After Dark (Vintage International)

From Publishers WeeklyMurakami's 12th work of fiction is darkly entertaining and more novella than novel. Taking place over seven hours of a Tokyo night, it intercuts three loosely related stories, linked by Murakami's signature magical-realist absurd coincidences. When amateur trombonist and soon-to-be law student Tetsuya Takahashi walks into a late-night Denny's, he espies Mari Asai, 19, sitting by herself, and proceeds to talk himself back into her acquaintance. Tetsuya was once interested in plain Mari's gorgeous older sister, Eri, whom he courted, sort of, two summers previously. Murakami then cuts to Eri, asleep in what turns out to be some sort of menacing netherworld. Tetsuya leaves for overnight band practice, but soon a large, 30ish woman, Kaoru, comes into Denny's asking for Mari: Mari speaks Chinese, and Kaoru needs to speak to the Chinese prostitute who has just been badly beaten up in the nearby "love hotel" Kaoru manages. Murakami's omniscient looks at the lives of the sleeping Eri and the prostitute's assailant, a salaryman named Shirakawa, are sheer padding, but the probing, wonderfully improvisational dialogues Mari has with Tetsuya, Kaoru and a hotel worker named Korogi sustain the book until the ambiguous, mostly upbeat dénouement. (May) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. FromOther than an unexpected cheerfulness, After Dark is classic Haruki Murakami, featuring themes of loneliness and alienation, carefully crafted characters, Western references (such as an all-night Denny's where Hall & Oates plays in the background), and distinctive magical-realist twists of fate. Critics also praised the impassive, omniscient narration, like a constantly shifting video camera, which renders each scene in magnificent detail. The chief complaint was the brevity of the novel, and the Los Angeles Times felt that Eri's dreamlike scenes missed the mark as well. "For the unfamiliar, it's the perfect appetizer. For the established fan, it's a quick work that is over far too soon" (\_Denver Post\_).Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

cerca Ya De Medianoche, En Esas Horas En Que Todo Se Vuelve Dolorosamente Nítido O Angustiosamente Desdibujado, Mari, Sentada Sola A La Mesa De Un Bar-restaurante, Se Toma Un Café Mientras Lee. La Interrumpe Un Joven Músico, Takahashi, Al Que Mari Ha Visto Una única Vez, En Una Cita De Su Hermana Eri, Modelo Profesional. Esta, Mientras Tanto, Duerme En Su Habitación, Sumida En Un Sueño «demasiado Perfecto, Demasiado Puro». Mari Ha Perdido El último Tren De Vuelta A Casa Y Piensa Pasarse La Noche Leyendo En El Restaurante; Takahashi Se Va A Ensayar Con Su Grupo, Pero Promete Regresar Antes Del Alba. Mari Sufre Otra Interrupción: La Encargada De Un «hotel Por Horas» Pide Que Le Ayude Con Una Prostituta Agredida Por Un Cliente. Dan Las Doce. En La Habitación Donde Eri Sigue Sumida En Una Dulce Inconsciencia, El Televisor Cobra Vida Y En La Pantalla Empieza A Distinguirse Una Imagen Turbadora... Pese A Que El Televisor No Está Enchufado.

the New York Times - Walter Kirn

it's When His Technique Is Inconspicuous And Not When He's Waving His Wand Above The Hat That Murakami's Spell Is Most Persuasive. Moving Outward From Obscure Mari Through Her Shifting Circle Of Friends, Murakami Takes In Widening Perimeters Of A Nocturnal Urban Habitat. We Get A Strong Sense, Though We're Not Quite Certain How, Of The City's Fugitive Social Ecology, Of The Bargains And Compacts Among Its Tribes And Classes. Women Are Prey For The Most Part And Band Together, Particularly The Poor And The Unmarried. Men Venture Forth More Boldly, Lone Marauders, Though Sometimes They Leverage Their Power By Forming Gangs. Behind And Underneath It All Are The Monstrous, Semiautonomous Grids And Systems - Police Forces, Garbage Trucks, Fiber Optic Networks - That Labor To Keep Order Until Morning. The Night Is A Chaos Of Sprees And Errands, Of Trysts And Stickups, Escapes And Rescue Missions, But Dawn Is A Return To Productivity.

From the New York Times bestselling author—a gripping novel of late night encounters that's “hypnotically eerie, sometimes even funny, but most of all ... [a book] that keeps ratcheting up the suspense” (The Washington Post Book World).Now with a new introduction by the author. Nineteen-year-old Mari is waiting out the night in an anonymous Denny's when she meets a young man who insists he knows her older sister, thus setting her on an odyssey through the sleeping city. In the space of a single night, the lives of a diverse cast of Tokyo residents—models, prostitutes, mobsters, and musicians—collide in a world suspended between fantasy and reality. Utterly enchanting and infused with surrealism, After Dark is a thrilling account of the magical hours separating midnight from dawn. Set In Tokyo During The Witching Hours Between Midnight And Dawn, The Novel Features Two Sisters--eri, A Fashion Model Slumbering Her Way Into Oblivion, And Mari, A Young Student Soon Led From Solitary Reading At An Anonymous Denny's Toward People Whose Lives Are Radically Alien To Her Own: A Jazz Trombonist Who Claims They've Met Before, A Burly Female Love Hotel Manager And Her Maid Staff, And A Chinese Prostitute Savagely Brutalized By A Businessman. Haruki Murakami ; Translated From The Japanese By Jay Rubin. Originally Published In Japan As Afutādāku By Kodansha, Tokyo, In 2004--t.p. Verso.008833055 A Duplicate Copy Of This Title Was Part Of The Julio Mario Santo Domingo Collection, But Was Not Retained. In After Dark a gripping novel of late night encountersMurakamis trademark humor and psychological insight are distilled with an extraordinary, harmonious mastery. Nineteen-year-old Mari is waiting out the night in an anonymous Dennys when she meets a young man who insists he knows her older sister, thus setting her on an odyssey through the sleeping city. In the space of a single night, the lives of a diverse cast of Tokyo residentsmodels, prostitutes, mobsters, and musicianscollide in a world suspended between fantasy and reality. Utterly enchanting and infused with surrealism, After Dark is a thrilling account of the magical hours separating midnight from dawn. A sleek, gripping novel of encounters set in Tokyo during the spooky hours between midnight and dawn, by an internationally renowned literary phenomenon.Murakami's trademark humor, psychological insight, and grasp of spirit and morality are here distilled with an extraordinary, harmonious mastery. Combining the pyrotechnical genius that made Kafka on the Shore and The Wind-up Bird Chronicle international bestsellers, with a surprising infusion of heart, Murakami has produced one of his most enchanting fictions yet.From the Trade Paperback edition. A short novel that centers on two sisters--Eri, a fashion model slumbering her way into oblivion, and Mari, a young student soon led from solitary reading at an anonymous Denny's toward people whose lives are radically alien to her own, three "night people". They are haunted by secrets and needs that draw them together more powerfully than the differing circumstances that might keep them apart, and soon it becomes clear that Eri's slumber--mysteriously tied to a businessman plagued by the mark of his crime--will either restore or annihilate her Two sisters--Eri, a fashion model sleeping her way to oblivion, and Mari, a young student--form the center of a novel that documents a series of encounters--with a jazz trombonist, the manager of a "love hotel" and her maid staff, and a Chinese prostitute brutalized by a businessman client--in Tokyo during the witching hours between midnight and dawn