„In der Zeit zwischen Mitternacht und den ersten hellen Streifen am Himmel tut sich die geheime, dunkle Pforte dieses Ortes auf, an dem unser rationales Denken außer Kraft gesetzt ist. Niemand kann voraussehen, wann und wo sein Abgrund einen Menschen verschlingen und wann und wo er ihn wieder ausspucken wird.“
——
„Vielleicht wird es ein Tag wie jeder andere, vielleicht einer, der in mancher Hinsicht als denkwürdig im Gedächtnis bleiben wird.

Gleichwohl ist er im Augenblick für alle noch ein unbeschriebenes weißes Blatt.“

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.

Haruki Murakami has this way of writing his books in which you know the ending will probably either be a non-ending or somehow unsatisfactory, but yet we, as readers, are okay with that. After Dark is no different; the characters are neither protagonists or antagonists, they merely exist in a world that swirls around them and continues whether they do or don't participate. His books are interesting in that way; the characters are just dressing to the atmosphere or story he's trying to convey, not particularly main characters.

After Dark really focuses on the passage of time and how the city the characters move and operate during the quiet hours of deep night/early morning. There are good, bad and neutral aspects just as there are good, bad and neutral people that operate in that time span. None of their stories have resolution and they aren't supposed to. After all, it's only the passage of one night in a very busy city.

Overall, I found this enjoyable and enigmatic. It's one of the things I've always enjoyed about Murakami's work.