maintains life continues undiminished, producing the basso continuo of the city’s moan, a monotonous sound that neither rises nor falls but is pregnant with foreboding.” Across the narrative, we get to tour around a certain city district, visiting places that contribute to that “basso continuo” of the nighttime: A Denny’s diner, a love hotel named Alphaville, an all-night convenience store, among others, not to mention the souls that stay awake during this time, for various reasons. Elements of Murakami’s characteristic style-magic realism, pensive characters, jazz music-are ever present, if not subdued.

His typical artful mix of realism and surrealism creates an overall dreamlike affair within a well-paced and efficient narrative. Murakami observes and explores the urban setting during these nocturnal hours while digging for the surreal in deserted offices, bathroom mirrors, and television screens. Recently, I gave it a third read and thought I should write a review to gather my thoughts and make an analysis.Īfter Dark zooms, pans, and watches over late night Tokyo over a roughly seven-hour time frame, beginning just before midnight and ending at sunrise. Reading it a second time a while back, I found a whole new appreciation to it, as it has easily become one of my favorite Murakami novels due to its simplicity and subtlety.

As a less mature reader at that time, it initially ran counter to my expectations of it being some edgy urban thriller. 244 pgs.Ī few years back in high school, After Dark served as my official introduction to Haruki Murakami’s fiction. Haruki Murakami (author), Jay Rubin (translator), After Dark, Vintage, 2007.

After dark murakami review