Kazuo Ishiguro is one of my favourite authors (as you can see from the above photo)
He's very well known already but I thought that I'd share some of his less known works. I haven't read all of his books - I think I have two more. All of the ones I've read have been immensely enjoyable. Here are my two cents!
A Pale View of Hills (1982) - A very short book but enjoyable nonetheless. It's about a woman living in the UK reflecting on her life back in Japan. Since it is his earliest work, I do feel that it's a bit different from the later, more popular ones. It 's still good, and has the same overarching themes of the later works (loneliness, lost identity, alienation from society, etc.) I found it to be kind of like a thriller. Not to give anything away, but the ending is quite controversial.
The Remains of the Day (1989) - My favourite! If you love dialogue from classica, modern writers of the early 20th century (like D.H. Lawrence) then you'll just love this book. Like many of his works, it's not plot-diven - not to say it's not interesting - but the dialogue is just impeccable. The 1993 movie adaptation, which is also amazing, was very well-received so many people are familiar with the plot (about a butler). I really can't recommend this one enough!
The Unconsoled (1995) - This one is difficult to explain because it is quite abstractive. I don't know if I could recommend this one if you're just starting out with this books because from the reviews I read, people either loved it or hated it. I liked it because I'm a fan of the author but it was a bit difficult to get through at times.
When We Were Orphans (2000) - I would say this is the most plot-driven book of all of these. The story is very engaging - it's about a detective who's trying to figure out the mystery surrounding the disappearance of his parents. It takes place in the UK and Shanghai so it's a bit different. In a way though, because it is a thriller and more action-filled, it loses a bit of its depth in comparison to the other works.
Never Let Me Go (2005) - Everyone probably knows about this one because of the movie adaptation starring Keira Knightly, Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield. I liked how he experimented with a new genre once again. It's a dystrophic novel but the themes that he usually uses are still evident.
Which author can you not get enough of? What have you read recently? If you've read any of these books, I would love to hear what you think!
One of my favourite books of all time!
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