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A review by ifollowedthatrabbit
La muerte del comendador, Libro 1 by Haruki Murakami
4.0
“Instead of a stable truth, I choose unstable possibilities. I choose to surrender myself to that instability.”
The protagonist, a portrait painter in his mid-thirties, has been recently left by his wife, therefore he starts a journey with no fixed destination. He just drives to the north of Japan. One day, after more than a month on the road, he decides to come back to Tokyo and talks to his best friend about his situation. He offers him his father’s house in the mountains. His father is a famous artist who now has dementia and lives in a nursing home.
Once the protagonist moves into Amada’s house, his life changes significantly due to the people he meets and the place he is living in. This will be reflected in his painting too. He used to paint portraits for a living, but he didn’t feel he could really express himself doing that, so the first thing he does after his separation is leaving his job. Although, he never thought he would find himself by painting portraits again. Someone wants him to paint his portrait and he’s willing to pay well. The condition is that he must pose for the portrait. This is how the protagonist meets the mysterious Wataru Menshiki. Then, a series of surreal events begin to develop. The discovery of a painting hid in the attic, Killing Commendatore by Tomohiko Amada, the mystical sound of a bell that comes from a hidden hole near the house and a perspicacious 13-years-old teenager are just some of the curious events and people present in this story.
The protagonist, a portrait painter in his mid-thirties, has been recently left by his wife, therefore he starts a journey with no fixed destination. He just drives to the north of Japan. One day, after more than a month on the road, he decides to come back to Tokyo and talks to his best friend about his situation. He offers him his father’s house in the mountains. His father is a famous artist who now has dementia and lives in a nursing home.
Once the protagonist moves into Amada’s house, his life changes significantly due to the people he meets and the place he is living in. This will be reflected in his painting too. He used to paint portraits for a living, but he didn’t feel he could really express himself doing that, so the first thing he does after his separation is leaving his job. Although, he never thought he would find himself by painting portraits again. Someone wants him to paint his portrait and he’s willing to pay well. The condition is that he must pose for the portrait. This is how the protagonist meets the mysterious Wataru Menshiki. Then, a series of surreal events begin to develop. The discovery of a painting hid in the attic, Killing Commendatore by Tomohiko Amada, the mystical sound of a bell that comes from a hidden hole near the house and a perspicacious 13-years-old teenager are just some of the curious events and people present in this story.