After Dark (novel)

infobox Book |
name = after dark
title_orig = アフターダーク
"afutādāku"
translator = Jay Rubin


image_caption = Cover of UK hardback edition
author = Haruki Murakami
cover_artist =
country = Japan
language = Japanese
series =
genre = Novel
publisher = Harvill Press (UK)/Alfred A. Knopf (US)
release_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)nihongo|"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.

Plot summary

Alienation, a recurring motif in the works of Murakami, is the central theme in this novel set in metropolitan Tokyo (though this is not explicitly stated) 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 loves Curtis Fuller's "Five Spot After Dark" song on "Blues-ette"; Takahashi 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 retired female wrestler, 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.

tructure

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.

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".

References and sources

* [http://www.exorcising-ghosts.co.uk/afterdark.html exorcising-ghosts.co.uk Comprehensive After Dark Resource page]

* [http://www.nl.bol.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/nl/-/EUR/BOL_DisplayProductInformation-Secondary?BOL_OWNER_ID=1001004002718872&Secondary=reviews&Section=BOOK Biblion review]