Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami

Haven't read Murakami in a while.

Nothing surprising with this novel for those who have read him: the first-person (boku) protagonist, a normal guy who paints portraits for a living, separates from his wife at her sudden and unexpected request. His life goes from stability to being thrown into disorientation: he drives without purpose throughout Northern Japan for a month before deciding to stay in the mountains in his friend's father's cabin; it is here that he discovers the latter's masterpiece, Killing Commendatore--the father had been a renowned Japanese artist. He is thrown (not of his own volition, often happens in Murakami novels) into a strange adventure.

This period of his life, where he is forcefully removed from the flow of ordinary life, is generative. The protagonist goes from a prostitute for the rich (this is how he likens himself in the novel; his portraits have value only as commodities, not artworks) to exploring a personal artistic style. This nine month period of his life (same length as pregnancy) results in some original works of art and the partially-dream-assisted, partially-immaculate pregnancy of his wife. After this nine month period he gets back with his wife and returns to being a mere portrait painter, a mere painter of commodities.

Several previous Murakami characters and images re-appear in this novel. The protagonist is always the same protagonist. Menshiki is the cool, lone wolf character (Nagasawa in Norwegian Wood, Komatsu in 1Q84) whose intelligence allows him to rise up above the systems that ordinary people live in. Mariye is the quirky and weird female adolescent character (Fuka-eri in 1Q84, May Kasahara in Wind-up Bird Chronicles). The well in the Wind-up Bird Chronicles reappears as well, and it similarly acts as a portal into a different metaphysical space.

While it is always nice to take a stroll in Murakami's world, it was just a nice walk in the park, not a life-changing hike in the Alps. The novel seemed to me a bit flimsy and unnecessary. He attempts a weak foray into Japan's colonial legacy and connects it to Nazi Germany (not a direct connection) through Killing Commendatore and through the Amada family (his friend's family)--he undertakes a much more powerful exploration in Wind-up Bird Chronicles. He tries a feeble statement on life and art--life and art tangibly transform the other in the novel, and Ideas and Metaphors take on physical forms--but this has been done better elsewhere, like in Thomas Mann's Death in Venice.
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One last observation: there are strange kinship relations.

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