Killing Commendatore

Murakami never fails to push the boundaries of our reality. "Killing Commendatore" is a story of unsettling magic. Our protagonist is a solitary man who paints portraits for a living. He, alike many other of Murakamis male characters, enjoys his time with music, books and art. We begin with him lonely and lost, his wife leaves him and he finds himself moving into the isolated house previously owned by another painter, who left something behind. As soon as he begins settling in, mysterious occurrences begin happening, strange things present themself to our clueless protagonist. He forms relationships with the peculiar people living near him, and learns more about art then he ever thought he would. I think this is what is so special about Murakamis story telling. He takes the lull of being a regular person with a regular job, and finds what lies underneath it. Or over it. Or around it. And yes, while it is magical, and maybe even moving- it also leaves you shuddering, hiding under your bed covers. Maybe not in the sense that it's scary or gory, it is just so utterly bizarre that you are frightened. "Who is that? What does he want? What is that? Why? How? What?" Questions pile on top of each other in your mind, leaving you to do nothing but read more. Another sentence, another page, another chapter. After finishing it you will continue the morbidity of everyday life only to find yourself looking for magic. You'll hear a clock chime, or a door slam- and think you are being welcomed into another world. Even while you are reading you'll look up from the pages just to quickly check that nothing is watching you. Reading 'Killing Commendatore' feels like bugs crawling under your skin, gallivanting amongst your cells, running in and out of your flesh.

This is a book of occult confusion, please read it.

-Ella