Murakami has been described as one of the world’s most popular cult novelists. His idiosyncratic narrative style and use of the surreal have garnered him comparisons to writers such as Kurt Vonnegut and Franz Kafka. Murakami’s novels often involve multiple narratives that come together, including After Dark, Kafka at the Shore, and 1Q84. After Dark mostly follows Mari Asai through Tokyo at night, but it also contains subplots, following Eri Asai struggling through a surreal sleep realm, and Shirakawa, the violent office man, whose plot has little in the way of a conclusion. Characters in Murakami’s novels often engage in long, quirky conversations about esoteric topics that help advance the novel’s themes and character development. Examples of this in After Dark include most of the chapters where Mari and Takahashi are together, Mari and Kaoru’s conversation about Alphaville and irony at the bar, and Mari’s discussion with Korogi when Korogi reveals her life’s story.

Murakami’s writing involves complex and purposely ambiguous symbolism. The meaning is often unclear, meant to elude the reader or invite multiple interpretations of the events he depicts.