Not the best, not the worst. Despite its 700-page length, Killing Commendatore is a readable work, but it is not on the same level as “Kafka on the Shore,” “Wild Sheep Chase,” or “IQ84.” The narrator, a portrait artist, is going through a separation as well as being at a mid-career crisis. Art and music play important roles in the story. Murakami readers know that the author is an aficionado of jazz and classical music. In past works, the classical music in the background has been Prokofiev, Beethoven, Liszt, and Schubert. This time, it is Richard Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier playing, but it is the fans of Mozart who will be most intrigued. The title refers to the Mozart opera, Don Giovanni, a painting of which is discovered in the attic of a house the narrator is renting. The painting depicts the opening scene, which is the killing of the character Commendatore. Not surprisingly, with Murakami’s use of altered reality, the characters of Commendatore and Donna Anna eventually come to life just two-feet tall. Many of the characters are “mysterious,” e.g. Menshiki, the neighbor; and the "Man with the White Suburu Forester." Even objects, such as the dry well (ala “The Wind-up Bird Chronicle”), the knife and the bell are of uncertain realities. Overall, there is a lot to enjoy, e.g. the underground adventure, and the depiction of an artist at work. My own love of art, Mozart, and Strauss may have influenced my enjoyment of this work. On the minus side, there is too much repetitive writing, and some of the story elements seem superfluous, e.g. Mariye’s intrusion into Menshiki’s house and the narrator’s multiple, unemotional sexual encounters. Has Murakami actually made sex boring? You decide. But did I like the book? Yes, indeed. ["Mental" ladder is a typo on page 194 of the hardcover edition; the word should have been "metal," but Murakami probably would like the error.] Read more

The picture of Tomohiko Amada is the focus of the story. Five persons, as they appear in Don Giovanni, Mozart's opera, are depicted. Don Giovanni, Leporello, Donna Anna and the Commendatore. Don Giovanni stabs the Commendatore with a sword. Tomohiko Amada's brother Tsuguhiko was forced to kill innocent people in Nanjing (China) in 1937 and later committed suicide. National Socialism in Vienna after the annexation of Austria to Germany under Hitler in 1938 brought torture and death for a group of young students in Vienna who, like Tomohiko Amada, were engaged in a resistance group. The brutal, merciless action, the helplessness not to be able to do anything against it, and the loss of his great love, shaped his later life.Silence and inner retreat were the result. The picture "Killing Commendatore" becomes the metaphor. He paints it in Japanese style and sets it back to the late Middle Ages. The picture remains hidden from the public. Art becomes a means of expressing the truth. The composition of the figures in the picture demands interpretation. This is achieved through the discovery of the picture and the slow processing of the biography of Tomohiko Amada by the portrait painter who tells the story. He is 30 years old and is changing his life. His marriage has failed. He signs the divorce papers because his wife does not want to live with him after six years of marriage and demands the divorce. Without realizing what it means for his future, he agrees and faces the divorce with no way out. A dream brings him back to reality. He has sex with his wife without her consent. He is dreaming. Later it could be the procreation of his child, at least in the temporal dimension. He now knows that he loves her and wants to do everything he can to win her back. He takes the courage to meet her and demand a pronunciation. Reading a book means wanting to understand the author. To love a book means to succeed in entering into a dialogue with oneself and to reflect on the story. To ask oneself the questions and to perceive the answers in the book as a possibility. Identification and empathy also succeed with the described everyday routines, such as preparing food, driving a car, putting on vinyl records and listening to classical music, making appointments with friends and accepting invitations. The story is exciting. It begins with the new situation in which he gets involved through the announced divorce and the search for a new place to stay. New story-lines are added all the time. Unexplained things happen, in the course of time the connections become clearer. But questions also remain unanswered. Repetitions are used to depict what has happened from a different perspective or to recall what has already been said. This is sometimes disturbing, because one wants to see the riddles solved and does not want to allow unnecessary reading passages because of the tension. The book demands to take the time to stay with oneself and to reflect on what is happening. The portrait painter has existential fears, like many artists. He allows himself to be distracted from his artistic ideal by accepting commissions and painting portraits mechanically, as he has to earn a living. In the new situation he finds himself in a creative crisis. By chance, he discovers a painting in Tomohiko Amada's attic that captivates him and he wants to explore the background of the painting. The figures in the picture come to life. A journey between idea and reality begins. In the real world he meets a twelve-year-old student who has to be rescued. He receives the instructions and applies intelligence and ruse, interprets the things, and in the end comes back to life from the depths of the underworld. He saves the girl and can give a new direction to her future. He must fulfill a mystical mission and master difficult situations. The painting is the key to the story. The five characters Don Giovanni, Leporello, Donna Anna, Commendatore and Long Face all play a role in the plot. Commendatore moves from the pictorial to the real. He becomes the adviser for him and for the pupil. The connection to the creation of the picture lies in the biography of Tomohiko Amada. During the time of the annexation of Austria to Hitler's Germany, his great love was tortured and murdered. There is nothing he can do about it. He returns to Japan and falls into isolation. In addition, the younger brother commits suicide. Traumatized until shortly before his death, released from him by the deed that would have changed everything. He dies in peace. The book is a political book. Murakami is directed against the violence perpetrated by the Japanese against the Chinese population in the 1937 Nanjing massacre and against the violence perpetrated in Austria by the Nazis in Vienna after the annexation of Austria to Germany under Hitler's rule. The cruel events and forced act of execution destroy the life of the brother. After he had to kill innocent people with the sword at the command of his commander, he could no longer live and committed suicide. Tomohiko Amada cannot find a way to overcome both events and turn to other people. Numerous metaphors give us clues to the painter's state of mind. The deep, dark pit as imagination of the standstill of life. The comparison of entering and the gate to the underworld with the opening to salvation. The bell ringing to initiate the liberation around the persons from their present situations. The help of other powers, ideas and phenomena that come from the past and have gifts that go beyond comprehension in the real world lead to the dissolution of tensions and lead to a happy end. This is a Japanese novel with a mixture of reality and imagination. The book gives an insight into the nature of Japan. His landscapes with high mountains, impassable terrain, heat, humidity, cold in winter, storms and wildlife, birds, insects, are in the background and also determine the actions. The chirping of birds and the humming and buzzing of insects, which can be beautiful and dangerous at the same time. To understand the descriptions is most possible for the Japanese. Buddhism and Shinto (Shintoism) shape the spiritual world of the Japanese. Myths, spirits and stories are present. The boundaries between dream and reality disappear. Myths, ideas, concepts and metaphors accompany the events in the novel. Therefore, this work by Murakami is an exciting Japanese developmental novel that I can highly recommend. Read more

Such an amazing book. Just as expected from Haruki. Definite read for a Murakami fan. Read more

Excellent livre livré en parfait état en quelques jours. Je recommande cet achat. Read more

If anyone wants to read or collect all of Murakami’s novels, I’d definitely recommend buying this version. But honestly, I wouldn’t recommend anyone reading it. Read The Wind-up Bird Chronicles. It’s very similar but more well written. Read more

Beautiful reflection on the art of creation Read more

It's like reading an odd dream. Read more