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A review by boezaaah
After Dark by Haruki Murakami
5.0
Well, Murakami is a highly praised author for a reason.
I genuinely, and wholeheartedly enjoyed this book from the first page until the last. The writing was stunning (all the credit to Jay Rubin for translating this so wonderfully) and every scene was set out in a way so perfect it's not even worth comparing it to something else. Being my first Murakami, I will admit that I was scared going in. I didn't know if I'd get on with his storytelling or his writing at all. But, my god, it was an experience I'll never forget.
This book follows a few extremely different characters and their interactions (direct and indirect) throughout one night. Each chapter starts with a time (beginning at 11:56pm and ending at 6:52am) and literally just follows our characters as they navigate the night. Murakami sets the scene with different tracks throughout the night (the playlists are on Spotify, and I highly recommend listening to it while reading this at night) and I think it was part of what made this book so perfect. From a bizarre and unpredictable event to a magical, cross-dimensional experience and a traumatic run-in with a 'love hotel', this book touches on so many things, and touches on them well. Not everything got an explanation, but not everything needed to. Some ends don't need to be tied up.
I just really loved this. I don't think anything I said made any type of sense. But if you made it this far, please give this a go.
I genuinely, and wholeheartedly enjoyed this book from the first page until the last. The writing was stunning (all the credit to Jay Rubin for translating this so wonderfully) and every scene was set out in a way so perfect it's not even worth comparing it to something else. Being my first Murakami, I will admit that I was scared going in. I didn't know if I'd get on with his storytelling or his writing at all. But, my god, it was an experience I'll never forget.
This book follows a few extremely different characters and their interactions (direct and indirect) throughout one night. Each chapter starts with a time (beginning at 11:56pm and ending at 6:52am) and literally just follows our characters as they navigate the night. Murakami sets the scene with different tracks throughout the night (the playlists are on Spotify, and I highly recommend listening to it while reading this at night) and I think it was part of what made this book so perfect. From a bizarre and unpredictable event to a magical, cross-dimensional experience and a traumatic run-in with a 'love hotel', this book touches on so many things, and touches on them well. Not everything got an explanation, but not everything needed to. Some ends don't need to be tied up.
I just really loved this. I don't think anything I said made any type of sense. But if you made it this far, please give this a go.