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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
Killing Commendatore is Murakami's Alice in Wonderland.
To clarify, Murakami holds a mirror to his own previously crafted worlds and explores how certain ideas can and tend to be interpreted, all the while attempting to subvert his own well-known tropes.
K.C is a novel crafted by a mature artist. It is one that at least superficially attempts to respond to fame, 'Murakami bingo' and that of creative self-doubt.
Though a synopsis of the plot could be condensed to little more than 5 or 6 sentences, Murakami takes several hundred pages to get us 'to the point', one which, upon re-reading, is clearly stated in the prologue. The obvious question is why? Why does a well-known, well-liked, fervently read author publish a book this size with so 'little' to say...
The Novel itself was originally published in two parts with the subtitles: The Idea Made Visible and The Shifting Metaphor. This is important. Murakami has always been drawn to certain ideas, concepts and metaphors. The calm, quiet and consistent protagonist who is very good at doing simple things with great care and attention to detail. The modest hero that we can all relate to, either by their coffee intake, sleep patterns or their subtle aversion to the realities of waking life. Here, his protagonist(s) arguably embody his own interactions with fame, fate and the powerful reverberations of artistic creation. More than any of his previous novels, they allow him to explore those things closest to him (only with less successful results). Those obsessions we've come to expect, know and sympathize with: the supernatural animal, the found circular pit, the legacy and reverberations of history, the mysterious juxtapositions of (proposed) intent and unexpected consequence. The list goes on.
It could be argued that here, Murakami is both the Idea made visible and the shifting metaphor. He is both the unnamed portrait painter and Menshiki. How so?
Much like Miyazaki who is often quoted on the 'negative' effects his art or films have had on a generation of anime fans, Murakami, here, seems to be exploring how his own work has altered the consciousness of a generation of readers. What do you do when so much of what you've done fits into a characteristically uncharacteristic mould. When surprise is convention, Surrealism, the quotidian... You go meta? You Personify ideas. You take critic's possible interpretations as a starting point perhaps?
But what of the peripheral characters? The artist Tomohiko Amada, whose painting Killing Commendatore, inspired the title, is a man felt but rarely seen. This painting, the ultimate artistic creation, is one that, upon viewing, so vividly captures the passion and pain of its artist, that it allows for things enter or exit waking life. It is the idea made visible but It could also be a stand-in for Murakami's body of work. So many of Murakami's book seek to lull or slide the viewer into an alternate reality not unlike those we, the reader, so comfortably inhabit...
At its best, this novel explores the multifaceted explications of 'The' artistically rendered and passionately considered thing. There are certainly memorable passages that explore the difficulties of translating music and emotions unto painting and the difficulties encountered when one tries to explain the near otherworldly impact paintings can have on our human psyches. Let alone the difficulties encountered when we try to communicate in words, the impact had by those visuals we are
at a lost to see.
This is a novel that desperately wants to explore new territory all the while walking along the same
newly created but well-worn path. To this reader, the book's 'journey' felt like man-made trail in an unruly and uncompromising forest. While I can't quite see its end from its entrance, I know it's been explored by others before. Where they stopped along the way may have changed depending on the genre or the characters, some may have even stepped off the path and discovered a new exit, perhaps even cross a river and survived by tapping into sources of experience and imagination... Murakami, on the other hand, seems to have spotted the path, walked alongside it, documented his progress and stopped, hoping the reader would take his hand and make their own way out.
This could have been great. It works well as a companion piece to previous work. It's enjoyable and possibly or arguably provides new insights into Murakami's writing but as a stand alone novel, you'd best start elsewhere.
To clarify, Murakami holds a mirror to his own previously crafted worlds and explores how certain ideas can and tend to be interpreted, all the while attempting to subvert his own well-known tropes.
K.C is a novel crafted by a mature artist. It is one that at least superficially attempts to respond to fame, 'Murakami bingo' and that of creative self-doubt.
