After Dark
After Dark
By Haruki Murakami “After Dark is a streamlined, hushed ensemble piece...Standing above the common gloom, Murakami detects phosphorescence everywhere, but chiefly in the auras around people, which glow brightest at night and when combined.” (The New York Times Book Review) The appraisal given by The New York Times undoubtedly highlights how the characters in the story of Haruki Murakami weave their lives together in just one night. The characters in this novel have established deeper and more meaningful relations with one another and are all connected to each other through some string of fate. In order to give more emphasis on the bonds of the characters in After Dark, another of Haruki Murakami’s works can be used: The Elephant Vanishes. In this short story, readers will notice how there is a detachment of the main character from forming any deeper bonds. There is already a limited number of people to interact with, yet there is a lack of connection among them. There is a clear difference between the relationships formed among the characters in After Dark as compared to the characters in The Elephant Vanishes. After Dark is set in Tokyo at the unholy hours of midnight until 6:50 am and it goes without saying how strange things happen during the strangest of hours. The specificity shows how carefully monitored the story is; the time is ticking away in the background as the characters’ lives develop and slowly reveal their mysteries. At such a time of the night, one would think that people are fast asleep, yet here are the characters of After Dark, awake and going about their business like on any regular day. The atmosphere through out the book is a seriousness and sort of heavy feeling as readers try to make sense of Eri Asai’s unnatural slumber, the connections the characters form with each other and the presence of Shirakawa in almost everywhere. One will also notice how the characters, specifically Mari Asai, open up themselves to
By Haruki Murakami “After Dark is a streamlined, hushed ensemble piece...Standing above the common gloom, Murakami detects phosphorescence everywhere, but chiefly in the auras around people, which glow brightest at night and when combined.” (The New York Times Book Review) The appraisal given by The New York Times undoubtedly highlights how the characters in the story of Haruki Murakami weave their lives together in just one night. The characters in this novel have established deeper and more meaningful relations with one another and are all connected to each other through some string of fate. In order to give more emphasis on the bonds of the characters in After Dark, another of Haruki Murakami’s works can be used: The Elephant Vanishes. In this short story, readers will notice how there is a detachment of the main character from forming any deeper bonds. There is already a limited number of people to interact with, yet there is a lack of connection among them. There is a clear difference between the relationships formed among the characters in After Dark as compared to the characters in The Elephant Vanishes. After Dark is set in Tokyo at the unholy hours of midnight until 6:50 am and it goes without saying how strange things happen during the strangest of hours. The specificity shows how carefully monitored the story is; the time is ticking away in the background as the characters’ lives develop and slowly reveal their mysteries. At such a time of the night, one would think that people are fast asleep, yet here are the characters of After Dark, awake and going about their business like on any regular day. The atmosphere through out the book is a seriousness and sort of heavy feeling as readers try to make sense of Eri Asai’s unnatural slumber, the connections the characters form with each other and the presence of Shirakawa in almost everywhere. One will also notice how the characters, specifically Mari Asai, open up themselves to