lilreddress's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I really enjoy Murakami, but find him hard work (possibly as a result of the translation rather than the original writing) and the female characters are comically awful at times.

I think nothing would have been lost if we just didn't mention the aunt or child's breasts at any time. It was pretty irrelevant to the story, and was pretty uncomfortable coming from a male writer. I think a female author would have probably left them out, or at least would have written female voices in a more realistic way.

The length is also questionable. I kept stopping reading to go read something else instead and coming back to it. I don't mind slow paced, and in fact the artist holed up in the country cottage gave some nice cosy vibes, and I loved reading about the everyday parts of life. However, this was truly glacial. Could have cut a hundred pages and still had the story intact, I think.

This is one of his weaker ones, but still very good. And definitely matches the level of weirdness I have come to expect.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

bella613's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved this book, but to be honest, after finishing it I still can’t really explain what it was about. I can remember all the pieces and how it made me feel, but it’s very difficult to put any real name to what the book is. A summary of events that happen makes it sound like a silly story and yet it’s strangely powerful. I think it’s meant to be like a great painting, one that you have to let sink in for a long time. Some parts of the book go into almost  uncomfortable detail but the descriptions are also what I loved most about the authors writing. Clearly the work of an artist. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

ryebread225's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

what is with the obsession with breasts 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

frankahilde's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Killing commentatore is a beautiful book. It reminds me a lot of the wind up bird chronicles because it has a lot of similar motives (a dreamworld colliding with reality, a middle aged man left abruptly by his wife not really knowing what to do with his life, that man having a strange friendship with a young teenage girl, a house that is much more than that and sitting for hours in a dark confined space under the earth with only one other person knowing) But I really did prefer Killing Commendatore. Maybe because I am an artist as well, the topic of paintings and their meaning really fascinated me. I only think that the book was a little bit too long and could have been shortened at some points.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

crows_in_a_trenchcoat's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

m_delaney's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

theprimalcollective's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Beautiful story with fantastical aspects, with a unique take on the world. Knocked half a star off for the following reason:
I think he should have revisited the faceless spector scene from the start of the story, showing the main character finishing his portrait. He really did an excellent job of 'closing the circle' except for that.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

wellreadmed's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

kkmk's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

georgiarybanks's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings