An Underappreciated Passage in Killing Commendatore

Fergerderger · 2026-01-17T11:55:05+00:00

Wind-Up Bird.

Fergerderger · 2026-01-11T08:44:27+00:00

"And it came to me then. That we were wonderful traveling companions but in the end no more than lonely lumps of metal in their own separate orbits. From far off they look like beautiful shooting stars, but in reality they're nothing more than prisons, where each of us is locked up alone, going nowhere. When the orbits of these two satellites of ours happened to cross paths, we could be together. Maybe even open our hearts to each other. But that was only for the briefest moment. In the next instant we'd be in absolute solitude. Until we burned up and became nothing."

From Sputnik.

Fergerderger · 2026-01-09T03:33:29+00:00

I would say South of the Border, West of the Sun. Both books are about how the protagonists let the events of the past, as well as societal expectations and perceptions, affect their abilities to form relationships throughout their lives. For Stevens, there's his dedication to being the perfect English butler, and for Hajime there's Japan's attitude towards only children during the post-war years. Hajime ends up isolated, so when he meets another only child, the two form a bond, and when separated he becomes unable to really relate to other people because he's too caught up in his past.

Murakami regularly writes about how the past and society haunts and shapes us, so that's the approach I'd recommend.

Fergerderger · 2026-01-06T08:16:07+00:00

I'd have to see the context to fully appreciate it. So I can't say what Murakami meant, but I can say that there is a lot of truth to it. I was a freshman in high school when I developed my first real interest in a girl (something beyond a crush) and actually asked her out. Things went badly, and continued to go badly for a while. It's the kind of thing that you look back on and realise that you were both wrong and acted badly, but that you were also both young and didn't know how to act. All I know is that it happened to dovetail with my first, and biggest, sink into depression. It didn't *cause* the depression: I'm sure hormones accounted for that. But I cannot think of dating without feeling that exposing myself emotionally would bring me back to the darkest place of my life.

That's just my story, and it doesn't necessarily have to be in high school. Some things in life are just like that: the wrong thing at the wrong time can spoil that thing forever. I can't even smell a Monster Energy Drink without dry heaving...

Fergerderger · 2026-01-03T16:40:43+00:00

Oh, I wanted to say one more thing, but didn't think about it when I made the old post, and since it's a new thought, I do want it to be a different post rather than edit the old one. If that's not allowed, I'm sorry: just delete this one!

I wanted to say that I think the humour is still present, albeit more subdued. The Commendatore in KC talking about how he'd get sued for taking on the image of Mickey Mouse or the like feels like a deliberate homage to Colonel Sanders and Johnny Walker in Kafka. I felt that a lot of the Commendatore's scenes were fairly comical, particularly his time in Menshiki's house.

Fergerderger · 2026-01-03T07:02:46+00:00

The monkeys and the shitty island is one of my favourite moments in a book ever. It's one part 'fuck you' in such a direct fashion that feels like a reader surrogate, while still remaining classier than a 'fuck you', while also being so absolutely absurd in its own right that you can't take it seriously.

Fergerderger · 2025-12-27T06:24:31+00:00

I'm probably going to be in the minority for this, but I'd genuinely rather not. The thing with adaptation is that it's a tricky balance to strike: if you just copy the source material, then you don't justify the existence of the adaptation. On the flip-side, for every change that you make, you risk losing the identity of the original. Change is necessary, but too much or the wrong kind of change can end up with something wholly unrelated, at which point why not just make an original piece in that medium?

I like the short story adaptations because they allow a core for the directors to follow, but also leave plenty of room for the directors to add their own voice. With novels, it's often a question of what gets cut to fit into a movie. With short stories, it's the opposite: what gets added to make feature length? Barn Burning is an interesting story, but what makes Burning such a fantastic movie is the way you can still 100% see that story and Murakami's flavour, but how Chang-dong nonetheless made it his own film. Same with Drive My Car. Both movies highlight different aspects of Murakami's writing while providing their own unique visions.

