Dance Dance Dance

I wasn't sure if I would write about the first book I read from Murakami, which was after dark or Dance Dance Dance which I was really wanting to buy even before I read after dark. But I finished Dance last week and it's such a haunting story and makes you think so much. The first time I found out about Haruki Murakami, was when I bought Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman from the 'New Arrivals' section in Kinokuniya. I was tempted by the covers of the stories, minimal and straightforward. I got a hold on Dance and read through the description and praise, but then unsure if it was a good read. So I didn't buy it.

Then earlier this year, I went to the library and found, by chance, after dark. It wasn't exciting nor was it dull, it had just the right sort of lulling hypnotic powers to make you read page after page and tread till the end only to find that some secrets remain stagnant and we as humans, can only observe from the outside.

So when I went home, I borrowed Sputnik Sweetheart (also by Murakami) back to KL for a read - along with On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan which I loved absolutely to bits as well but save that for another time - and I got my first round of book-shopping in klcc later that week and got my hands on Dance.

It took me this long to finish the book because I haven't had time with all the school work we've been doing, tests/assignments/assessments, crazy hectic workload but when I did get time to read, it was exhilarating.

Dance is not the Sidney Sheldon murder action you might've read about, nor is it A Walk To Remember-esque emotional tormenting book. It's simple and stark. The narrator remains anonymous throughout the whole novel so you'll never know his name, which makes everything else one level more mysterious but that is one important element of the story. The Sheep Man, greatly emphasized in the connections of these people; high-class prostitutes, 13-year-old school dropout with a famous photographer mother and the highschool friend who remains ever so charming no matter what.

My favourite thing about the book is the interplay between darkness and light, the sudden shift between the two dimensions which separates confidence and fear greatly, and the precise anatomic detail of the features of the world. The narrator describes his life as "shovelling snow" with repetitious movements, boring, uninteresting.

He is in a displacement of time, congregated by people, things, actions. A lot of metaphysical elements as well; assumptions and trying to believe those assumptions and reasons.

My favourite scene in the book (I will try and reveal as little in case anyone wants to read it soon): is when the narrator stumbles his way through a deserted building, no sign of any breathing life, and into this room in which he will see the fates of the people he knows. The colours are described in vivid detail here, and the atmosphere was to the smallest atomic description. You can almost choke and feel scared there, because of what he see right in that room. When I was reading it, I was scared for real and then I had to read it in the morning because it was quite... heart-gripping if you may.

In whole as a general plot of the book: an unnamed narrator trying to untangle all these lines in his life, trying to shovel snow in many different ways albeit metaphorically, and his ultimate curiosity in finding out truths he has within himself.

The Sheep Man says " Dancingiseverything. Danceintip-topform. Dancesoitallkeepsspinning. Yougottadance. Aslongasthemusicplays."

Dance, as long as the music plays.

books by Murakami I've read so far!

after the quake
after dark
Sputnik Sweetheart
Dance Dance Dance

and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle which I have yet to read :) and also, I'm currently reading Atonement. I realise I really do love writing about books. Maybe I can make a career out of this. Photo-booklism! (Jade! Amazing hidden talent #3!!!! hahahaha)

Alright concert for Panic At The Disco with TAI and Cobra Starship opening tonight! Yay. :) Have a good weekend everyone.