The clever juxtaposition between both sisters worlds builds to an almost nightmarish quality by the end, with the unexplainable almost becoming a tangible plot - but not quite. Yet another more than worthwhile read from Murakami that takes place over one night. More simply for me, After Dark (once again for this author) conjured up the films of the Hong Kong film-maker Wong Kar-Wai and, in particular as far as the central relationship was concerned, that film-maker’s urban masterpiece, Chungking Express. I noticed one of the critical blurbs of the book likened it to a literary equivalent of the Richard Linklater film Before Sunrise, as if it had been directed by David Lynch. Along the way, many of the author’s characters give us their philosophical take on life and the circumstances that have led to them being marginalised characters in mainstream society and all of this is captured via the author’s deliciously easy-to-read, but highly evocative, prose. Around this central narrative, Murakami gives us a taste of the seedier side of urban nightlife, including an assault on a Chinese prostitute and a potential revenge attack by pimps/gangsters, repeatedly being taken in via a surreal bird’s eye view of proceedings. Charting one night (indicated by chapter headings with a time-advancing clock) in the intertwining lives of various big city dwellers, the author paints (at the tale’s centre) a beautifully fragile portrait of the budding friendship between two unassuming young protagonists, the 19-year old Mari, pining for a seemingly lost relationship with her older, more glamorous sister (Eri), and the carefree trombone-playing student, Takahashi, who spends his nights jamming with his musician friends. As I work my way through the works of Haruki Murakami, this 2004 short novel, running to around 200 pages, has (thus far, at least) provided the most 'perfectly formed’ blend of surreal elements, affecting characterisations and resolved narrative.

After dark murakami review