A Brief Book Review of Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami
Here’s the thing. I’ll keep it simple. Haruki Murakami’s Killing Commendatore (2017) is a very, very long book. This tale of supernatural hauntings in mountainous rural Japan clocks in at about 730 pages. It feels long less because of its page length, though, and more because it drags at times. Like, a lot of times. I’d be lying if I said this book moved quickly. The first 300 pages move slower than a Republican congressman’s pulse in a Trump corruption scandal. Murakami gives us way too much detail. For example, with no meaningful relevance to the plot or character development, we learn, step-by-step, how a main character prepares omelets. We also learn how that character always starts the wash cycle for his laundry while he exercises, and how he starts the dry cycle when he’s finished lifting. Seriously. It’s surprising Murakami didn’t tell us whether the character also pretreats stains before each load, separates whites and colors, and uses a high-efficiency detergent... Thank god for editors.
After a pretty slow first 300 pages, over the next 400+ pages, things take a turn into the world of magical realism, which is welcome. Though the unnecessary detail remains—at several points our lead wonders if he should check his tire pressure!—the pace happily quickens. The expanding complexity of metaphors and plot twists is welcome, and is often thrilling, funny, and inspiring. (I enjoyed the constant refrain, “Time is on your side.”) But the metaphors weren’t fully baked, the prose is often dry, and the interactions between the listless men and the two-dimensional women characters are often painful. (This obviously failed the Bechdel test.)
If you can stomach the first 300 pages, you’ll meet a plot that feels a combination of Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby”, Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Grey”, and James’ “The Turn of the Screw”. I can’t promise that you’ll think it’s worth it, though. I’m definitely no expert on Japan’s deep, rich history of writing. That said, I did study Japanese literature and history in college for four semesters. It gave me enough exposure to say with confidence that there is better from Murakami to choose from as well as other modern Japanese writers. Murakami has 17 other works of fiction; I’d say prioritize other (shorter) works first.