Much of After Dark will be familiar, even to the Western reader. The book starts in a Denny’s, and along the way we visit a 7-Eleven, check out TV shows, and listen to rock and jazz music. But these are all part of Murakami’s elaborate set-up. The moments of normalcy never last long in his narratives.
Murakami’s willingness to twist and turn his plots in strange directions is reminiscent of the work of French director Jean-Luc Godard. It is perhaps significant that the love hotel in After Dark is called Alphaville, the name of Godard’s inspired 1965 film. In this movie, Godard presented a dystopian sci-fi world in which no special effects were used and the sets were Parisian streets. The strange planet, in essence, was very much like our own.
Murakami achieves a similar effect here. His After Dark is a potent and disturbing work, one that is all the more effective for the familiar aspects it presents. He reminds us that the essence of horror in the post-modern narrative is not some gothic extravagance, but the realities that await us outside our doorstep.
Article comments
1 - Katie
I wanted to read this one before I read your review and now I think I'll just have to get my copy ASAP. I haven't read anything else of his, although I have heard of him. I'm looking forward to it.
2 - Natalie Bennett
This article has been selected for syndication to Advance.net , which is affiliated with newspapers around the United States, and to Boston.com. Nice work!
3 - monty mike
Thanks for the review, look forward to reading. Big Murakami fan.
4 - Citric Acid
i have just finished reading 'after dark'. And again the author did what he does best, mesmerized me with his many scenes through the imagery of his words.
Very dreamy :)
5 - Jim Harris
I wonder how much the translation to English effects this stark little novel? It's very vivid and contemporary but has little to suggest Japanese culture. It's almost as if world culture has all melded together. It had more American pop culture than Japanese. Was the cultural specifics converted for American readers, or do people in Japan eat at Denny's and shop at 7-Eleven?
6 - Josh
In response to Jim Harris, yes -- Denny's and 7-Eleven both exist in Japan... and in higher density than in the US at that.
7 - Jon
Also in a response to Jim Harris. There was an interview Murakami gave to salon.com a few years in regards to his book The Wind Up Bird Chronicle. On the whole he has considered that particular book to be his most Japanese. He said this because he wrote most of it while in the United States. He says for many of his other novels the inverse is true; in his other novels he (in his own words) tends to write with a more western influence intentionally. This may indicate some of these extra touches you are referring to. It seems to be a common trait of his work.