After Dark by Haruki Murakami - Riveting Must Read

After Dark is a fast paced, intense tale of four college-aged acquaintances and the adults that impant their lives. Without the pretensions many similar, contemporary novels can't seem to shake, After Dark gets straight to the point without focusing on the teenager-to-adult transitional angst. Murakami paints a portrait of his characters, ranging from elegant to horific, and leaves the reader with a feeling of urgency but consistently reminds them of their inability to act.

The characters develop beautifully around a single girl, Mari Asai, an intelligent ugly-duckingly who has always lived in the shadow of her sister Eri. Eri, beautiful, intriguing and in a state of inexplicable long-term sleep, is Mari's link to Takahashi. Takahashi, a college student turned musician, recognizes Mari at a Denny's in the minutes approaching midnight in Tokyo. Through Takahashi, Mari comes to know Kaoru, the manager of a love hotel. In turn, through Kaoru, we are introduced to a young Chinese girl who was abused by a salaryman who frequents the hotel. Though none of the characters are aware, this salaryman completes the loop and is somehow linked to Eri's two months of sleep.

Though short, After Dark takes the reader through an entire night in the depths of Tokyo, through the eyes of a concerned but powerless observer. With the constant examination of the innocent Mari, the horror and foreign nature of each situation is brought to life and made even more real. The reader's interest is continually increased, as each situation resolves and unfolds itself into another that is even more tragic.

The college students' parents and repeatedly mentioned, but never introduced, serving a double purpose. We are reminded of their effect on the students, but also feel a strange connection with the unknown parents. Both of us, parents and reader, are just observers in the students' lives, unable to remedy the situations or intervene for any positive outcome. We are destined to watch as other adults impact their lives negatively, and only hope that the students will escape their tragedies unscathed.

After Dark is a definite must read for fans of any type of book. The tragedy, horror, romance and mystery aspects all add to a story that begs to be read in one sitting, which it can be; the just over 200 pages of the novel go by quickly. And though the quickly developed empathy for the students make the reader wish for more answers, as the sun rises our night time observation comes to a close.

After Dark
By Haruki Murakami
Translated by Jay Rubin
ISBN 0307265838