Take a photo of a barcode or cover
radominic 's review for:
After Dark
by Haruki Murakami
3.8
Atmosphere. Sweet, dream-like, sex, and the criminal underworld. After Dark focuses on darkness not only in the atmosphere of Tokyo, but that lies deep within us or unknowingly near us. The lives of everyday people are clouded by darkness which only appears at night.
The writing was spectacular, however, I wasn't into the use of the third-person perspective dialogue being hijacked into a film camera perspective and direction guidance. It wasn't horrendous. I thought it was unique, but it did take me out of the otherwise poetic and truth-hitting narrative voice.
I've always loved stories where strangers or practically strangers randomly meet for a short time, developing a deep connection whether platonic or romantic (especially romantic) through mostly dialogue, and then part ways, forever changed by the discussion and choices made by that single interaction. God, those stories affect some personal cause they get under my skin and linger there.
And of course, Mari and Takahashi were my favorite of all the stories. I would've read an entire book with just them talking and walking the late-night streets of Tokyo. The conversations were all that profound, but I love sitting in moments and just letting characters go and being fully realized people. I loved how typically in these types of settings the woman would be the chatty person while the man is more reserved and it takes him a little bit to break out of his ridge silence. However, the roles are reversed. Mari is the silence(almost annoyed type at the start) and Takahashi is the overly enthused conversationalist. While Mari does open up throughout the night, Takahashi remains the most willing to speak freely almost like a stream of consciousness.
Atmosphere. Sweet, dream-like, sex, and the criminal underworld. After Dark focuses on darkness not only in the atmosphere of Tokyo, but that lies deep within us or unknowingly near us. The lives of everyday people are clouded by darkness which only appears at night.
The writing was spectacular, however, I wasn't into the use of the third-person perspective dialogue being hijacked into a film camera perspective and direction guidance. It wasn't horrendous. I thought it was unique, but it did take me out of the otherwise poetic and truth-hitting narrative voice.
I've always loved stories where strangers or practically strangers randomly meet for a short time, developing a deep connection whether platonic or romantic (especially romantic) through mostly dialogue, and then part ways, forever changed by the discussion and choices made by that single interaction. God, those stories affect some personal cause they get under my skin and linger there.
And of course, Mari and Takahashi were my favorite of all the stories. I would've read an entire book with just them talking and walking the late-night streets of Tokyo. The conversations were all that profound, but I love sitting in moments and just letting characters go and being fully realized people. I loved how typically in these types of settings the woman would be the chatty person while the man is more reserved and it takes him a little bit to break out of his ridge silence. However, the roles are reversed. Mari is the silence(almost annoyed type at the start) and Takahashi is the overly enthused conversationalist. While Mari does open up throughout the night, Takahashi remains the most willing to speak freely almost like a stream of consciousness.