After Dark by Haruki Murakami was published by Random House in 2007. Mari seeks solace in a late-night diner. She watches the world at this slow-paced time of night. Just as her sister hides from the world by taking to her bed for two months, Mari hides from the world in late-night diners.
Atmosphere
The stillness of late-night Japan seeps through the pages of After Dark. Conversations at this time of night become more loaded. Mari is joined by a young man who knows her sister. Like Mari, he frequents the diner to escape the routine boredom of a normal life. A musician who is searching for some sort of meaning, he finds delight in philosophising late into the night.
Image
Mari's sister has had a world of opportunities at her fingertips through modelling contracts and appearances. She retreats from this world and seeks solace under the covers. Takahashi manages to shed light on the strange phenomenon of the sleeping sister by explaining that she has decided to resort to a long sleep to make sense of the world by retreating from it. Eri should have all doors open to her with her physical perfection, but instead she chooses to hide away. Japanese society adores physical beauty. The land of geishas, where women are employed to entertain clients with their physical attributes, and modern day bars with the up-to-date equivalent,is a place where feminism sits awkwardly next to a chauvinistic society.
Violence
A Chinese prostitiute is left battered and robbed by a client at the Love Hotel. Kaoru chooses not to let the perpetrator escape and she makes it her business to investigate. She herself has lived in a harsh shady world in the past ,and manages to quickly come to moral conclusions about the goings on in her hotel. Shirakawi, who lives an impeccable life of respectable computer worker would go unpunished if it wasn't Kaoru on the case. He returns to his conservative existence unperturbed by any thoughts or repercussions. It will eventually catch up with him. Mari assists her in the investigation with the battered prostitute, and forms a connection with the practical Kaoru. These women come together in friendship. They recognise in each other that they are all on the edges of society.
Friendship
Bonds which form in strange places are durable. Takahashi finds that he returns to Mari's haunts to continue his philosophical discussions. He is amused at her culinary oddities and opens up to her in the stillness of the night. His childhood has been blighted with the death of his mother the imprisonment of his father. This gives him a distinct and realistic outlook in the world. He could have chosen a smliar path to the one of his father, but instead he opts for late-night philosophical discussions and music.
Parting
Just as easily as he welcomes Mari into his life, he welcomes the news that she is going to study in China. The characters on the edge of society do not live ordinary lives. He wishes her well and promises to write long letters to her. It is like a courtship from yesteryear, and is almost an innocent romance which has arisen. His bleak background doesn't prevent him from following his heart in an almost idealistic way. He is rooted in reality, but he makes space for intimacy.
Murakami has been writing for decades. He is a master of storytelling and in After Dark he creates characters who are noble in a decidedly seedy landscape.
Citation
After Dark by Haruki Murakami. Published in 2007 by Random House.
Moya McDermott - Moya is interested in British cinema and literature ( both British and world literatures). On holidays she can be found in amusement ...
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