After the Quake

published	2003 by Vintage
first published	2007
binding	Paperback
isbn	0375713271 (isbn13: 9780375713279)
pages	160
description	Haruki Murakami, a writer both mystical and hip, is the West's favorite Japanese novelist. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Murakami lived abroad until 1995. T...more [close] Haruki Murakami, a writer both mystical and hip, is the West's favorite Japanese novelist. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Murakami lived abroad until 1995. That year, two disasters struck Japan: the lethal earthquake in Kobe and the deadly poison gas attacks in the Tokyo subway. Spurred by these tragic events, Murakami returned home. The stories in After the Quake are set in the months that fell between the earthquake and the subway attack, presenting a world marked by despair, hope, and a kind of human instinct for transformation. A teenage girl and a middle-aged man share a hobby of making beach bonfires; a businesswoman travels to Thailand and, quietly, confronts her own death; three friends act out a modern-day Tokyo version of Jules and Jim. There's a surreal element running through the collection in the form of unlikely frogs turning up in unlikely places. News of the earthquake hums throughout. The book opens with the dull buzz of disaster-watching: "Five straight days she spent in front of the television, staring at the crumbled banks and hospitals, whole blocks of stores in flames, severed rail lines and expressways." With language that's never self-consciously lyrical or show-offy, Murakami constructs stories as tight and beautiful as poems. There's no turning back for his people; there's only before and after the quake. --Claire Dederer
date added	12-18-06 edit book

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Mike rated it:

02/22/08

In UFO IN KUSHIRO, Komura works in a hi-fi store in the Akihabara district if Tokyo. He is tall and slim, a stylish dresser. Following the Kobe earthquake and after 5 years of marriage, his dumpy, scowling wife files for divorce. A work colleague, who suggests he take a long vacation up in a place called Kushiro on Hokkaido island, asks if he'd deliver a small package to his sister while he's up there. But what is in this mysterious package?

In LANDSCAPE WITH FLATIRON, painter Miyake is a ma...more In UFO IN KUSHIRO, Komura works in a hi-fi store in the Akihabara district if Tokyo. He is tall and slim, a stylish dresser. Following the Kobe earthquake and after 5 years of marriage, his dumpy, scowling wife files for divorce. A work colleague, who suggests he take a long vacation up in a place called Kushiro on Hokkaido island, asks if he'd deliver a small package to his sister while he's up there. But what is in this mysterious package?

In LANDSCAPE WITH FLATIRON, painter Miyake is a master bonfire builder. He collects driftwood that washes ashore and invites his soul mate Junko to watch the fires he so professionally makes. Miyake has family in Kobe. Why is he avoiding them? What is the special link between the young Junko and the old Miyake?

In ALL GOD'S CHILDREN CAN DANCE, 25 year old Yoshiya still lives with his God-fearing mother. Hardly a virgin birth, Yoshiya was preceded by two abortions - though stringent contraceptive practises were applied before all three pregnancies. What convinced the mother that little Yoshiya was worth saving?

In THAILAND, thyroid specialist Satsuki takes a four-day vacation in the eponymous land of the title. She is chaperoned by her guide and driver, the enigmatic Nimit. Satsuki believes she has secret knowledge about the cause of the Kobe earthquake, but will she be allowed to bear her soul?

In SUPER-FROG SAVES TOKYO, a giant frog saves Tokyo from total destruction.

In HONEY PIE, the love triangle is secondary to the telling of a children's story about two bears Tonkichi and Masakichi and to a 4-year-old girl, Sala. Remember, when you tell tall stories to 4-year-olds, you gotta get the ending just right or all Hell breaks loose and the very foundations of the city will dissolve to shadow.

AFTER THE QUAKE is not merely six short stories connected by the aftermath of the Kobe earthquake. These stories read like the work of one soul skipping between the separated narratives, linking them and making the reader double back to check he hasn't uncovered a secret about one story by the collusion of another. 'Heart of stone', 'bears, polar + brown', 'serpents/worms', 'Super-frog' and 'half dead already' are iconic devices that Murakami peppers this collection with. Of course, he could have done it on purpose, either pre-planned or post-produced these stylistic and syntactic synchronisations to lend this collection a sense of implied, even dependant, unity. And it works.

Yes, you did read that correctly. Story #5 is about a giant frog that saves Tokyo from destruction. This story is the scene stealer, the star of the show, the gem shining on the shore. What other writer would inject such a surreal set-piece like this into what is overall a five-part psycho-drama, a soap if you like, dealing with people's reaction to the Kobe earthquake in a generally naturalistic way? It is played so straight and with such warm conviction that you can't help but want to wrap your arms around it, kiss it and give it a big hug. This would make a perfect short film - imagine the bank collection officer Katagiri confronted by over-sized and undoubtedly computer-generated Super-frog crammed into his tiny apartment croaking at the top of his voice and politely telling how they were going to save Tokyo from the evil Worm. It's a great and refreshing addition to this wonderful collection.

AFTER THE QUAKE attempts to show how Death permanently changes those it touches. That skull-cloaked fellow is no longer the assigned civil servant who whisks you away to the afterlife, he is merely a teacher bound to give you the ultimate social lesson. This book is a reminder of everyone's morality. We are all victims.

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