The Review of Contemporary Fiction

After the Quake by Haruki Murakami
Jason Picone

Haruki Murakami. After the Quake. Trans. Jay Rubin. Knopf, 2002. 192 pp. $21.00.

For a book ostensibly concerned with the January 1995 earthquake in Kobe, the stories in After the Quake are strikingly subtle. Instead of exploring the torn earth at the quake’s epicenter, Murakami focuses on the fractured individuals hundreds of miles away from the quake who nonetheless feel the aftershocks of the disaster. Everyone in After the Quake is missing someone: lovers, spouses, parents, and children linger on the edges of these stories, possibly dead in the earthquake, maybe kidnapped by UFOs, or perhaps phantoms of a hopeful character’s imagination. This motif of the absent presence is underscored by the Kobe earthquake itself, which is never directly treated in any of the six stories. The common link among all the characters is the inability to connect with loved ones, an impotency born out of missed opportunities, timidity, and lack of self-knowledge. For better or worse, the quake interrupts everyone’s drifting thoughts and ceaseless self-obsession, which is the case in the collection’s strongest story, “Honey Pie.” Therein, a young Japanese writer named Junpei attempts to reconcile love with his inglorious writing career. Junpei’s efforts to live a meaningful life are redoubled, because the quake helps him realize how much of his first thirty-five years have been squandered. For an author who has employed many daydreaming protagonists in his novels, Murakami’s message is clear: make hay before the next quake, because the next cataclysm is around the corner. The author is careful to set all his stories in roughly February 1995, right before the Aum sarin-gas attack on the Tokyo subways in March. Coupled with the outstanding Underground, Murakami’s nonfiction investigation of the Aum incident, After the Quake marks a more contemplative and serious direction for the author, who, after years abroad, moved back to Japan following the twin catastrophes. [Jason Picone]


Interview with Founder Board of Directors Funders Submission Guidelines Dalkey Archive Full Catalog Current and Forthcoming Titles Recent Titles Review of Contemporary Fiction Special Library Offer Special Backlist Sale Stores & Wholesalers Academics Libraries Reviewers Context Casebooks Author Interviews Links Dalkey Archive News Events Newsletter

The Review of Contemporary Fiction After the Quake by Haruki Murakami Jason Picone Haruki Murakami. After the Quake. Trans. Jay Rubin. Knopf, 2002. 192 pp. $21.00. For a book ostensibly concerned with the January 1995 earthquake in Kobe, the stories in After the Quake are strikingly subtle. Instead of exploring the torn earth at the quake’s epicenter, Murakami focuses on the fractured individuals hundreds of miles away from the quake who nonetheless feel the aftershocks of the disaster. Everyone in After the Quake is missing someone: lovers, spouses, parents, and children linger on the edges of these stories, possibly dead in the earthquake, maybe kidnapped by UFOs, or perhaps phantoms of a hopeful character’s imagination. This motif of the absent presence is underscored by the Kobe earthquake itself, which is never directly treated in any of the six stories. The common link among all the characters is the inability to connect with loved ones, an impotency born out of missed opportunities, timidity, and lack of self-knowledge. For better or worse, the quake interrupts everyone’s drifting thoughts and ceaseless self-obsession, which is the case in the collection’s strongest story, “Honey Pie.” Therein, a young Japanese writer named Junpei attempts to reconcile love with his inglorious writing career. Junpei’s efforts to live a meaningful life are redoubled, because the quake helps him realize how much of his first thirty-five years have been squandered. For an author who has employed many daydreaming protagonists in his novels, Murakami’s message is clear: make hay before the next quake, because the next cataclysm is around the corner. The author is careful to set all his stories in roughly February 1995, right before the Aum sarin-gas attack on the Tokyo subways in March. Coupled with the outstanding Underground, Murakami’s nonfiction investigation of the Aum incident, After the Quake marks a more contemplative and serious direction for the author, who, after years abroad, moved back to Japan following the twin catastrophes. [Jason Picone]

Search the full text of our books: