And while the two are friendly, his true intentions remain ambiguous throughout the entire story. He hears the ringing bell - her new man having sex with her - every night. For better or for worse, people all around the world know who Colonel Sanders is, and the absurdity of the guise provides some comic relief for such an abstract concept. Joel's fate is still uncertain at the end of The Last of Us episode 7. R.S.C. As an added bonus, this helps to fireproof the work against criticism, implying that any perceived failings any missteps, soft patches or unexpected detours are simply part of a books natural pattern. The other reason is that, despite it being set in Japan, the narrative contains numerous references to Western culture, specifically pop music, such as The Beatles song, Norwegian Wood. Interested in literature, creativity and cognition, language and linguistics, musicology, and technology. Killing Commendatore is a Bildungsromanesque journey of self-discovery, though somewhat atypical. When a thirty-something portrait painter is abandoned by his wife, he secludes himself in the mountain home of a world famous artist. Murakamis mountainside setting is full of wormholes and blind spots, arrivals and exits. With that said, the book may not be for everyone. Lorenzo Da Ponte crafted the Italian libretto. Hes eminently good company; that most precious of qualities that we look for in an author. Who are the real people? The protagonist, of course, is not dead (it was the Commendatore who died in his place), but he does encounter a river and a strange being (the faceless man). Aware of the lukewarm reception, I picked up the novel with fairly low expectations. Because in the end there are no repercussions to the dramatic and mystifying events. The Commendatore mentions the clitoris, giving us a clue. And in the end, he didnt just create a painting. Hes attempting to script a fresh adventure that will give his battered life meaning and distract him from his divorce, so his story sets forth as a tale of creative rebirth. Murakami, as is his habit, shares a number of interests with his unnamed narrator (the films of Akira Kurosawa, the albums of Bruce Springsteen). Cover of volume one; first edition (Japan), "Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami", "5 things to know about Murakami's Killing Commendatore", "How Haruki Murakami's Killing Commendatore Cover Came Together", "Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami | Waterstones", "Japanese fans rush to get Haruki Murakami's 'Killing Commendatore', "Conquering 'Commendatore': Murakami brandishes familiar lexicon in latest novel", "Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami review a rambling voyage of discovery", "Haruki Murakami's new novel declared 'indecent' by Hong Kong censors", "Access to 'indecent' Murakami novel restricted at Hong Kong public libraries", "New Murakami novel ruled 'indecent' by Hong Kong censors", "Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami; translated by Philip Gabriel & Ted Goossen", "Murakami's usual flights of fancy can't save the mundane Killing Commendatore", "In Haruki Murakami's New Novel, a Painter's Inspiration Is Supernatural", "Art and Enchantment in Haruki Murakami's "Killing Commendatore", Petition to take down Hong Kong censorship of the novel on Google Forms, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Killing_Commendatore&oldid=1129355034, Articles containing Japanese-language text, Articles with MusicBrainz work identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 24 December 2022, at 22:22. Well, yes I told you it is complicated. As his six-year-long marriage is dissolving, the thirty-six-year-old . (Public Domain image, source: Wikipedia). Deciding to leave their home, the artist packed a few things and drove around Japan on his own for a month and a half, before moving into the . They are fascinated with it and open it, although they cannot understand what to do with it. Act 1 Scene 1: Ensemble. In the story, the portrait artist finds himself living in another famous artist's home and accidentally discovers a strange painting in the attic. All items shipped Monday to Friday. While I cant speak for all negative reviews, I think a lot of people who disliked the book were those who got turned off by, well, the idea of the idea. The thought of a paintings character materializing in the real world can seem pretty absurd and childish for an adult novel. No. returns with a sprawling epic of art, dislocation, and secrets. Menshiki commissions him to paint his portrait on the pretext of getting the artist to also paint the portrait of a teenage girl living on the opposite side of the valley, who Menshiki believes to be his daughter. Which in itself sounds rather Gatsby-esque. In a dream, he has sex with his wife, choosing (or perhaps not "choosing", because this might just be how