Content Warnings: Drug Use, Violence, Trafficking, Physical Abuse, Sexual Assault 

This was recommended by my brother :) 

This is told like a movie with the descriptions like “the camera pans out,” which was a super unique concept! I honestly just pictured the whole thing as a movie and it improved my reading experience. The descriptions feel very atmospheric and like something just out of reach. 

It showed how many people and the kinds of people you can meet at night. Kaoru, Mari, and Takahashi to name a few. Eric Asai was asleep and wanted to stay asleep. Everyone seems lonely and depressed, yet they’re close to each other. 

The writing is lovely, although there were times where I wondered whether the translation was rather loose, missing some nuances (particularly there was a lot of reference to USian music and culture that was somewhat jarring at times). However, having read some of Murakami's work before, the ambiguity of 'what even is happening' was about what I expected. 

The characters are lightly sketched, with what little we know about them almost entirely sourced from observations by strangers and limited dialogue. Which is not to say that there is limited dialogue, but much of it is meandering and not particularly illuminating as to character, setting, or what is going on. 

As to what is going on? We have two main characters--Mari and Takahashi--who interact multiple times over the six or so hours that the story covers, both of whom are on the brink of completely changing where they are going with their lives. Takahashi is having one last night of music before becoming serious about their studies; Mari's changes are mentioned much later in the book. Thus we have story of liminalities, both in this wider sense, and the timing of the story, between midnight and dawn. 

The two minor characters, Eri (Mari's sister) and Shirakawa, never really resolve into anything other than ciphers. Eri literally sleeps through the story while Shirakawa has done something shady but is mostly just being a placeholder for something that never comes clear. 

I enjoyed reading it, because the writing really is beautiful. But I wouldn't say I liked it, and I probably wouldn't read it again. The blurb pitches it as surreal, which I guess is accurate. There is also a slowly creeping dread that goes nowhere, makes no threat, and has no resolution. 

My first Murakami book to read — definitely had high expectations but this book was just not for me — still a compelling story that will leave you with more questions than answers.

This book was such a crazy experience but I loved it a lot. 
It was so calming to read even when sorta dark things were happening. 
I love the idea of seeing into other people's lives and how they connect and impact people even when they don't always know why. Like, how someone you've never even met can affect your life just by forgetting something or leaving something behind.