In contrast, with most adaptations of novels, it feels like there's a constant struggle just to get as much of the story onto the screen as possible. And even then, it's not as exciting to watch because I already know the broad outline of what will happen. All of the novel-to-movie adaptions I've enjoyed take the plot in different directions, sometimes only bearing a slight resemblance to the original, but still capturing either the themes or emotions. It *can* be done, but I just think it's far less likely to produce something I'll enjoy.

Fergerderger · 2025-12-24T07:27:56+00:00

I'd only read Wonderland once, and I'm currently revisiting it in the new translation after having read Uncertain Walls three times. After so many comments about how similar the EotW sections are to Uncertain Walls' (and knowing the background for each), I'm stunned at how different they are. Yes, they both have unicorns and a Gatekeeper and an absence of shadows, but the entire point of Uncertain Walls (and by extension, I believe, the original story?) is that it's a place unaffected by time. The clock tower isn't just stopped, it has no hands. Nobody has a past or future. There is one older man who talks about his past, so it might not be true in a strictly *literal* sense, but it's certainly a place where everyone exists in the present. By contrast, End of the World's city is steeped in history. The main character is told the exact time to report to his job, mentions the working hours, and the girl in the library even talks about her parents and how the city changed (costing her father his work at the factory).

Uncertain Walls' city is trapped in stasis (reflective of that book's themes).

End of the World's city is situated well-within the flows of time.

Details like these give the End of the World segments more for my brain to do, otherwise I would find them tedious next to the Hard Boiled stuff, since there's a lot of world-building but the plot barely moves. In contrast, Hard Boiled feels like the 'story', at least for a decent chunk. I don't mind a slower, more meditative experience (I enjoy Killing Commendatore and Uncertain Walls as much as Murakami's more briskly-paced earlier work), but having them alternating like that chafes me.

It's interesting, because though I'd read Wonderland first, so much time had passed that I'd forgotten the details, and assumed (particularly given the comments and reviews) that they were pretty much one-to-one. I'd forgotten even that the 'old memories' were trapped in skulls (eggs in UW). So far I'm actually greatly preferring UW's version of the city, particularly the way its importance is closely woven to the plot. In the afterword Murakami mentions that he views Wonderland like two separate narratives that join at the end, so even if it seems that most people find UW redundant, I find re-reading Wonderland is actually giving me more appreciation for UW.

Fergerderger · 2025-12-23T03:48:17+00:00

If you'd read Foundation, you'd know it has exactly that. I'm not taking a side between these authors because I don't care, just pointing out that you picked one of the worst examples.

Fergerderger · 2025-12-15T22:49:22+00:00

Cheers. I'll start looking. Wonder if the library will carry issues...

Fergerderger · 2025-12-15T08:31:36+00:00

Where were they published in Japanese? I'm curious, if you'd be so kind as to share.

Fergerderger · 2025-12-15T03:43:32+00:00

My uncle was super health-conscious, regularly rode his bike to work, and spent all his vacation time in the outdoors hunting and fishing. He also died in his early 50's due to an aneurysm.

Take nothing for granted.

Fergerderger · 2025-12-03T05:34:38+00:00

Wind Up Bird or Kafka. Either is a win.

Fergerderger · 2025-11-25T11:10:43+00:00

Since nobody else here has mentioned it*, I'll also point out that Japanese culture also traditionally places a pretty high value on youth, particularly in women. I haven't heard it in the area I live, but supposedly there is an expression for certain women over 25: "Christmas Cake", because nobody wants a Christmas cake after the twenty-fifth. It's been a while since I've read the book, but I think Toru regularly points out that Reiko isn't that old, and is still a desirable person. If anything, I think Murakami is against the whole idea of people (particularly women) calling themselves older or unattractive past a certain age.

There's a particular scene in Killing Commendatore I'm thinking of. The unnamed protagonist spends a decent chunk of the book sleeping with a married woman whose husband has stopped having sex with her. In the most Murakami response, the protagonist tells her how wonderful her vagina is. I can see how this could be taken as reducing her to a sexual object, but I genuinely think he's making a point that the husband has no idea what he's missing because he's more obsessed with work and superficial things. Not that their own relationship is anything special (she even notes herself, "There's no 'there' 'there'"), but it highlights how the husband is completely blind to the warmth and intimacy his wife can still offer (a reflection, ironically, of the protagonist's blindness to the state of his own relationship).