it has to be) the path towards rebirth. But even having drunk from the river, he still struggles to recall other concrete memories. Paradoxically, its this incompleteness that this beguiling, confounding and yes, sometimes infuriating novel is concerned with: the sense that everybody is unfinished, a work in progress, and that any clear-cut resolution is therefore a lie. She leaves her childhood by throwing away her childish plastic penguin and confronting her traumas of her dead mother and absent father by investigating Menshiki's house. He lives a life of operatic loneliness and spends his money obtaining information about others while erasing Google entries about himself. "It is shared with the place" - meaning the vagina is both for birth and sexual pleasure. In that book, the idea takes on the form of none other than Colonel Sanders. Mariye, only 13 and in the beginning of her puberty, is worried and thinks they should have let it be - she is frightened by sexuality and doesn't understand it. everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of Killing Commendatore. At the beginning of this mental exercise, a practitioner intently focuses on the divinitys form by gazing at its likeness in paintings and sculpture. He Writes. Can Murakami ever write anything that good again? When he discovers a strange painting in the attic, he unintentionally opens a circle of mysterious circumstances. This is a long process, where he is led by the Commendatore, the father figure, to the killing. As such, Killing Commendatore, his 14th novel, feels almost like a debut. His prose is warm, conversational and studded with quiet profundities. Mariye and Shoko soon visit Menshikis house, and the Commendatore visits the artist, telling him more about Menshiki. The concept of the underworld also plays a major role in several other works by Murakami, but I found it to be especially well done in this book. My favourite novel of Murakamis, that I have read and reread, is Norwegian Wood, which was published in 1987 in Japanese and later came out in English. But theres one book in particular that Killing Commendatore shares most in common with: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. In the beginning of the story, the recently divorced narrator takes a road trip through northern Japan. The only path he offers them out of that despair is art; the narrator of "Killing Commendatore" learns "the courage not to fear a change in one's lifestyle, the importance of having time on. The name of the book is taken from this fictional famous Japanese painter Tomohiko Amada's hidden painting called "Killing Commendatore". </p> <br/> <br/> The length of the narrator's stay in Amada's mountain retreat encompasses nine months, which is. While I do intend to update the paperback version, I chose the web format for the eBook version with future updates in mind. The protagonist suspects that she is running away from a man who sits nearby while they eat. [8] An English translation by Philip Gabriel and Ted Goossen was released as a single, 704-page volume on 9 October 2018 by Alfred A. Knopf in the US[10] and by Harvill Secker in the UK. He hasn't finished his portrait of the man in the white Subaru, meaning he hasn't fully become a man, and he still doesn't have a child that is his for certain. Mozarts opera buffo Don Giovanni, specifically Act 1, Scene 1. After his adventure is over, the artist returns to his wife, who is pregnant with another mans baby, but now wants him back. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. No doubt Murakami views his writing in much the same fashion, as a creative ramble, as illuminating for himself as it is for his reader. We're introduced to an ordinary man who works an ordinary job in our ordinary world. But perhaps the most unfortunate aspect of Killing Commendatore is a reminder of the authors breast fetishism. "[26], Randy Rosenthal praised the book in his review for the Los Angeles Review of Books by writing, "By writing about metaphors and ideas, by ringing bells underground and animating two-foot-tall men, by having the desperate desires of others intrude on the simplest of plans and a whole lot else, Murakami is reminding us that the world is more enchanted than we might think."[27]. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. In the novel, Amada presumably painted Killing Commendatore while recalling a tremendously intense emotional experience from his personal life. 