Scan barcode
A review by bbrassfield
Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami
4.0
This novel is a rare case of something I felt I couldn't write about inititally, hence just a rating on goodreads. Killing Commendatore is a masterwork to be sure and the most meta of his fictional works as he really gets into ideas and perception in creative ways with the characters. It's pretty incredible all things considered in that you find some familiar Murakami themes but he's also branching off into new territory in terms of character creation and main plot devices.
The Commendatore in the title is a character in a painting titled Killing Commendatore and also an Idea that becomes a character in the main plot when this Idea suddenly appears to our main protagonist. This device allows Murakami to take the story into new terriotry, both literally and metaphorically and mostly it all comes together nicely.
Our main character is a portrait painter who after his wife asks for a divorce leaves Tokyo and takes up residence in the rural mountain home of a famous painter now confined to a nursing home. Shortly after taking up residence, the portrait painter finds a wrapped work in the attic that turns out to be the painting in the title. Our portrait painter is mesmerized by this masterwork and takes it out of the attic and displays it in the studio where he works. All sorts of interesting events follow.
My favorite character in the story is Mr. Menshiki, whose character name represents the 'absence of color.' Now this is where a better understanding of Japanese would help but the English translation gets enough of the essence here to build this fascinating character.
There is one particularly haunting scene where the young girl who may be his daughter has snuck into Menshiki's giant house only to become trapped inside when she fails to leave before he returns. At one point she is hiding in the closet of a room that is a time capsule, frozen in dedication to the girl's mother. As Mariye hides in the closet something that is and is not Menshiki stands just outside the door for an indefinite amount of time. The suspense in this scene is killer and Mariye only learns from the Commendatore that what was out there was only partly Menshiki. Like the Man in the White Subaru Forester, a painting begun by our protagnoist but not finished, we never learn exactly what Menshiki is and to me that is part of the brilliance of Murakami.
As with most of Murakmi, the reader is also treated to wonderful writing about classical music and food. When it comes to describing food, Murakami is the opposite of George R.R. Martin and describes just enough to set the mood (and make you hungry). Martin will tell you down to the original atom the origin of the meal. In Killing Commendatore, Mozart's Don Giovanni plays a key role in such a way that led me anew to appreicate the late composer's masterwork.
While this is not my favorite Murakami, at least not until I read it a second time, KC is a powerful work of fiction that has much to say about ideas, perceptions and human relations, both real and imagined. Not to be missed.
The Commendatore in the title is a character in a painting titled Killing Commendatore and also an Idea that becomes a character in the main plot when this Idea suddenly appears to our main protagonist. This device allows Murakami to take the story into new terriotry, both literally and metaphorically and mostly it all comes together nicely.
Our main character is a portrait painter who after his wife asks for a divorce leaves Tokyo and takes up residence in the rural mountain home of a famous painter now confined to a nursing home. Shortly after taking up residence, the portrait painter finds a wrapped work in the attic that turns out to be the painting in the title. Our portrait painter is mesmerized by this masterwork and takes it out of the attic and displays it in the studio where he works. All sorts of interesting events follow.
My favorite character in the story is Mr. Menshiki, whose character name represents the 'absence of color.' Now this is where a better understanding of Japanese would help but the English translation gets enough of the essence here to build this fascinating character.
There is one particularly haunting scene where the young girl who may be his daughter has snuck into Menshiki's giant house only to become trapped inside when she fails to leave before he returns. At one point she is hiding in the closet of a room that is a time capsule, frozen in dedication to the girl's mother. As Mariye hides in the closet something that is and is not Menshiki stands just outside the door for an indefinite amount of time. The suspense in this scene is killer and Mariye only learns from the Commendatore that what was out there was only partly Menshiki. Like the Man in the White Subaru Forester, a painting begun by our protagnoist but not finished, we never learn exactly what Menshiki is and to me that is part of the brilliance of Murakami.
As with most of Murakmi, the reader is also treated to wonderful writing about classical music and food. When it comes to describing food, Murakami is the opposite of George R.R. Martin and describes just enough to set the mood (and make you hungry). Martin will tell you down to the original atom the origin of the meal. In Killing Commendatore, Mozart's Don Giovanni plays a key role in such a way that led me anew to appreicate the late composer's masterwork.
While this is not my favorite Murakami, at least not until I read it a second time, KC is a powerful work of fiction that has much to say about ideas, perceptions and human relations, both real and imagined. Not to be missed.