After Dark

4

Japanese author Haruki Murakami's latest novel, After Dark, tracks its main characters from 11.56 pm one night to 6.52 am the next day... But of course it doesn't feel like just one night or just one story. It takes a couple of pages to drag you in, but it's worth the wait...You meet very likeable 19 year old Mari...her new friends (to use a terribly insipid word that doesn't half-describe the intense bond that forms) Takahashi and Kaoru...and you get to hear some strange things...like the strange tale of Mari's gorgeous sister Eri. The strange goings-on in one of the infamous "love hotels" Japan has begun to be associated with...and Murakami brings in the Chinese mafia characters too. But here's the thing - Murakami is tricky - there's no black and white, there's no definitely for sure. And he has this incredible knack of hinting at deep....

What Goes Around...

10

It's not surprising that not much of a fuss has been made about Justin Timberlake's latest video - not surprising because of the changing face of the corporate mass-marketed cross-promoted blitzkrieg that ensures we all conform. Or change channels, if we're feeling particularly bold. Or just ignore it, if the music's not up our street. But it's a cultural conformism that's not so pretty - when it comes to women, it's hard to know how stereotypes start to propagate, how attitudes get set, attitudes like how it's "right" to show the "wrong" woman just how badly you were "wronged". The man as victim. The man in a murderous rage. Done to death? Or by now, just another part of our collective psyche? It's a bombardment of imagery that will backfire so massively, it's hard to know where to start... But should we start, with this one....