Book: After Dark
Author: Haruki Murakami
My Thoughts - Great read...freshness in style, structure, story....nothing mundane
Set on the background of an hour by hour passing night in the gigantic Tokyo City, this 200-pager is a total delight for the reader. A page turner for its mysterious plot, a sensual treat for the lovely imagery, an innovative approach in its narrative technique, the book makes you take a deep breath, close your eyes and re-run the events on your mind's eye. The story of the in action Mari and in contrast to her asleep sister Ari woven alternately through short chapters and a 'point of view' as a narrator, brings to fore many practices in the dark, whether it is the passionate band rehearsels or thriving of love hotels for making a living and while all these surface story threads keep you focused, alert, and wondering what happens next? , running on the backburner yet of foremost importance is the life story of the central character Takahashi and the sisters Mari and Eri, who finally break the wall of disparate life and unite in the bond of sisterly love.
Point of high for me is the superb choice of words Murakami makes.
Some fav lines:
'Then as if inserting an emotional punctuation mark, she heaves a great sigh!'
'That people's memories are maybe the fuel they burn to stay alive. Whether those memories have any actual importance or not, it doesn't matter as far as the maintenance of life is concerned. They're all just fuel. Advertising fillers in the newspaper, philosophy books, dirty pictures in a magazine, a bundle of ten-thousand-yen bills: when you feed'em to the fire, they're all just paper. The fire isn't thinking, 'Oh, this is Kant,' or 'Oh, this is the Yomiuri evening edition,' or 'Nice tits,' while it burns. To the fire they are nothing but scraps of paper. It's the exact same thing. Important memories, not-so-important memories, totally useless memories: there's no distinction-they're all just fuel"
-Monica
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