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Killing Commendatore
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 28 hrs and 27 mins
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction
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Summary
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 30-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 13-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.
Please note: new audio available as of November 2018.
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What listeners say about Killing Commendatore
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- MR C K GRAHAM
- 15-11-18
Great for a Murakami virgin
To be fair, all of the reviews I have read this far have been on the nose. Murakami has not really tapped into anything new here, most of this is classic and trademark his style. I don't necessarily think this is a bad thing, especially if you are new to Murakami, but it would have been fun to read something totally different. I was sucked in to the story, it kept me wanting more, even though for most of the time nothing was even happening. This could be down to the fantastic narration, or perhaps the depth of the characters. My favourite being Mr Mancheeki (spelling?) who I think gets a hard time in this book. Positives: kept me wanting more, excellent narration, descriptive and trippy. Negatives: is it just me? Or does anyone else feel a bit uncomfortable when Murakami writes about prepubescent girls in this way?
11 people found this helpful
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- Kanterla
- 24-11-18
Struggling to get through this one...
I do like Murakami's books in general, but this one is far too slow to get going. It also feels like a bit of a re-hash of old ideas, with themes from other novels appearing in this one. And therefore, the appearance of the commendatore isn't really that much of a surprise. The narrator here doesn't add much to the story. It sometimes feels like listening to someone reading aloud from a non-fiction book....
7 people found this helpful
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- Mr Vertigo
- 11-11-18
It's a bit like a computer algorithm wrote it.
I love the general atmosphere of Murakami worlds and am generally quite happy to just cruise around his stream of consciousness for a few hundred pages, but this story, sadly for me, didn't offer anything new or original that hadn't been already explored in his other stories. Little magic people, other worlds opening up, young mysterious girls, a solo guy who can cook and likes jazz and classical music - it really was like someone fed all of Murakami's past work into a new AI novelist program and this is what it came up with. Lots of great scenes and interesting characters and fun tangents as usual, but I don't find I care that much what happens as we approach the end.
5 people found this helpful
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- Solaire
- 11-11-18
Good but deja-vu
I liked it and Kirby Heybourne is a top narrator. However... if you're a Murakami fan it may feel like a remix of previous works. There are themes that he has explored before. I suspect if it was my first Murakami novel I may have enjoyed it more.
8 people found this helpful
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- Nibor
- 29-11-18
Usual Murakami but
Why is there always a 13 yo girl obsessed with her breasts?? Enough already. Who is really obsessed with 13 yo breasts?
7 people found this helpful
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- M. Y. Mim
- 10-11-18
All Murakami is wonderful, but this is not Murakami at his best.
I’ve read or listened to all of Murakami’s novels. Immediately I was struck in hearing this one by odd linguistic anomalies, awkward word choices, jarring language usages. So I checked translators. Indeed, Killing Commendatore has been translated by someone who has not translated the author before. He’s done a clunky job, so poor than even someone who doesn’t read Japanese, as I don’t, can tell. Don’t judge the master by this example.
3 people found this helpful
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- Catherine
- 06-11-18
intriguing - the revelation wasn't in the story
You can't dismiss Murakami - nobody else quite weaves reality and 'reality' as well as he does. But for me by far the biggest revelation after 28+ hours of being drawn into the Japanese male gaze is how fortunate I am not to be a Japanese woman!
3 people found this helpful
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- Nic
- 18-12-18
a complex and unfolding storyline
I love Murakami and his stories. Gotta stick with this one, but it's beautifully written
2 people found this helpful
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- Furniture and your home
- 04-06-20
Was really enjoying it THEN Pedophilla
Sorry this is the second murakami to feature graphic sexual content between miners and a adults. Used to love his books but I am not listening to that anymore.
1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 03-10-19
really disappointing and incredibly boring.
far too much emphasis on the breasts of thirteen year old girls. loads of unnecessary information about cars. really disappointing.
1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 30-03-19
Interesting and enjoyable read
I am a big Murakami fan — I have read all his books. This one like many others of his, centres around a recently divorced man, a loner who loves jazz and classical music, and cooking pasta. It also has many references to his previous books such as “colourless” character, etc. I am, however, willing to ignore such repetitions for “Killing Commendatore” offers an interesting set of new characters — a miniature commendatore and a sartorial millionaire. I enjoyed this book and found it quite hard to put down.
1 person found this helpful
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- C. Hanratty
- 27-11-18
Disappointing
This newest novel from Murakami is a bit of a slog. There’s a kind of a dance that’s happening between this story and The Great Gatsby, alongside the references to various operas, Japanese stories and so on. Unfortunately it doesn’t come to much, and the author comes across as more interested in young women’s breasts than anything else. The narration is alright, although words in Japanese, German, French and other languages are very poorly pronounced throughout. This is very poor for someone reading a Japanese novel. Do your homework! At 28 hours, it is a big commitment - one I doubt I’d recommend.
1 person found this helpful
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- Hallvard M�ller
- 30-11-18
Utterky boring
Murakami seems to have lost it. Starting around 1Q84, his novels lack direction and are drowned in words.