After Dark (Murakami novel)

after dark

First edition (Japanese)
Author Haruki Murakami
Original title 'アフターダーク
Afutā Dāku
Translator Jay Rubin
Country Japan
Language Japanese
Publisher Kodansha (Japan)
Harvill Press (UK)
Alfred A. Knopf (US)
Publication date
 2004
Published in English
 May 2007
Media type Print (Hardcover)
Pages 208
ISBN ISBN 0-307-26583-8 (US)
ISBN 1-84655-047-5 (UK)
OCLC 81861840

After Dark (アフターダーク Afutā Dāku) is a novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. It was originally published in 2004.

Plot summary

Alienation, a recurring motif in the works of Murakami, is the central theme in this novel set in metropolitan Tokyo over the course of one night. Main characters include Mari Asai, a 19-year-old student, who is spending the night reading in a Denny's. There she meets Takahashi Tetsuya, a trombone-playing student who loves Curtis Fuller's "Five Spot After Dark" song on Blues-ette; Takahashi knows Mari's sister Eri, who he was once interested in, and insists that the group of them have hung out before. Meanwhile, Eri is in a deep sleep next to a television and seems to be haunted by a menacing figure.

Mari crosses ways with a retired female wrestler, Kaoru, now working as a manager in a love hotel called "Alphaville". Kaoru needs Mari to talk to a Chinese prostitute who had just been beaten in the love hotel by an office worker, Shirakawa. The group then tries to track down Shirakawa, and includes the Chinese mafia group that 'owns' the prostitute.

Parts of the story take place in a world between reality and dream, and each chapter begins with an image of a clock depicting the passage of time throughout the night.

Structure

The story is broken down in small chapters of varying length. An added element of interest—and perhaps a post-modern reference—is the fact that the book has a 'real-time' timeline, beginning at the early hours of the night.

References and sources