I wasn't going to bother with Haruki Murakami's latest 'Killing Commendatore' (2018) till Hong Kong censors declared its Chinese language edition as indecent. WHUT. Now, what is so indecent about it that Hong Kong bothers to censor and not Singapore? LOL. Oh. The sex, and the description of sexual happenings. DOHHHH.
I read this in both languages. Borrowed English version from the library, and borrowed the Japanese edition from the girlfriend. Both are just as annoying. My gawwwd, within the first 100 pages, the protagonist repeats his life story about a million times and I wanted to strangle him. Walaoeh, the rambling. (Reviews here, here, here and here.)
The book's title sounds way better in Japanese —'Kishidancho Goroshi' or 『騎士団長殺し』The two parts are titled, 『騎士団長殺し: 第1部, 顕れるイデア編 』そして『騎士団長殺し: 第2部, 遷ろうメタファー編』. The Japanese edition is a two-part series. It features, what else, another one of those Murakami men. This one is an unnamed 36-year old painter living in Tokyo. He paints portraits. His wife Yuzu is seeing someone else and wants a divorce. Startled by the news, he took off on a solo road trip to Hokkaido and Tohoku, and ending up in his friend’s father’s old house on a mountain in Odawara, Kanagawa. Everyone else he meets is incidental, although they feature a lot in this story, from his nearest neighbor fifty-four-year-old Wataru Menshiki to thirteen-year-old Mariye Akikawa who may or may not be Menshiki's biological daughter.
This house used to be owned by famous traditional Japanese artist Tomohiko Asada, who is now senile and debilitated. The temporary occupant-artist found a painting in the attic titled 'Killing Commendatore', drawn by Asada, but wrapped up and never saw the light of day. The painting depicts a violent killing from the olden Asuka era, adapted from the opening act of Mozart’s ‘Don Giovanni’. After this discovery, the book degenerates into total surrealism, replete with shrines, ringing bells, and of course caverns and wells. Ohhhhh. Walaoeh.
Basically Tomohiko Asada's years in Vienna resulted in an assassination plot, government deals and secrecy. He was so traumatized that he threw everything he had into this painting, and the painting captured the essence of his fury, angst and pain, and came alive. Okay, so the Commendatore does appear in this book. He's a two-foot-tall manifestation wearing traditional Japanese garb who seems to have popped out of Amada’s painting. He is an IDEA, a neutral. There is Long Face, who's like a goblin of sorts.
This blend of fantasy, warped realities and normalcy is typical Murakami, and it just falls flat for me. I want MORE. I want full out supernatural or fantasy, not this halfway world. UGH. Ermmmm. I lost interest in the book halfway through. But I doggedly finished it. I really don't like this story and the narration; I'm going to take so much pleasure butchering it if any of the friends defend it. HAHAHAHAH.
"I can spare your life," I sad, my knife still on his throat. "But only if you agree to guide me to where you came from."
"That is something I cannot do," Long Face said in a firm voice. It was the first time he had used that tone. "The road I took to get here is the Path of Metaphor. It is different for each one who traverses it. It is not a single road. Thus I cannot guide you, sir, on your way."
"Let me get this straight. I must follow this path alone, and I must discover it for myself—is that what you're saying?"
Long Face nodded vigorously. "The Path of Metaphor is rife with perils. Should a mortal like you stray from the path even once, you could find yourself in danger. And there are Double Metaphors everywhere."
"Double Metaphors?"
Long Face shuddered with fear. "Yes, Double Metaphors lurking in the darkness. The most vile and dangerous of creatures."
.....................
"Please, sir," Long Face begged. "Will you not loosen my bonds? I fear what may transpire should I be left in this state."
"If you're a true Metaphor, untying yourself should be easy. Aren't Concepts and Ideas and others like you able to move through space and time?"
"No, you overrate me. I am blessed with no such marvelous powers. Concepts and Ideas are Metaphors of a much higher order."
"Like those with orange cone hats?"
Long Face looked stricken. "Please do not mock me, sir. My feelings can be hurt too, you know."
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