≫ PDF Free After Dark Haruki Murakami Jay Rubin 9780307265838 Books

After Dark Haruki Murakami Jay Rubin 9780307265838 Books

Download As PDF : After Dark Haruki Murakami Jay Rubin 9780307265838 Books

After Dark Haruki Murakami Jay Rubin 9780307265838 Books

Imagine if you were a non-human observing people's conversations and interactions in the overnight hours in downtown Tokyo. After Dark's first-person plural narration creates the sense that we are this type of observer, blending the mundane with a metaphysical surrealism.

Mari is spending the night away from home, where her beautiful older sister had been in a state of prolonged sleep for two months. While downtown between the hours of midnight and 6 a.m., Mari crosses paths with a cast of interesting people, each isolated and lonely in their own way, in a Denny's and a nearby "love hotel."

Meanwhile, the short chapters switch between the characters who are awake and Mari's sister, Esi Ari; it's these chapters where Murakami's signature surrealism comes into play: Esi Ari seems to transcend the boundaries of the world as we know it, all while in her deep sleep.

After Dark is a strange and bewitching meditation on temporality and dualism: as Mari discusses her sister with a man she meets, she alludes more than once to them living "different lives," and the omnipresent narrator observes that each human being is "simultaneously a self-contained whole and a mere part." Of course, there's also the duality of night and day, and a sense that certain events could only ever take place in the former.

As with much of Murakami's fiction, there's an elusiveness to After Dark. Sometimes that can be frustrating, but in such an ephemeral, dreamlike setting (and with a relatively low page count) it mostly works. I read this one for a book club and am really looking forward to hearing how everyone interpreted it.


Tags : After Dark [Haruki Murakami, Jay Rubin] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. A short, sleek novel of encounters set in Tokyo during the witching hours between midnight and dawn, and every bit as gripping as Haruki Murakami’s masterworks The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle</i> and Kafka on the Shore.</i> At its center are two sisters—Eri,Haruki Murakami, Jay Rubin,After Dark,Knopf,0307265838,Literary,Models (Persons);Fiction.,Sisters;Fiction.,Students;Fiction.,FICTION Literary,Fiction,Fiction - General,Fiction General,Fiction-Coming of Age,Fiction-General,GENERAL,General Adult,Japan,MURAKAMI, HARUKI - PROSE & CRITICISM,Models (Persons),Sisters,Students,United States

After Dark Haruki Murakami Jay Rubin 9780307265838 Books Reviews

Other reviewers said this was not one of Murakami's best books. The premise interested me so I thought I should read it first so that I wouldn't be disappointed after reading any of his other works.
I must say that if this is not the best of Murikami then I am going to be reading some outstanding books.
Not everyone may like this style of writing but I'll try to give a description, probably not the greatest but this is not an ordinary writing style for those used to popular Western writing.
You are guided through the story as if you are a third party observer. You do not interact with those you are observing. This is not about the emotions of the reader, but about taking in the experiences of Mari, a 19 year old girl, in the dark hours of the night. She is out late because she can't sleep while her famous and beautiful, older sister sleeps and does not wake up.
The author speaks to the reader as if he were a director or a private tour guide in a museum. It is a mystery of a different type.
I hope that those testing this style will enjoy it.
"After Dark" was a selection made in preparation for my travels around Japan. The criteria – contemporary Japanese literature by a Japanese writer set in modern Japan. I’ve enjoyed a number of historical novels set in Japan during war times but wanted this selection to convey Japan in its current state; how else could I experience the sense of déjà vu when actually in the country? Set in Tokyo between the hours of 1156pm and 652am, "After Dark" is filled with metaphor and symbolism on awareness – of self, others and surroundings. This thematic landscape allows Murakami to explore, on various levels, the extent to which people are “awake”. The novel is narrated by Consciousness with a pace and tone reminiscent of the narrator from the Twilight Zone. The dialogue is as believable as its characters. I enjoyed this trippy walk through the characters’ state of mind and mindfulness. "He is considering aspects of the interrelationship of thought and action.", observes the story’s narrator of a character’s thoughts while he’s eating breakfast. I'm still mulling over that observation and many more from the novel.

"After Dark" is a contemplative exploration that didn’t necessarily provide the sense of déjà vu that I typically experience when traveling to a country that I’ve explored through some of its literature. In completing the book, I found that the sense of familiarity I experienced was not connected to any place visited, food eaten, or excursion taken; but through the introspection of the character and the observations of the story’s narrator. This was a good selection. Highly Recommended.
After Dark is a quick and interesting read that unfurls over the course of one night. We get a glimpse into the lives of people who work, play, or party when most people sleep. The time between dusk and dawn is explored as a metaphor on many levels, in several ways. It gives the reader a lot to think about and reflect upon.

I loved the storyline with Mari (19 yr old student) and Takahashi (a trombone player in a band). They share a connection through Mari’s sister, Eri, who is in a deep and possibly dark sleep. I didn’t not like the unseen observer “point of view” narration in the Eri storyline. I found it distracting. I did enjoy the cast of “night people” encountered throughout the story.

Two quotes that state what the book tries to capture are

“The new day is almost here, but the old one is still dragging its heavy skirts. Just as ocean water in the river water struggle against each other at a river mouth, the old time and the new time clash blend. He is unable to tell for sure which side, which world, contains his center of gravity.”

“It could be a day like all others, or could be a day remarkable enough in many ways to remain in the memory. In either case, for now, for most people, it is a blank sheet of paper.”

Not my favorite Murakami book, but it certainly caused me to pause and pay closer attention to the world/people around me.
Imagine if you were a non-human observing people's conversations and interactions in the overnight hours in downtown Tokyo. After Dark's first-person plural narration creates the sense that we are this type of observer, blending the mundane with a metaphysical surrealism.

Mari is spending the night away from home, where her beautiful older sister had been in a state of prolonged sleep for two months. While downtown between the hours of midnight and 6 a.m., Mari crosses paths with a cast of interesting people, each isolated and lonely in their own way, in a Denny's and a nearby "love hotel."

Meanwhile, the short chapters switch between the characters who are awake and Mari's sister, Esi Ari; it's these chapters where Murakami's signature surrealism comes into play Esi Ari seems to transcend the boundaries of the world as we know it, all while in her deep sleep.

After Dark is a strange and bewitching meditation on temporality and dualism as Mari discusses her sister with a man she meets, she alludes more than once to them living "different lives," and the omnipresent narrator observes that each human being is "simultaneously a self-contained whole and a mere part." Of course, there's also the duality of night and day, and a sense that certain events could only ever take place in the former.

As with much of Murakami's fiction, there's an elusiveness to After Dark. Sometimes that can be frustrating, but in such an ephemeral, dreamlike setting (and with a relatively low page count) it mostly works. I read this one for a book club and am really looking forward to hearing how everyone interpreted it.