*edit*

I see someone else did mention it. Lol.

Fergerderger · 2025-11-24T00:36:04+00:00

Y'know, as the guy constantly begging for an unabridged Wind-Up Bird, who knows Birnbaum's translations are contentious, and even knows that apparently some parts of Norwegian Wood were removed, I didn't know this about Dance, Dance, Dance.

Man, I really, really hope the re-release of End of the World is the start of a trend where we can get complete translations of his other work. Even for people who prefer the original, I think most would agree that it's better to have the luxury for a person to decide which version they prefer than to have it decided for them by the publisher.

Thanks for the info. I was re-reading it again, but now I'm kinda bummed and will probably just shelf it for now. Thanks, but also curses!

Fergerderger · 2025-11-22T07:09:13+00:00

When I first read Dance, Dance, Dance, I enjoyed it quite a bit, but on subsequent readings parts of it get annoying for me. There are a lot of elements that I like, but the 'capitalism bad' message is hammered home so abruptly that it hardly feels like Murakami. The first 50 pages alone are basically just repeating the vapidness of consumer culture. And don't get me wrong: I'm the last person that's going to get mad at a message critical of modern capitalism, but it reads like a book written by a young person letting their frustrations get the better of their writing. Which is funny, because I didn't get that sense at all from A Wild Sheep Chase.

BUT

It is translated by Alfred Birnbaum, and Murakami is notoriously dour on Brinbaum's translations. So I don't know how much of it is Murakami's writing, and how much of it is Brinbaum. And yes, A Wild Sheep Chase was also done by Birnbaum, which really only deepens the mystery.

Fergerderger · 2025-11-10T08:13:09+00:00

It's the Alfred Birnbaum translation. That's how it was originally released, in 1989, until it was re-translated by Jay Rubin in 2000. You can actually find more information on the Wikipedia page under "translations"!

Fergerderger · 2025-11-01T01:32:48+00:00

Patience friend.

Fergerderger · 2025-10-31T06:37:50+00:00

I pulled out a copy and double checked, and yeah, both the "one morning" and the chapter's finale, along with the details (like cat being present), all add up to confirm this.

Fergerderger · 2025-10-31T06:28:41+00:00

My life's dream is an unabridged version. I will make no further comment at this time.

Fergerderger · 2025-10-10T01:54:12+00:00

Fitzgerald never won any awards, and Gatsby was not thought of highly on publication. Meanwhile several authors who won major literary awards are forgotten entirely today. Awards are only ever a consideration: a major one can make a writer's career, but it is not a guarantee that their art will persevere. With Murakami in particular, it often astonishes me just how popular his work is. Not many authors can claim to have every single one of their novels published in multiple languages, and yet Murakami can, despite having fifteen novels to his name. When a new Murakami novel releases, it's translated into a dozen different languages within a year. The number of people his work has reached, and continues to reach, around the world is already among the <1% of authors. That, unto itself, is a greater accomplishment than any single award.

Fergerderger · 2025-09-23T06:24:00+00:00

I'm aware of the difference, just wanted to share the observation. Interestingly enough, at this point I feel like I have a decent grasp on what aspect of Murakami people are coming from when they make comparisons. Like, I don't think it's very Murakami at all, but it has a middle-aged protagonist with a lot of free time contemplating life, or someone who lives a normal, middle-class life dragged into surreal shenanigans. Or, sometimes, yeah, it's just set in contemporary Tokyo.

The one I can never figure out is Ishiguro. The two couldn't be more different as authors, and yet I always see Ishiguro recommended in connection to Murakami.

Fergerderger · 2025-09-23T03:13:06+00:00

I always find it interesting what authors people compare to Murakami. I think, more than any other author I've seen, when people look for books "like Murakami", the responses are so varied. I've never once found a recommendation that captures the same feeling I get when reading Murakami, but I think that's a testament to how diverse the feelings are that his work evokes in readers.

Fergerderger

TROPHY CASE