“A portrait is not a likeness. The moment an emotion or fact is transformed into a photograph it is no longer a fact but an opinion.”
Volume 1: The Idea Made Visible
The story begins with a 36-year-old portrait painter who, after his wife unexpectedly asks for a divorce, leaves Tokyo and moves into the remote mountain home of his friend’s father, the famous artist Tomohiko Amada. While exploring the house, he discovers a mysterious painting titled Killing Commendatore hidden in the attic. The painting depicts a scene from Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni, but with unsettling, violent imagery.
Soon after, the painter hears a bell ringing from a pit in the woods, leading him to discover a strange, two-foot-tall supernatural being called the Commendatore, who emerges from the painting. The Commendatore explains that he is an “Idea” made manifest and begins guiding the painter through a surreal journey.
Volume 2: The Shifting Metaphor
The painter becomes entangled in the lives of his neighbors: the enigmatic Menshiki, a wealthy man who commissions a portrait while hiding his true motives, and Mariye, a quiet 13-year-old girl who may or may not be Menshiki’s daughter. As the painter works on their portraits, supernatural events escalate.
Mariye mysteriously disappears, and the painter, guided by the Commendatore, enters a metaphysical underworld to rescue her. He encounters a faceless man, a metaphor for unresolved trauma, and navigates a dreamlike landscape where time and space distort. Meanwhile, the painter learns about Tomohiko Amada’s dark past in 1930s Vienna, where he may have been involved in an assassination plot.
After rescuing Mariye, the painter completes his portrait of Menshiki, which reveals hidden truths. The Commendatore sacrifices himself to restore balance, and the painter—now changed by his experiences—returns to the real world, deciding to move forward with his life.
Key Ideas
- The nature of art and creativity as a bridge between reality and the subconscious
- The exploration of trauma, memory, and identity through surreal symbolism
- The blurred boundaries between the physical and metaphysical worlds
- The cyclical nature of violence and history
- The search for meaning in a fragmented modern existence
Who should read this book?
- Fans of Murakami’s signature blend of magical realism and psychological depth
- Readers who enjoy philosophical novels about art and creativity
- Those interested in stories that weave history, music, and surrealism
- People who appreciate slow-burning mysteries with metaphysical undertones