Two Books

I finished Jennifer Haigh's, "The Condition" about a week ago. I found the first 35 pages or so awful. So awful I almost put it down more than once and gave up on it. But I didn't give up and immediately after the first segment/chapter it took at 180 degree spin. I found the characters odd but engaging. I was rooting for all of them. They were quirking and so imperfect that I could identify with some aspect of each of them. I have read her other books and found them to be OK so when I found this one at the library I had some reservations, it certainly wasn't the first one in the pile I took out to read. But once I got past the initial introduction, I couldn't put it down. A terrific read.

Then yesterday I finished Haruki Murakami's, "After Dark". It is the first of his that I've read, I chose it from the others at the library because it was relatively short (just under 200 pages). It is a strange book, I'm not sure what to make of it. I'm not sure what the whole gist of it is either. It was well written, lyrical in a way. And it has made me think about it at odd times of the day. I'm not entirely sure how all the characters tie in together, how cohesive the actual story line was. But that's just my opinion. I will look up another one of his books and give it a try.