Though a synopsis of the plot could be condensed to little more than 5 or 6 sentences, Murakami takes several hundred pages to get us 'to the point', one which, upon re-reading, is clearly stated in the prologue. The obvious question is why? Why does a well-known, well-liked, fervently read author publish a book this size with so 'little' to say...
The Novel itself was originally published in two parts with the subtitles: The Idea Made Visible and The Shifting Metaphor. This is important. Murakami has always been drawn to certain ideas, concepts and metaphors. The calm, quiet and consistent protagonist who is very good at doing simple things with great care and attention to detail. The modest hero that we can all relate to, either by their coffee intake, sleep patterns or their subtle aversion to the realities of waking life. Here, his protagonist(s) arguably embody his own interactions with fame, fate and the powerful reverberations of artistic creation. More than any of his previous novels, they allow him to explore those things closest to him (only with less successful results). Those obsessions we've come to expect, know and sympathize with: the supernatural animal, the found circular pit, the legacy and reverberations of history, the mysterious juxtapositions of (proposed) intent and unexpected consequence. The list goes on.
It could be argued that here, Murakami is both the Idea made visible and the shifting metaphor. He is both the unnamed portrait painter and Menshiki. How so?
Much like Miyazaki who is often quoted on the 'negative' effects his art or films have had on a generation of anime fans, Murakami, here, seems to be exploring how his own work has altered the consciousness of a generation of readers. What do you do when so much of what you've done fits into a characteristically uncharacteristic mould. When surprise is convention, Surrealism, the quotidian... You go meta? You Personify ideas. You take critic's possible interpretations as a starting point perhaps?
But what of the peripheral characters? The artist Tomohiko Amada, whose painting Killing Commendatore, inspired the title, is a man felt but rarely seen. This painting, the ultimate artistic creation, is one that, upon viewing, so vividly captures the passion and pain of its artist, that it allows for things enter or exit waking life. It is the idea made visible but It could also be a stand-in for Murakami's body of work. So many of Murakami's book seek to lull or slide the viewer into an alternate reality not unlike those we, the reader, so comfortably inhabit...
At its best, this novel explores the multifaceted explications of 'The' artistically rendered and passionately considered thing. There are certainly memorable passages that explore the difficulties of translating music and emotions unto painting and the difficulties encountered when one tries to explain the near otherworldly impact paintings can have on our human psyches. Let alone the difficulties encountered when we try to communicate in words, the impact had by those visuals we are
at a lost to see.
This is a novel that desperately wants to explore new territory all the while walking along the same
newly created but well-worn path. To this reader, the book's 'journey' felt like man-made trail in an unruly and uncompromising forest. While I can't quite see its end from its entrance, I know it's been explored by others before. Where they stopped along the way may have changed depending on the genre or the characters, some may have even stepped off the path and discovered a new exit, perhaps even cross a river and survived by tapping into sources of experience and imagination... Murakami, on the other hand, seems to have spotted the path, walked alongside it, documented his progress and stopped, hoping the reader would take his hand and make their own way out.
This could have been great. It works well as a companion piece to previous work. It's enjoyable and possibly or arguably provides new insights into Murakami's writing but as a stand alone novel, you'd best start elsewhere.
mysterious
tense
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was just.. horrendous. I was almost hate-reading it by the end. It’s everything I dislike about Murakami dialled up 100 notches (awful, sexist female characters, relentlessly objectifying male characters, boring, self-obsessed, middle-aged protagonists, the feeling that the writing sometimes isn’t going anywhere), and none of his usual magic. Then, aside from the obsession with pre-pubescent girls and their breasts, which started off weird and creepy and by the end frankly almost caused me to put the book down, there was that terrible NON-ENDING. What in god’s name was that? It was like Murakami got a deadline from his publisher, thought “I’ll drink a bottle of wine and write the first thing that comes into my head”, and did exactly that. I can’t believe I read 500 pages of slow build up to have it.. dissipate into nothing. I’m bemused about this whole thing. What a waste of time.
