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Book Review - After Dark by Haruki Murakami

I always believe whenever you read a book there is something you are looking for in it. You might not know it at that moment, but once you have finished it everything starts making sense. Sometimes you find it exactly how you like it, and later it automatically goes into the category of your favourite book. Then there comes a book which makes you go round and round behind a single thing by keeping you in dark. It plays everything behind a shadow to hide things from you because when they come into the light, the meaning of everything changes.

After Dark is one such story that will not make sense but will tell you a lot about a stranger and your acquaintances. You might want to reach the middle ground after knowing the details, but it will leave no stone unturned to keep things apart. It’s a story about two sisters, who are stark apart and don’t connect well, yet you find them longing for each other in a way you crave for someone’s approval when you have been denied for something that is yours. It tells you how parents’ behaviour plays a major role, how we grow up and become who we are, how difficult it becomes to grow out of preconceived notions we have been hearing since childhood and how we long to identify ourselves in our den. I like the part where out of the blue someone comes into the Protagonist’s zone abruptly and how she handles it.

As it is Murakami, so he bounds you to feel the magic of magical realism in it. This part was tricky as it kept me thinking what it really meant. Also, I like the abstract ending of the story as it leaves for a lot to imagine and discuss as a reader. Read it if you are a Murakami fan (obviously), love to explore weird themes, like magical realism or love abstract endings.

Rating – 5/5

Genre – Magical Realism, Contemporary

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