After Dark (edit title)

• Rated 0 stars

“A little forgettable. ”

• Rated 0 stars

“Very well written, but just feels like one of his short stories that wouldn't have felt out of place nestled among a few other stories in the same book. A completely unfair and pointless criticism, I know, but Murakami is best at enveloping, and a "mid-sized" slice of a novel doesn't quite fulfill all I expected. The scenes in the cafe are brilliant though.”

• Rated 3 stars

“Very intriguing. Had me hooked from the start. Like nothing else I’ve listened to in a long time. Disappointed in the end. Just 3 stars.”

• Rated 4 stars

“The book flows like a movie. Mari's story starts out a Denny's where she's planning on studying for the night, but she is interrupted by a friend of her sister's. The evening unfolds quite differently for Mari after this accidental meeting. Is anything accidental? Eri's story is more of a modern fable, with a hint of Sleeping Beauty. She announces one night to her family that's she's tired and is going to sleep for a while and that's where we find her, asleep. Is she being watched over by some unseen person? The central juxtaposition of the novel is one sister reclines in sleep (the beautiful one), while the other sister meets a whole new side of life she had no idea existed. While the narrator may seem to focus on the ordinary aspects of life, the perspective isn't ordinary. The book has a dreamlike quality that holds your interest. Certainly not taxing. But very interesting. Gets you thinking far and wide.”

• Rated 5 stars

“My first Murakami read, was not disappointed. Very emotive.”

• Rated 3 stars

“I'm enjoying reading this book! I will definitely grab another novel by Murakami!”

• Rated 5 stars

“A few unresolved conflicts but a hint of positive things to come at the end. May have been the point of the book.”

• Rated 4 stars

“Very odd tale from a wonderful writer. Loved it to bits.”

• Rated 3 stars

“Exquisitely written. Some fascinating ideas. Rather too surreal for me though.
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• Rated 5 stars

“ The story begins at near midnight in a restaurant in Japan. Mari, a nineteen-year-old girl, is reading her book when a young man intrudes on her solitude after recognising her. Unbeknownst to her at the time this meeting of chance would turn her ostensibly quiet night out into one she would no doubt remember for a long time to come. Meanwhile, her beautiful sister Eri is experiencing an unnatural deep sleep, one that her not her sister, parents, nor anyone else can wake her from.
I'm not sure where to began with how I felt about this book. It had this feel to it that intrigued me immensely. The book moved along slowly in the tranquilness of the night. Our darkened world also seems to move slower than the illuminated one, and things can happen at night that wouldn't at day. I like a book that makes me think deeply about certain topics, even if causing the reader to think about those things wasn't particlularly the author's aim. This book had my mind in a flutter with all sorts of thoughts; mainly about the many sorts of relationships we have with various people and how we communicate, how an almost stranger is sometimes the easiest person to talk to, and the so very different lives we lead, especially the vast differences in personality of siblings.
This is definitely one of my favourite reads of this year. While I didn't particularly enjoy Murakami's After the Quake, I will certainly be on the lookout for his other books after my reading this one. ”