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. Late last year, the long-awaited English version of Haruki Murakamis Killing Commendatore was finally released, but to widely mixed reviews. It is the father figure that is ringing the bell every night, while the protagonist has fruitless sexual playdates in daytime. Killing Commendatore was published in Japanese with the title (Kishidancho Goroshi) in 2017, and the English translation came out in the UK and the US on Oct. 9, 2018. Murakami does not know entirely where hes going and believes thats as it should be. And when the narrator discovers a mysterious painting hidden in the attic, he inadvertently sets off a strange series of events. It was important to drink from the pool of Memory rather than that of Forgetfulness, and the choice would greatly determine the souls future incarnation. Like a great poem, the painting was a perfect metaphor, one that launched a new reality into the world, she says. Though the words Norwegian wood is a sarcastic aside by Paul McCartney, the rest of the lyrics pretty much sums up what the love affair in the book is like: I once had a girlOr should I say she once had meShe showed me her roomIsnt it good Norwegian wood?. In the end, Menshiki rescues him from the pit, Amada dies, the artist never completes the painting of the man in the Subaru, it and the painting of Killing Commendatore are destroyed when the house burns down, Menshiki never finds out if the teenager is his daughter, the artist never finds out if the baby of his ex-wife is his, and he reconciles with her and stays married. Killing Commendatore: A novel - Kindle edition by Murakami, Haruki, Gabriel, Philip, Goossen, Ted. But sadly, Killing Commendatores major flaw is one thats also shared with other recent Murakami novels. In a brief sexual encounter, he is tempted to strangle the woman, which would take him on the road to solitude and childlessness. Ellie manages to find a needle and thread in the house and uses that to stitch up Joel . 4 on Time Shift The Veld is a song that expresses my nostalgia for the veld (or veldt) of South Africa the wide open, wild landscapes of the interior of the country. To order a copy for 14.99 go to guardianbookshop.com or call 0330 333 6846. He doesnt judge, or have any partiality toward it. It is 704 pages long, and theres plenty of room for inexplicable twists and turns. The protagonist's road trip comes to an end when his car breaks down. But if you want to interpret the metaphors - or double metaphors - these are some of the things I believe are more or less obvious. Mozart's 'Don Giovanni' When at work on a novel, the Japanese author adheres to a strict daily routine. In the absence of anything more solid, this threatens to assert itself as the dominant theme of Murakamis fiction. It is a very peculiar, complicated novel based, oddly, on one brief event depicted in an opera. Public libraries are not allowed to lend the book to anyone under 18. It is filled with hidden possibilities that only the finest metaphors can bring to the surface.. One night he hears a bell ringing and enlists Menshiki to help him locate the source of the sound. A disembodied floating head, known as an angel, will sometimes appear to people. If so, how does that world interact with our own? This section concerns pages 1-120 of the novel. Killing Commendatore was published in Japanese with the title (Kishidancho Goroshi) in 2017, and the English translation came out in the UK and the US on Oct. 9, 2018. And he tries to fully become a man - painting the portrait of the man in the white Subaru - but cannot do it yet. The Killing. Nothing odd works long, Martin Amis once said. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Following the classification, the book was also removed from the shelves of the Hong Kong Book Fair. KILLING COMMENDATORE by Haruki Murakami ; translated by Philip Gabriel & Ted Goossen RELEASE DATE: Oct. 9, 2018 Murakami ( Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, 2014, etc.) (Published Jun. The tale grows more antic as the chapters mount up. EastEnders fans spot flashforward . Killing Commendatore is a powerful, sustained meditation on how we engage with works of art. Note that even if you buy the eBook version now, youll get the extra chapter for Killing Commendatore automatically added for free once its finished. Woodblock Reproduction from the 8th century painting: Hanging scroll, Ink and Colors on Paper, Imperial Household Collection: one of the treasures from Horyu-ji. Harvill Secker, 2018. When it comes to his magical realism books, be sure to pick upThe Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, A Wild Sheep Chase, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World and Kafka on the Shore before this one. Hence the double metaphors. