Killing Commendatore

PerFiction_ist Rating:

7 out of 10

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Beloved Japanese author, Haruki Murakami's heavyweight novel is an ode to art and artistic expression on a grand scale.

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Killing Commendatore is the first of Haruki Murakami's books I have ever taken on, after years of looking for a well-priced copy. I finally found this gorgeous copy at The Book Shed in Marsh Street, Mossel Bay. This book is absolutely stunning to look at, both with the dust jacket on and off. Something I don't usually comment on is the paper a book is printed on, but this book's paper is so lovely that it's worth a mention.

A failing marriage, a mysterious pit in the woods, a hidden painting, an enigmatic millionaire, and a remote mountain top home set the scene for our story. Our unnamed main character is a professional portrait painter in his thirties, who uncovers a hidden painting that opens a circle of mysterious circumstances around him. As he endeavors to close the circle, we move through themes of love, loneliness, relationships, and creativity.

"We’d shared so many things during our six years of marriage. A lot of time, emotions, words and silence, lots of confusion and lots of decisions, lots of promises and lots of resignation, lots of pleasure, lots of boredom."

My first impression, as I started reading this book, was that it was definitely going to be a slow burn. The story progresses at a leisurely pace all the way through, but I didn't find it inherently boring. I enjoyed the author's unique writing and storytelling style, even though I was, admittedly, confused at times. I found it interesting that our main character starts off as seeming quite two-dimensional, but as the book progresses, the same anecdotes and stories are repeated with added bits of information and context which flesh out the character as we go along. Having not read many books set in Japan, or by Japanese authors, I also really enjoyed reading about aspects of Japanese culture, history, and nature. There are also a few nods to The Great Gatsby which were an interesting and enjoyable addition to the story.

"In the silence of the woods it felt like I could hear the passage of time, of life passing by. One person leaves, another appears. A thought flits away and another takes its place. One image bids farewell and another one appears on the scene... I just sat there in front of the hole, listening to the sound of time dying."

Painting takes center stage in this book and the author wrote such beautiful, vivid descriptions of the process and emotions behind creating an image on canvas that I have even thought about attempting some painting myself. It was so interesting to see how deeply connected our character, and I suppose any artist, is to their work. It is very emotional and about so much more than technique and colours.

"It wasn’t simply a colour, but had to be connected with a specific emotion, an emotion entwined with fate, but in its own way firm, unfluctuating."

"What was important was believing in myself. Believing in the power of the lines, in the power of the space the lines divided. I wasn’t speaking, but letting the lines and spaces speak. Once the lines and spaces began conversing, then colour would finally start to speak. And the flat would gradually transform into the three-dimensional. What I had to do was encourage them all, lend them a hand. And more than anything, not get in their way."

There is quite a bit of art theory and history in the book, which might sound like it should be boring, but it somehow isn't, as it is essential to understanding both the story and the characters. I might be slightly biased there, having an interest in the field of art history, but it was all relatively easy to follow and keep up with.

I was quite surprised by the mystery element of this story, and I found myself speculating about things even while I was away from the book. However, nothing ever really gets resolved in the end. We don't get clear answers, even as things seem to come full circle. But perhaps therein lies the beauty of this book, that we keep thinking about the story and wondering about the characters and what it all means long after the last page. From the other reviews I've read, it seems that this is classic Murakami storytelling so it's not something I'm going to count as a negative.

“There are plenty of things in history that are best left in the shadows. Accurate knowledge does not improve people’s lives. The objective does not necessarily surpass the subjective, you know. Reality does not necessarily extinguish fantasy.”

In conclusion, I'm still not sure if I completely got it. Did I pick up on what the book was trying to say? Did I catch the meaning of all the metaphors? Maybe. What I can say is that Killing Commendatore was an intellectual challenge, an enjoyable one, and even though it was a long read, I don't really regret it. I also now have a hankering to visit an art gallery and stare at paintings. I look forward to reading more of Haruki Murakami's works in the future and being just as delightfully confused by the weirdness I encounter.

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First published in Japan in 2017 in two volumes titled Kishidancho goroshi: Dai ichi-bu, Arawareru idea hen and Kishidancho goroshi: Dai ni-bu, Utsurou metafa hen

Translated from the Japanese by Philip Gabriel and Ted Goossen

Pages: 681

ISBN: 9781787300194