The older I get, the more sure I am that the books that stick with you the longest are the ones that enter into your life when you need them. If you read a masterpiece of literature in the wrong head space it won't resonate, but you could read a dime novel at the right time and it stays with you forever
Murakami is a strange author. He is a master of creating odd, leisurely novels full of arms length self analysis and deep undercurrents of emotion. Everything feels important, but also distant. Like a dream. In that way most of his works have sort of blurred together for me, mixing his favorite writing ingredients together in different recipes but ultimately not sticking to me at all once I put the book down.
Killing Commendatore is the first book of his that has stuck with me since the very first of his I read, long ago. Most probably because it entered my life at the right time. The novel you see is, on it's face, a haunted house story. An unnamed portrait artist separates from his wife and moves into an isolated house in the mountains near Odwara. The house was owned by a famous aging artist of Japanese style works who is now ill and in hospice. It is full of secrets, hidden paintings, mysterious histories dating back to WWII, lost shrines, ghostly specters and bells.
But more critically, the story is not about the house at all. It is about transition points. When a comfortable life going in one direction is suddenly shaken and send adrift, and how a new path is forged from that murky uncertainty by grappling through the darkness. That is the core of the story, and Murakami lands that in every way that matters. It was the sort of story I was ready for in my own life to read, and it's one reason the story stuck with me so well despite it's flaws.
And there are flaws aplenty. While Murakami manages to almost every mystery up, the novel is a bit over long and something parts gets repetitive. It has the usual and unfortunate Murakami obsession with woman's breasts and poorly written love scenes, as well as his tendency to drift a bit too much into the metaphorical in his ideas that leave a few plot points not connecting with total satisfaction. That being said, the core stories of the haunted house and the man in the middle of a turning point in his life all landed for me, and this is one story of his that will stick with me for a long time.
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Reviews with images
Amazing Book
Very interesting, great imagination, about arts, dreams, reality and surrealistic acts .Enjoyed the same as with 1q84.
Top reviews from other countries
Rishabh kumar
How would you react if an idea of a fictional character turned into a reality?
Reviewed in India on May 11, 2023
Rishabh kumar
Reviewed in India on May 11, 2023
A thirty-something portrait painter in Tokyo is abandoned by his wife and finds himself holed up in the mountain home of a famous artist, Tomohiko Amada. When he discovers a strange painting in the attic, he unintentionally opens a circle of mysterious circumstances. To close it, he must complete a journey that involves a mysterious ringing bell, a two-foot-high physical manifestation of an Idea, a dapper businessman who lives across the valley, a precocious thirteen-year-old girl, a Nazi assassination attempt during World War II in Vienna, a pit in the woods behind the artist’s home, and an underworld haunted by Double Metaphors.
I am out of words so I would just start with BRILLIANT.
I never felt satisfied or you can say fulfilled with the works of Haruki Murakami. This doesn't mean that they weren't good, it's just that they left me with questions which was kinda good kinda bad because few of those questions literally took my sleep away. Killing Commendatore left me at peace and made me feel satisfied.
The story is completely perfect, starts with a character who has lost his soul(or you could say soul of an artist), which leads in a break in his marriage, he travels and finally lands in a place where a great artist lived and worked most of his life. He grew with time, regained his soul, started learning a new form of art, built many interesting relationships with the people there and last but not the least improved his character. He learnt how listening is the most important thing in a conversation.
Besides him the character or you could say the Idea I loved the most was "The Commendatore". He was a supernatural being, his imperfections were so cute, he was always there when his friends needed him, he knew everything and most importantly he knew how much information must be passed on to one individual at a certain point of time.
The story was engrossing and so beautifully written that the reader could make up paintings that the narrator made in his/her mind without having any visuals. I can still see the beautiful *KILLING COMMENDATORE* painting that the author painted with his words inside this masterpiece of a book.
At last I would recommend this book to every individual who loves magical realism, get ready for an exciting and engrossing adventure with Murakami!!!!!
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