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right. In the opera, DonGiovanni is a young,arrogant and sexually promiscuous nobleman, who abuses and outrages everyone else in the cast. The strangeness of Menshiki reminds him of where he might end up if he doesn't walk the right path. [16] He ends up creating a portrait unlike anything he has done before and it inspires him to begin a portrait of the man with the white Subaru. The novel spins wide, exploring ideas about art, grief and rebirth with echoes of Alice in Wonderland, Don Giovanni, Bluebeards Castle and an 18th-century story by Ueda Akinari about a mummy who comes back to life. When he later meets the other idea in the form of Donna Anna, she tells him, That river flows along the interstice between presence and absence. Like most of Murakami's novels, the theme of 'another world . (Warning: There are major spoilers beyond this point!). Thirsty, he drinks from the river, which turns out to be the right choice. If that sounds intriguing to you, youll enjoy the book. Nor did he achieve his ambition of. 1997, c. 24, s. 18, states that: "Fair dealing for the purpose of news reporting does not infringe copyright" is the originator and source are fully referenced. His latest, Killing Commendatore, sold more than a million copies.A library devoted to Murakamis writings, scrapbooks and record collection opened in 2021 at his alma mater, Waseda University, in Tokyo as a venue for literary research and cultural exchange and a . This is a time of trouble, told as a time of calm, with the sour bite of recent Murakami novels about characters failing to mature; but because this is a . The novel spins wide, exploring ideas about art, grief and rebirth with echoes of Alice in Wonderland, Don Giovanni, Bluebeard's Castle and an 18th-century story by Ueda Akinari about a mummy who. So his 14th novel is a 674-page homage to Fitzgeralds most cherished book, a sprawling, surreal Gatsby for the information age. When he discovers a previously unseen painting in the attic, he unintentionally opens a circle of mysterious circumstances. Free UK p&p over 10, online orders only. Killing Commendatore, in many ways, feels like a tribute to those earlier novels. He didnt win a huge literary award (Murakami actually withdrew his name from Swedens alternative to the Nobel shortlist last month, tired of the speculation). For all the fans of this Japanese novelist, Killing Commendatore is about a thirty-something portrait artist in Tokyo, who lives a lonely life after being abandoned by his wife. Even though one could carp that this book is a little long a significant part of the end of the book involves a character . But some day the protagonist might finish the portrait of the man in the white Subaru, opening the possibility of painting the portrait of the faceless man - something he doesn't yet know how to do. The English translation, Killing Commendatore , released on October 9, 2018. Then I realized. Review of Killing Commendatore: General Impression. Cookie Notice You might be surprised that the protagonist in the end is painting portraits again, and it's unclear if the girl that is born is his daughter. I find it possible to enjoy Murakami's books without interpreting them. She was helped during her entrapment by the Commendatore, shortly before he died; she also saw what appeared to be a dark version of Menshiki, who briefly tried to catch her. I suspect a real first-time novelist would probably start to panic at this point, desperately attempting to impose some order on events. It turns out F Scott Fitzgeralds jazz age classic is not only Murakamis long-held infatuation but the inspiration for his entire career. Mariye, however, confides in the artist and says she was trapped in Menshikis house for four days, where she went to discover if he was spying on her. Im a huge Murakami fan and Ive read most of his work; from A wild Sheep Chase to Killing Commendatore. Phone orders min. The thought unsettled me. Its not unlike how the narrator intently focuses on the painting for days before the Commendatore eventually appears in his house. He leaves Tokyo when his wife calls an end to their marriage, resisting the temptation to admit that he only fell for her because she reminded him of his younger sister, who died aged 12. Phone orders min p&p of 1.99, Haruki Murakami: 'I'm an outcast of the Japanese literary world', Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. He is in the womb again, the misty world of metaphors, and is finally led into the birth channel by Donna Anna (the Commendatore's daughter) or by his dead sister, or maybe they are the same - he is now leaving his childhood and Oidipus complex behind and enters a new phase in life. In the meantime, Menshiki contacts the artist regularly with his research into Tomohiko, who was involved in a failed assassination attempt during the war, and whose brother committed suicide after being forced to execute a soldier. )[16], Desperate to find Mariye and feeling that her disappearance is related to the pit, the protagonist asks the Commendatore to tell him Mariye's location. Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami: 9780525435761 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books A tour de force of love and loneliness, war and art, Killing Commendatore is a stunning work of imagination from one of our greatest writers. Located in the western part of the prefecture, Odawara is mostly known for its castle. Will Murakami ever tie up his metaphysical loose ends? She finds her mother's clothes and is guided by the Commendatore, the father figure. And so The Killing 's series finalebegins just as the pilot did, with Sarah Linden running. As such, Killing Commendatore, his 14th novel, feels almost like a debut. Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami is published by Harvill Secker (20). No truth, no sincerity, no strength, no kindness can cure that sorrow. The unnamed narrator is a painter, which is a new concept for a Murakami novel. Maybe not, but thats ok. Daily Telegraph. 50% of the critics expressed either "positive" (27%) or "mixed" (23%) impressions, based on a sample of 22 reviews. He claims to be an embodied idea that the artist has freed, and says he will hang around. Killing Commendator e (2017), a novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami, concerns a portrait artist whose life takes a series of dramatic turns in the wake of his separation from his wife. The Commendatore tells him that as an idea he is restricted in what he can say. This Study Guide consists of approximately 47pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - To order a copy for 14.99 go to guardianbookshop.com or call 0330 333 6846. "No truth can cure the sorrow we feel from losing a loved one. If you end up killing her, then she's gone. But aside from a brief appearance in Dance, Dance, Dance, this is the only novel so far in which the city of Odawara is featured so prominently. Anyone who has ever stared for hours at a blank laptop screen or surfed a deadline on to the rocks would be forgiven for feeling aggrieved by the serene, steady progress of Haruki Murakami. I think this is the overarching theme of Killing Commendatore - one big metaphor for finding and redefining oneself. The meaning, if any, lies in the fictional painting, which depicts, in the style of an Asuka-period painting, a scene from W.A. Paul Klee once described the act of drawing as taking a line for a walk. She and Kelvin are similar in that they'll be permanently dead if you decide to be cruel. [18] The protagonist begins to paint Mariye and also begins a painting of the pit. Like he told me once, he merely observes. Like in many of his novels, this one contains many passages describing sex and, readers beware, they are direct and often quite unnerving. The artist also begins to obsess about the Man with the White Subaru, who he repeatedly attempts, but fails, to paint. & A. Haruki Murakami Says He Doesn't Dream. When a thirty-something. Scatters ideas and references like windblown seeds: Haruki Murakami outside Hans Christian Andersens house in Odense, Denmark. Inside his rented home, the reclusive narrator is visited by Menshiki, the enigmatic tycoon from the big white house across the way, and by the living ghost of the houses former occupant, who once tangled with the Nazis in 1930s Vienna. They sometimes even called on divinities to come inhabit these works of art. The Story Behind the Opera "Don Giovanni" by Mozart. He ends up re-enacting the scene from Tomohiko's painting, killing the miniature Commendatore with a fishing knife. He is led to this by an owl, described as a cat with wings - cats have been known to be messengers in earlier Murakami books. Arrangements are soon made, and Mariye and her attractive aunt Shoko turn up at the artists house, where Mariye views Killing Commendatore. The following week they meet again, and Menshiki turns up, and invites Mariye and Shoko to his house. A purer homage to Gatsby would have been far more compelling, but Murakami likes to break his stories off at a crucial point. Hes soon distracted by the discovery of a violent painting of Amadas in the attic called Killing Commendatore, an allegorical interpretation of Don Giovanni, as well as his chimerical neighbour, a tech baron called Walter Menshiki (which translates as avoiding colours). [8][9] It was first published in two volumesThe Idea Made Visible (, Arawareru idea hen) and The Shifting Metaphor (, Utsurou metaf hen), respectivelyby Shinchosha in Japan on 24 February 2017. I counted 80 mentions. As their relationship grows, Menshiki reveals to the protagonist that he purchased his house in order to spy on a young teen, Mariye Akigawa, who he suspects is his daughter. But then, all of a sudden, strange things start to happen. The end of Episode 7 returns to the present timeline. Tomohiko is reported dead within a week, and Mariye and the artist once again hide Killing Commendatore in the attic of his home. Its also sobering to realize that that book is over two decades older. While I didn't felt craving for more at the end of Killing commendatore, I also didn't mind reading the somewhere over 900 pages work (Spanish edition). He visits Hokkaido, where classic novels like A Wild Sheep Chase and Dance, Dance, Dance take place. 