Killing Commendatore cover art

Killing Commendatore

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 Months Free

$8.99/month after 3 months. Cancel anytime.
Get this deal
Offer ends on 29 July 2026 at 11:59 AEST.
More purchase options

Killing Commendatore

By: Haruki Murakami
Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
Get this deal

$8.99/month after 3 months. Cancel anytime. Offer ends on 29 July 2026 at 11:59 AEST.

Buy Now for $23.80

Buy Now for $23.80

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 thirty-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 thirteen-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.

 Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Magical Realism Small Town & Rural World Literature Magic Mind-Bending
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1

Critic Reviews

It’s safe to say that there’s no one like Murakami
Murakami’s reality has many sides; some plain, some fancy. Translators Philip Gabriel and Ted Goossen capture every colour on this mind-altering palette. No other author mixes domestic, fantastic and esoteric elements into such weirdly bewitching shades. Murakami’s “Land of Metaphor” remains a country where wonders never cease (Boyd Tonkin)
Wild, thrilling. . . Murakami is a master storyteller and he knows how to keep us hooked
Expansive and intricate . . . touches on many of the themes familiar in Mr. Murakami’s novels: the mystery of romantic love, the weight of history, the transcendence of art, the search for elusive things just outside our grasp
I found it totally gripping with scarcely a dull page, the loose ends enhancing its mystery. An absorbing work by a great writer
An immersive big-hearted new novel
Written in a simple, readable style that leaves you free to concentrate on the weirdness of the content… There is no other writer able to give us the fix that his unique qualities provide
In this novel, [Murakami] captures the creative process compellingly… The complex landscape that Murakami assembles in Killing Commendatore is a word portrait of the artist’s inner life
Murakami keeps the reader gripped
Rich, sprawling… Killing Commendatore is a… powerful, sustained meditation on how we engage with works of art
All stars
Most relevant
I read a lot of Murakami 20 years ago and loved them. I have just listened to 2 of his books after a long time and I have a bit of a love/hate thing going on... I'm not loving his portrayal of women or sex these days....though I suspect he's always been the same. It's me that's changed. What I do love is that he weaves some kind of hypnotic magic in his stories and I remember the feel of them long after I've finished reading or listening to them. I also love the magical qualities he weaves through all his stories.

Hypnotic, weird and so Murakami

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
In English translation the girl's name is written "Marie" I believe, because in Japanese (original) book her name is まりえ (Ma-ri-eh). Suddenly it is Maria here. Wow. Why did it happen? Mari-Ah and Mari-Eh are two totally different names (In Japanese). (And Maria sounds too religeous, where religion has nothing to do with this story. )

The girl's name is not Maria, it's Marie

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I imagine this book greatly divides readers but at least can be appreciated by those who have read his others novels. Murakami has an unusual way of telling stories and his characters can be questionable as to their personality and morality. But I love how he uses his world as metaphors and questions everything we take for granted to be "normal."

Fascinating and intriguing listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
metaphors abound, whilst the ideas materialise and speak to us. directly and through mysterious journeys Murakami's narrative brings alive the artist and the everyday tasks of life.

another brilliant vibrant magical story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Murakami presents a vivid story set mostly in seclusion in the Udawara mountains. An artist separates from his wife and takes up residence in his art school friend's father's house as a kind of caretaker. Across the valley, a relatively short distance as the crow flies, but a long and winding route by road, lies the house of the mysterious Mr Menshiki. Killing Commendatore is in part, a homage to The Great Gatsby. Within this close proximity, but isolated by both terrain and the human heart, Killing Commendatore's characters dance together in the twilight of reality as only Murakami can depict. A meditation on interconnectedness, synchronicity, and art: Killing Commendatore is a wonderfully thoughtful and very human story

Kirby Heyborne does a fantastic job at narrating the novel. His characters are distinct and vivid, but not abrasive to listen to. Flawless

A tour de force

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.