After Dark (novel)
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| after dark | |
| Author | Haruki Murakami |
|---|---|
| Original title | アフターダーク afutādāku |
| Translator | Jay Rubin |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | Harvill Press (UK)/Alfred A. Knopf (US) |
| Publication date | May 2007 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 208 pp (Hardback edition) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-30726-583-8 (US) ISBN 1-84655-047-5 (UK) |
| Preceded by | Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman |
After Dark (アフターダーク Afutā Dāku?) is a novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. It was originally published in 2004.
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
Alienation, a recurring motif in the works of Murakami, is the central theme in this novel set in a major Japanese city over the course of one night. Main characters include Mari, a 19-year-old student, who is spending the night reading in a Denny's. There she meets Takahashi, a trombone-playing student, who also knows Mari's sister Eri and insists that the group of them have hung out before. Meanwhile, Eri is being watched in her sleep by someone sinister. Eri also suffers from social withdrawal, a condition often referred to as hikikomori.
Mari crosses ways with a fighting champion, now working as a manager in a love hotel (whom Takahashi knows and referred to Mari), a Chinese prostitute who has been beaten and stripped of everything in this same love hotel, and a sadistic computer expert. The story takes place in a world between reality and dream, and was used to cement Murakami's reputation as the master of the surreal.
[edit] Structure
The story is broken down in small chapters of varying length. An added element of interest—and perhaps a post-modern reference—is the fact that the book has a 'real-time' timeline, beginning at the early hours of the night.
[edit] Translations
A Russian version was published in 2005, a Dutch version in 2006, Czech and Polish versions in 2007. The Chinese (simplified characters) version was published in 2005 and translated by Lin Shaohua (林少華 / 林少华) . It was published in French on January 4, 2007, as Le passage de la nuit by Éditions Belfond. An English translation was released on May 8th, 2007. In the United Kingdom, a special limited-edition hardback version exists, only available at Borders bookshops. In 2007 a Romanian version was also published by Polirom under the title In noapte.
[edit] References and sources
- (Dutch) Biblion review
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