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
His work is beautiful, it’s just not for everyone. Be prepared to have challenging, inventive ideas with this book.
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
⛩️🏣🎨Killing Commendatore 🎨🏣⛩️
How would you react if an idea of a fictional character turned into a reality but is visible only to you?
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 strange 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.
I am out of words so I would just start with BRILLIANT.
I never felt satisfied or you can say fulfilled with the works of Haruki Murakami. This doesn't mean that they weren't good, it's just that they left me with questions which was kinda good kinda bad because few of those questions literally took my sleep away. Killing Commendatore left me at peace and made me feel satisfied.
The story is completely perfect, starts with a character who has lost his soul(or you could say soul of an artist), which leads in a break in his marriage, he travels and finally lands in a place where a great artist lived and worked most of his life. He grew with time, regained his soul, started learning a new form of art, built many interesting relationships with the people there and last but not the least improved his character. He learnt how listening is the most important thing in a conversation.
Besides him the character or you could say the Idea I loved the most was "The Commendatore". He was a supernatural being, his imperfections were so cute, he was always there when his friends needed him, he knew everything and most importantly he knew how much information must be passed on to one individual at a certain point of time.
The story was engrossing and so beautifully written that the reader could make up paintings that the narrator made in his/her mind without having any visuals. I can still see the beautiful *KILLING COMMENDATORE* painting that the author painted with his words inside this masterpiece of a book.
At last I would recommend this book to every individual who loves magical realism, get ready for an exciting and engrossing adventure with Murakami!!!!!
How would you react if an idea of a fictional character turned into a reality but is visible only to you?
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 strange 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.
I am out of words so I would just start with BRILLIANT.
I never felt satisfied or you can say fulfilled with the works of Haruki Murakami. This doesn't mean that they weren't good, it's just that they left me with questions which was kinda good kinda bad because few of those questions literally took my sleep away. Killing Commendatore left me at peace and made me feel satisfied.
The story is completely perfect, starts with a character who has lost his soul(or you could say soul of an artist), which leads in a break in his marriage, he travels and finally lands in a place where a great artist lived and worked most of his life. He grew with time, regained his soul, started learning a new form of art, built many interesting relationships with the people there and last but not the least improved his character. He learnt how listening is the most important thing in a conversation.
Besides him the character or you could say the Idea I loved the most was "The Commendatore". He was a supernatural being, his imperfections were so cute, he was always there when his friends needed him, he knew everything and most importantly he knew how much information must be passed on to one individual at a certain point of time.
The story was engrossing and so beautifully written that the reader could make up paintings that the narrator made in his/her mind without having any visuals. I can still see the beautiful *KILLING COMMENDATORE* painting that the author painted with his words inside this masterpiece of a book.
At last I would recommend this book to every individual who loves magical realism, get ready for an exciting and engrossing adventure with Murakami!!!!!
I usually enjoy the unpredictability and strangeness of Murakami's novels and this is certainly no exception. While a lot of the story is set in the real world, especially towards the end of the book it gets a very Studio Ghibli vibe. The many mysterious and surreal characters contribute to this, such as the Commendatore and Long Face out of a painting, and a faceless man and a dead sister, as well as strange events such as physically impossible underground quests, and remote impregnations. The (unnamed) main character is an artist and portrait painter who holes up on a remote Japanese mountain after breaking up with his wife, and discovers a strange circular pit behind his house. He and his eccentric neighbour Menshiki excavate and explore it while Menshiki sits for his portrait. The owner of the house was also a famous artist, and both he and Menshiki's possible biological daughter weave into the plot. I found the ending disappointing with too many things left unresolved, including the identity and purpose of the 'man in the white subaru forester' and the faceless man introduced at the beginning of the book, whose desire was to have his portrait painted. The focus on the circular pit reminded me of [b:The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle|11275|The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle|Haruki Murakami|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327872639l/11275._SY75_.jpg|2531376] and is apparently a particular fascination of the author. Strange, unpredictable, enjoyable and never boring.