Killing Commendatore: A Novel
Written by Haruki Murakami
Narrated by Kirby Heyborne
4.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
The epic new novel from the internationally acclaimed and best-selling author of 1Q84
In Killing Commendatore, 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 previously unseen 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. A tour de force of love and loneliness, war and art—as well as a loving homage to The Great Gatsby—Killing Commendatore is a stunning work of imagination from one of our greatest writers.
Editor's Note
Hypnotic…
“Killing Commendatore” hits all the classic Murakami touchstones: a mild-mannered protagonist; a mysterious stranger; odd, supernatural phenomena; lingering tensions from WWII; and those hypnotic descriptions of quotidian life in Japan that alter your mood and mindset, even after you close the book. An engaging and entertaining read.
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Reviews for Killing Commendatore
58 ratings7 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A masterpiece of imagination and of the making of art. And like most of Murakami’s work, it speaks of the writer’s art as well, including what you’re reading as he does it.
Beautifully performed by one of the most accomplished narrators too. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wow...just finished this 670+ page work of fiction and it flowed so quickly and intensely. Beautifully described characters. Intimate and spiritual, great connections through life and death.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5About three quarters of the book is a setup for the ending which, unfortunately was not meaningful to me nor profound. The idea seems to be that the world should be more imprecise and wishful, in a thoroughly whimsical way. It didn't connect with me. I thought perhaps at least I would get some cultural understanding, maybe I did, but all book references are to Western English books so I am not so sure.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I was repulsed by the morbidness of the whole concept. And when I say "morbidness" I am not referring to RoBerTo (that part of the book is too simplistic to have any retrospective impact on the never ending Japanese soul-searching) I am talking about Murakami's recurring fascination with the uncanny coupling of middle-aged males—and–under-aged females. For what it's worth, I think that the Emperor's New Clothes is in actuality the underlying theme of this, otherwise indifferent, book.
Nevertheless, the narrator's performance is exquisite. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5My favorite murakami book. Like a classical composer, he has gained more depth and complexity in his later works.
So much happens, unlike some of his other books where the reader is waiting for something to happen. And lots of substance and complexity to the main characters, unlike some of his other books where the characters are weird, directionless and empty.
It kept my interest the entire time, and I read every day, night , and sometimes in the middle of the night when I woke up. Wish it didn’t end and now I’m back to reality in this world. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This could be his best work! I enjoyed it thoroughly!
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Dull pointless analysis of everything that doesn't matter in life
the guy is completely delusional
typical Asian