UM Book Club: After Dark by Haruki Murakami - Part I
June 20, 2007 by Greg
Next Assignment
Pages: 53-100 / up to Chapter 10.
Due: Wednesday June 27th, Noon.
Part I
pages 1 - 52
Characters
- Mari Asai
- Eri Asai
- Tetsuya Takahashi
- Kaoru
Songs Listed
- Page 20 - Five Spot After Dark, Benny Golson
- Page 23 - The April Fools, Burt Bacharach
- Page 30 - More, Martin Denny
- Page 51 - My Ideal, Ben Webster
This is the first post for the Urban Monarch book club. Most of the discussion will take place in the comments, but I’ll start the discussion with a few of my initial thoughts.
First, I want to talk about overall writing style of Murakami. At first I was taken back by the narrative style. The book begins controlling and demanding our perception. Phrases like “Our line of sight chooses,” and “We are in a Denny’s” both command the reader to interpret the scene as written as well as include the reader in an audience group with the author. I was unsure if this was an intentional literary device, or language difference between the original Japanese text.
Second, I want to talk about the use of songs. From reading a few of Murakami’s short pieces on writing (A Long Way From Stuffed Cabbage), I knew that he had owned a jazz club before sitting down to write novels. I find it interesting that he includes music, jazz heavily, in several elements, like Tetsuya as his hobby and with songs as backgrounds for various scenes.
Does anyone know the names for these literary devices mentioned above? (narrative style and the use of music in a novel)
Anybody like page 14’s name exchange (or lack there of) as much as I did?
yeah, the style isn’t something i’m used to. I try to read books w/o look at any of the synopsis if i can lately. problem is that sometimes i wonder where exactly the stories are going. was entertained by one sided information exchange there. found it interesting he apparenty lack of remembering items that might be considered major items of interest and at other times, just being completely dead on about minute items.
Goat,
I didn’t notice that about missing the major items, but you’re right. He remembers little things like what bathing suit she wore but seems sort of in a cloud on the rest of the details.
I feel like the one sided information exchange there was like a classic attraction scenario. The guy approaches, starts telling stories, and doesn’t care whether the girl is giving him negative feedback. He keeps trying different things, talking, and sure enough she starts to become curious…
I found myself reading the first pages and being like, “Wait, what is this story about again?”, and then read the dust jacket. Most of the time though, I found myself just enjoying Murikami’s writing style and grinning at how well he captures human nature (quirks like pretending to read the Denny’s menu) and the essence of social interactions with strangers.
Wow.. an excellent start.
Greg; you’re right on about Tetsuya and his awesome job plowing thru a difficult interaction with Mari. I know we discussed the potential for ‘forced thru translation’ tone in his writing, but I’m not so sure. Some of the lines are so poetic it’s hard to imagine there being a lot of disconnect in other areas.
I mean:
“Her slender white neck preserves the dense tranquility of a handcrafted product”
and then “Even in the profoundest somnolence, people do not tread so deeply into the realm of sleep. They do not attain such a total surrender of consciousness”.
Just gorgeous really.
Goat; there’s definitely a strange ’selective memory/hearing’ element to the Denny’s exchange. I can’t tell if he’s really into Mari and trying to cover it or still in love with her sister.
Two unrelated notes; I cracked up at the shortened “love hos” in describing japanese love hotels and I also really liked the binding itself of the book.
The uneven pages makes me think of some leather bound journal stuffed with looseleaf sheets just ready to be unwrapped and absorbed. Somehow more ‘important’ feeling, from a tactile perspective, than a normal book.
Anyway, looking forward to the next piece.
I’m undecided about Mari as well… It seems like Eri was a dream for him, and still is, but he also seems to be interested in Mari.
The uneven pages are definitely cool.
You just like the book because it has a purple cover.
The narrative is very clear and easy to follow, and I agree Cash on comment #3, it is very well translated, the only thing that gives away that the author is Japanese are the names.
The first part of the book sets the mood perfectly, and I really like the fact that it’s set in Tokyo, it’s the kind of story where you feel transported, with the way it’s told and the detailed description of the places where the events of the novel unfold.
To be honest, I began reading it just as the first assignment was published, but I couldn’t help myself and I finished the book in two days (I have a lot of free time). I kinda want to get the music and play it along with the “scenes”, it would add a lot of depth to the reading.
Enrique, I had to stop myself. I was tempted to tear through the whole thing after I read the first 50 pages.
I’ve been making a playlist of the songs. Some of the stuff I couldn’t get through yahoo music, so I got either other pieces from the same musician or other artists playing the same standard. Martin Denny’s exotica album was something new to me and I really dig it.
What an awesome idea with the songs boys. I’ll have to do something similar