Susan Winslow

This book seems to be written by an author who hopes to write a book like Murakami but isn't up to the task. It is almost like Murakami is writing a caricature of himself. I loved The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, but Killing Commendatore seems like a pale shadow of Wind- Up Bird. I skipped over the narrator's underground journey, as it seemed too contrived, as if Murakami thought he should put something like that in the novel. It struck me more than a few times that Murakami has run out of ideas and just churned out this book for the money, with his usual themes and motifs. Some authors don't know when to stop-- when they've reached their magnum opus. This was my seventh book by Murakami and I found it the worst. I would not recommend it.