This one is both sprawling and intimate. It is Haruki as we know him: telling human stories through magic realism; the typical mix of spiritual conflict, eerie fantasy, and pop culture references.
Our protagonist is an artist, a painter who has made the compromise of spending his time painting portraits to support himself, suffers a fairly traumatic divorce. Lost in a fugue state, he spends an extended period driving about northern Japan with no destination in mind. In time he settles into a home belonging to a legendary elder painter who is no longer resident, being in the throes of dementia at the end of his life.
That's when the real weirdness begins. We encounter an cursed hidden pit, a rich and noble, but suspicious, neighbor, an undiscovered masterpiece, a mystery from the time of Anschluss, a precocious little girl, a two-foot tall manifestation of an idea, and more, not in that order.
Killing Commendatore is about believing in the face of unknowing. All the characters conflicts stem from not having a full understanding of things and, for that matter, the impossibility of having a full understanding of things. In the end, our protagonist comes to the conclusion that belief in the face of uncertainty is the blessing that gets you through. If you can't ever know the objective truth, belief it the thing that saves you.
Whatever twists and turns along the way -- and they are often entertaining -- Haruki is very good at directing his characters to the conclusion. It's also interesting to note that Haruki is nearly 70 years old, so it is a theme very fitting a man who has spent a life considering the nature of the world.
In reading, it is a mixed bag. Haruki is strong on visual description which makes the story quite vivid, but along with that is a nearly Russian level of scene description which can get tiring. The characters are given to self-exposition which can seem awkward, however the key ideas are well dramatised. The structure is odd in that important characters don't get mentioned or make an appearance until midway or later, but it is not jarring.
And, as I have mentioned, the humanity is there, which is really the most important thing. Should you read Killing Commendatore? If you enjoy Haruki then yes. It is another fine entry in a long and Noble-worthy career; you'll feel right at home. It is probably not as good for your first Haruki as its length and detail are a bit intimidating -- for that I would go all the way back to something like Norwegian Wood for something less fanciful (interestingly, it also features a protagonist who wandered about in a daze for an extended time) and move into the more fantastic stuff from there.
