After Dark

A compelling listen from one of Japan's finest contemporary writers.
Marukami’s haunting and minimal novel begins when 19-year-old college student Mari, alone with a book in Denny’s, is interrupted by the appearance of a forgotten acquaintance named Tetsuya Takahashi. The two share an awkward exchange in which Takahashi admits that he was at one time in love with Mari’s beautiful older sister Eri. Takahashi leaves, but some hours later sends a woman named Kaoru to ask Mari’s help translating for a Chinese prostitute who has been the victim of a violent crime. In the meantime, Eri sleeps fitfully as the reader (or listener) watches. Unlike many of Murakami’s works, After Dark is told through an omniscient third person narrative that zooms in on and away from its subjects like a movie camera. Reader Janet Song recites this filmic description like a detached observer, as if the narrative is a collective dream. The mysterious, atmospheric sweep of the story and Murakami’s trademark surrealist blending of the banal and the subconscious make After Dark a compelling and intriguing listen.