after dark
i just finished murakami's after dark, in german.
it's a very simple story: the encounters between people after midnight. eri in an unnatural slumber, her sister mari reading in a denny's and meeting takahashi, a law student playing trombone with his band for the last time, kaoru the love hotel manager, the chinese prostitute, shirokawa who beat the chinese up, grille the co-worker at the love hotel fleeing for the past few years.
this story is about the distance between people. the inability to completely comprehend people, even people whom you ought to know really well. that unbridgeable gap.
the book alternates between the encounters and the observation of the sleeping eri. the people mari met all somehow lead her back to herself or her sister eri, and because they are sisters, ultimately the evaluation of their relationship, and the distance between them. on the other hand, the observation of eri exposes her vulnerability, confirming takahashi's suspicions and mari's misconceptions.
and this distance is all the more increased when at the end, mari reveals her imminent departure for beijing.
another theme is that of being haunted, being pursued, trying to run away from reality, yet being caught by it. shirokawa running away from his crime; the way his reflection remains on the mirror is the perfect symbol. grille being pursued. eri sleeping to evade society, yet living a nightmare in her sleep.
the third theme is that of dual personality, which is dealt with here with the aid of time. the characters, even the city, seem to take on a different persona when light gives way to darkness and vice versa. which is then our real self? or is there even a real self?
together, these three themes converge on the idea of alienation, the search for one's identity. being one, yet part of a collective. belonging, yet not belonging. the very nature of one's existence.
murakami also made references to kafka and sartre. takahashi's description of the court reminds one of kafka's the trial, while the observation of eri by the unknown man seems to be a reference to sartre's concept of the gaze, namely we become an object in others' perspective, bringing into doubt the nature of our existence. there you have it, existence again.
reading this book is very different from reading his previous stuff. not because this time i read it in german. i think it's because this is the first time i am putting down very clearly what i think he is trying to say, trying to organise my thoughts, trying to link everything together to give it a proper dissection.
why is this happening? maybe because now i have more time. maybe because coming back to murakami after a while has given me a new perspective on how to do things.
it's a very simple story: the encounters between people after midnight. eri in an unnatural slumber, her sister mari reading in a denny's and meeting takahashi, a law student playing trombone with his band for the last time, kaoru the love hotel manager, the chinese prostitute, shirokawa who beat the chinese up, grille the co-worker at the love hotel fleeing for the past few years.
this story is about the distance between people. the inability to completely comprehend people, even people whom you ought to know really well. that unbridgeable gap.
the book alternates between the encounters and the observation of the sleeping eri. the people mari met all somehow lead her back to herself or her sister eri, and because they are sisters, ultimately the evaluation of their relationship, and the distance between them. on the other hand, the observation of eri exposes her vulnerability, confirming takahashi's suspicions and mari's misconceptions.
and this distance is all the more increased when at the end, mari reveals her imminent departure for beijing.
another theme is that of being haunted, being pursued, trying to run away from reality, yet being caught by it. shirokawa running away from his crime; the way his reflection remains on the mirror is the perfect symbol. grille being pursued. eri sleeping to evade society, yet living a nightmare in her sleep.
the third theme is that of dual personality, which is dealt with here with the aid of time. the characters, even the city, seem to take on a different persona when light gives way to darkness and vice versa. which is then our real self? or is there even a real self?
together, these three themes converge on the idea of alienation, the search for one's identity. being one, yet part of a collective. belonging, yet not belonging. the very nature of one's existence.
murakami also made references to kafka and sartre. takahashi's description of the court reminds one of kafka's the trial, while the observation of eri by the unknown man seems to be a reference to sartre's concept of the gaze, namely we become an object in others' perspective, bringing into doubt the nature of our existence. there you have it, existence again.
reading this book is very different from reading his previous stuff. not because this time i read it in german. i think it's because this is the first time i am putting down very clearly what i think he is trying to say, trying to organise my thoughts, trying to link everything together to give it a proper dissection.
why is this happening? maybe because now i have more time. maybe because coming back to murakami after a while has given me a new perspective on how to do things.
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