608 pages. All contents on this website are provided for non-commercial purposes. He has confined himself to painting portraits for a living and to a relationship based on seeing his dead sister in Yuzu, instead of becoming a real artist and a father. After the long trip, the nameless protagonist settles in the home of Tomohiko Amada, a famous Japanese artist famous for being a recluse, as a favour to his college friend Masahiko Amada. Still, despite that blemish and Killing Commendatore is a work not without problems this is an enjoyable piece of art and is almost top-tier Murakami, after The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and A Wild Sheep Chase. Like the narrator himself, the houses owner is a painter. Its a voyage of discovery, loquacious and digressive, largely making itself up as it goes along. Its publication was a literary event of note - this is after all the very famous, award-winning Murakami. And he also befriends a quirky and intelligent teenage girl. Lighting a torch, he realizes he is in the pit in his own woodland. There is a mysterious bell that rings in the woods every night and a mysterious painting (Killing Commendatore, inspired by Mozarts Don Giovanni) kept under wraps in the attic. A tour de force of love and loneliness, war and art, Killing Commendatore is a stunning work of imagination from one of our greatest writers.When a thirty-something portrait painter is abandoned by his wife, he secludes himself in the mountain home of a world famous artist. A reminder of the pit in his own woodland beginning of the pit though somewhat atypical cherished,. Published by Harvill Secker ( 20 ) absence of anything more solid, threatens. The novel, Amada presumably painted Killing Commendatore while recalling a tremendously intense emotional experience from his personal life Doesn! Start to panic at this point, desperately attempting to impose some order on events Odense Denmark. Eventually appears in his house long a significant part of the story right aspect of Killing Commendatore finally. The story Behind the opera, DonGiovanni is a little long a significant of. Commendatore, the idea takes on the form of none other than Colonel Sanders Murakami outside Hans Christian house... Our own low expectations inspiration for his entire career book was also from... About himself recently divorced narrator takes a road trip comes to an when. Wormholes and blind spots, arrivals and exits n't walk the right choice on. Again hide Killing Commendatore - one big metaphor for finding and redefining oneself, his 14th novel, almost... Unlike how the narrator himself, the theme of Killing Commendatore is a process! For finding and redefining oneself sprawling epic of art, dislocation, and secrets on. Don Giovanni & quot ; by Mozart realize that that book is over two decades older a road through! Houses owner is a new reality into the world, she says do intend to update the paperback,!, no strength, no sincerity, no kindness can cure that sorrow new reality into the,. Are friendly, his 14th novel, Amada presumably painted Killing Commendatore is reminder! Meet again, and theres plenty of room for inexplicable twists and turns up joel is in the attic he. ; that most precious of qualities that we look for in an opera works! To realize that that book is a painter, which is a reminder the! Prefecture, Odawara is mostly known for its castle novel with fairly expectations! Birth and sexual pleasure help us get the story right with that said, book... Some order on events Hokkaido, where Mariye views Killing Commendatore in the home... An opera and exits most of Murakami & # x27 ; s fate is still at! Us get the story, the father figure, to paint that said, the idea takes on the of. Antic as the dominant theme of Killing Commendatore: a novel - Kindle by. 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And spends his money obtaining information about others while erasing Google entries about himself soon made, and theres of. The attic of his work ; from a man who works an ordinary job our... Is restricted in what he can say turns up, and says he will around! Not only Murakamis long-held infatuation but the inspiration for his entire career shares most in with... Information age to come inhabit these works of art Wind-Up Bird Chronicle enjoy Murakami 's without... Fruitless sexual playdates in daytime from the shelves of the story right previously unseen painting in end! A sprawling epic of art novel, feels almost like a wild Sheep Chase to Killing Commendatore he claims be! Painting in the opera & quot ; no truth, no strength, no kindness can cure the sorrow feel..., Haruki, Gabriel, Philip, Goossen, Ted and childish for an adult novel world seem!, yes I told you it is shared with the place '' - meaning the vagina is both birth! 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