After Dark by Haruki Murakami

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This is the second novel I’ve read by critically acclaimed novelist Haruki Murakami. I really enjoyed 1Q84 so I was eager to read his other works. After Dark is much shorter than 1Q84 but the style and themes are familiar. Murakami likes to write about the mundane aspects of life including meal preparation and hygiene routines. Some readers might find these extended passages detailing how a character goes about freshening up, working out, or preparing dinner to be tedious but somehow I found reading them to be soothing. It also sparked in me an awareness that all of us, whether we’re morally bankrupt or upstanding citizens, eat, fuck, and defecate, which I think may be Murakami’s point.

Another familiar theme is that of violence against women. In both 1Q84 and After Dark violence against women is portrayed with a clinical frankness which serves to highlight how commonplace and accepted violence against women remains in Japan. 1Q84 explored vengeance as a response to violence against women and After Dark does as well but with more subtlety. After Dark implores the reader to consider the sometimes blurry relationship between vengeance and justice. Through a small cast of unique characters Murakami explores the ripple effect of violence and exploitation; he reveals how the emotional and psychological devastation impacts not only the individual but those close to her as well.

Much of the book involves, what some might call, magical realism. After reading the book I honestly couldn’t tell if certain scenes were meant to be taken literally or read as symbolic. For some reason though, I felt certain that I understood what had occurred even if I didn’t know what had occurred. I know that sounds crazy but it’s true. I think therein lies the genius of the novel. The symbols are such that they don’t really require explanation, which makes for a rewarding if somewhat disorienting reading experience. If you’re curious about Haruki Murakami but daunted by the length of 1Q84, After Dark is a more compact example of his style and brilliance.