I just finished reading After Dark, by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. If you're not familiar with his work, his stories draw you into these worlds which are at once, both a surreal and hyper-real look at human interaction (or lack of it) in modern society. His writing style is the literary equivalent of minimalist design, choosing his words carefully and using them sparingly.
After Dark follows the events of passing strangers - including a 19 year old female student, a trombone player, a sleeping beauty, a love hotel manager, a Chinese prostitute, and a computer programmer - over the course of one night from the hours of 11:56pm to 6:52am in downtown Tokyo. It begins here:
"We are inside a Denny's.
Unremarkable but adequate lighting; expressionless decor and tableware; floor plan designed to the last detail by management engineers; innocuous background music at low volume; staff meticulously trained to deal with customers by the book: 'Welcome to Denny's.' Everything about the restaurant is anonymous and interchangeable. And almost every seat is filled.
After a quick survey of the interior, our eyes come to rest on a girl sitting by the front window. Why her? Why not someone else? Hard to say...
...On her table is a coffee cup. And an ashtray. Next to the ashtray, a navy blue baseball cap with a Boston Red Sox 'B'. It might be a little too large for her head. A brown leather shoulder bag rests on the seat next to her. It bulges as if its contents had been thrown in on the spur of the moment. She reaches out at regular intervals and brings the coffee cup to her mouth, but she doesn't appear to be enjoying the flavor. She drinks because she has a coffee cup in front of her: that is her role as a customer."
