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Killing Commendatore

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About this listen

Random House presents the audiobook edition of Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami, read by Kirby Heyborne.

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 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.

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.

 Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Magical Realism Small Town & Rural World Literature Magic Mind-bending

Critic reviews

It’s safe to say that there’s no one like Murakami
Murakami’s reality has many sides; some plain, some fancy. Translators Philip Gabriel and Ted Goossen capture every colour on this mind-altering palette. No other author mixes domestic, fantastic and esoteric elements into such weirdly bewitching shades. Murakami’s “Land of Metaphor” remains a country where wonders never cease (Boyd Tonkin)
Wild, thrilling. . . Murakami is a master storyteller and he knows how to keep us hooked
Expansive and intricate . . . touches on many of the themes familiar in Mr. Murakami’s novels: the mystery of romantic love, the weight of history, the transcendence of art, the search for elusive things just outside our grasp
I found it totally gripping with scarcely a dull page, the loose ends enhancing its mystery. An absorbing work by a great writer
An immersive big-hearted new novel
Written in a simple, readable style that leaves you free to concentrate on the weirdness of the content… There is no other writer able to give us the fix that his unique qualities provide
In this novel, [Murakami] captures the creative process compellingly… The complex landscape that Murakami assembles in Killing Commendatore is a word portrait of the artist’s inner life
Murakami keeps the reader gripped
Rich, sprawling… Killing Commendatore is a… powerful, sustained meditation on how we engage with works of art
All stars
Most relevant
I love Murakami and his stories. Gotta stick with this one, but it's beautifully written

a complex and unfolding storyline

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Classic Murakami that just doesn't disappoint in any way. Stunningly good narration by Kirby Heyborne.

A great story...

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This book is very Murakami but in too many of the irritating ways and too few of the brilliant ways.

Don't get me wrong it's by no stretch a terrible book but the payoff from almost 30 hours of listening is pretty disappointing. But no doubt, as with most of Murakami's novels, if a central idea grabs you then it will be easy to fall in love with it. For me unfortunately too much fell flat, just like the chests of prepubescent girls he seemed oddly intent on describing.

If you're considering this as your first foray into Murakami, I'd suggest starting elsewhere.

No complaints on narration, Kirby Heyborn did a great job with the material.

Love Murakami but not this one

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A much welcomed return to Murakami’s engrossing and compelling alternate reality. However I did find the naration too slow and tedious to the extent that I was unable to keep focussed on the book. So I tried increasing the playback speed to x1.25 and found this was enough to keep my mind from wandering!

Classic Murakami with poor naration

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a long story for a simple message, lots of storylines which come together in the end.

suitably strange gentle narrative

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