Books I've read lately

I've started the year by reading After Dark by Haruki Murakami and L'Africain by J.M.G. Le Clézio. Haruki I've read before, he's a favourite of mine, and After Dark didn't disappoint. It's short, precise and to the point, whilst also dreamy and horrorlike. The writing is, as always, wonderful, this time translated by Jay Rubin. It does benefit from being read from cover to cover, preferably at night of course. It takes place during one night, involving a young man playing jazz, a young woman reading, a Chinese prostitute in trouble and the violent man who beat her up and stole all her possessions. There's no reason why these four people's lives should be interconnected, except that they are.

L'Africain hasn't been translated into English yet, but I've read the Swedish translation, (Afrikanen), and it was rather good. It's only 88 pages, about Le Clézio's childhood and in particular his father. It's a quick rewarding read, both if you want to learn more about the author and/or what it was like being the son of a white doctor working in colonized Africa.

I've also begun reading His Illegal Self by Peter Carey, but more on that when I'm through. I does seem promising.