"After Dark" by Haruki Murakami.

248 pp. Registration code: 895.63 M972a.E 1a.ed. c.1

After dark it is not easy to understand, for it has a mixture of reality and the oniric join at some point. Plus, the stories take place in one night following a real timeline.In my opinion, what happens with time is the most important thing in the book, for everything revolves around it.

Firstly, Murakami show us that in just one night a whole life might be changed. This is due to the chances and decisions we take and make. For instance, speaking with someone and let him/her get to know you, could help you understand yourself better as well as it might take you off your routine for a while. On the other hand, if you do not allow this to happen, you could be trapped inside your catch-22 without ever knowing why life is the way it is for you.
Secondly, whenever you take a chance, you have to bear in mind that the consequences it has are not just aim at you, but at the people around you. For example, Eri Asai who was asleep and seemed like fighting between the oniric world and reality never thought about how her family would take her decision of “sleeping and never waking up”. Moreover, never even crossed Eri’s mind to speak with her sister in a way that they could both understand each other.
This is how we also push away the people we love when we feel that the abyss is way too deep to take a chance and walk through it.

To wrap up, I believe that time means everything in our lifes. Therefore, people should not alienate themselves of others with the excuse of having no time. If you are going to take chances, take one that gathers you with those you love, not the opposite. If you are expecting for time to solve everything, all you are going to get is loneliness and alienation.