Rating: 
Summary: Real and surreal stories with unclear plots and themes
Review: The book is short, a mere 181 pages long. The six stories are short too. And they all left me with an uneasy feeling. I'm sure that was the author's intention. After all, each one takes plays in 1995, in the weeks after the Kobe earthquake. None of the stories are about the earthquake itself though. Rather, they all use it as a distant backdrop to develop memorable characters, each coming to terms with the concept of the earth shaking under their feet. The stories are both real and surreal. The people in them are troubled. Some have allegorical stories within. And all have fully developed characters. There's a man who tries to understand why his former wife says he has nothing inside himself. There's a humanized frog who convinces a man that they have to save Tokyo from another earthquake. There's a woman who travels to Thailand and learns to deal with the fact of her own mortality. There are three friends who must come to terms with their strange love triangle which has gone on for many years. There's a man who loves to build bonfires. All of the themes seem a bit out of focus, like something is going on that I can't quite grasp. Clearly, the author is talented. However the stories ended too abruptly for my taste. And, after each I had the same thought. "What was THAT about?"
Rating: 
Summary: poetic, haunting .. brilliant
Review: this slender collection of short stories is easily the among the best ive read. tender, evocative and touching, this is one to savor and remember. murakami creates memorable characters and situations that you will remember long after youve finished reading them. this is my first murakami and has spurred me on to read his other novels. these impressive short stories are clear proof that teh short story format is alive and kicking, even if only in the quake ravaged parts of kobe.
Rating: 
Summary: Stories that have nothing to do with the earthquake
Review: Two people look at the night sky. One sees darkness and dots of light. Another sees a thousand marvels. As the shock of an earthquake wears off, a sort of soul-quake takes place. After all, if we can't rely on the ground under our feet to remain solid, what can we be certain of? Sometimes we KNOW that in the brain, but it takes an earthquake or terrorist attack for us to FEEL it in the gut -- for the knowing to be meaningful. Something intangible but essential shakes loose in the people of Japan weeks after the Kobe earthquake. Like the rock mantle that once covered Kobe, neglected souls have liquefied. Now change is possible. For some, that means healing. For one, it means, not just losing, but unknowingly giving away his...soul(?). Another meets a heretofore hidden aspect of his Self. I guess it depends on what had been important in their lives and where they were headed before. The stories are told gently, subtly and with respect. A writer's self-inflicted chains are broken and he finds his freedom. A dumpy, overly modest, milquetoast doormat of a man finds his true power. With the help of a guru/limo driver, a rock of hatred that even the soul-quake left intact is only now able to be recognized and dealt with. I wouldn't presume to discuss Mr. Murakami's use of metaphor and allegory. I think each reader will find what s/he needs to find. ("When the student is ready....") That's one reason I'll be reading this book again soon: There's much to be found. AFTER THE QUAKE, I suggest, is best read slowly and often, with soft and open awareness; it's to be contemplated upon.
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