Reviews with content warning for Animal death - A Pale View of Hills

Mrs Fujiwara always tells me how important it is to keep looking forward. And she’s right. If people didn’t do that, all of this-I pointed again at the view-all this would still be rubble.

This story is quite deceptive. I questioned the purpose of the narrative for much of the book. On its surface it appears that we are moving between two unrelated periods in our protagonist's life, however in a brief but revelatory moment, it becomes clear that much of what we have been presented has not been entirely true. I believe that Etsuko and her friend Sachiko are one and the same, and that the present day Etsuko has inserted herself into her memories to be the voice of reason and challenge her rationale of the past. Etsuko feels responsible for her daughter's suicide, and the enormity of this weighs heavily in such subtle ways- like it is always bubbling under the surface.
I found the writing style to extremely atmospheric and enjoyed my time with this book very much. I feel that it would be even better upon repeat readings as I would notice more of the breadcrumbs which first seemed insignificant. I am very curious to read more from this author, particularly as I've heard that his other books are all wildly different.

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a_epistemological_crisis's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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rimd's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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elainarkk's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

While this book was certainly intriguing, it was not life-changing. I read this for a British Literature course and found the historical aspects of novel very interesting, as the setting subtly illustrates a post-WW2 Nagasaki. The characters are frightening and the tone tense, but ultimately, the plot falls flat. Even after clarifying classroom discussions, I felt like the book offered little in return for reading it. While there were some intense and reflective portions of it the ending was rather unsatisfying. Also, there were so many plot points fleshed out, only to never be discussed again, but perhaps this was Ishiguro's intention--as much of the book makes better sense in hindsight than in first reading it. Still, I liked the way some of the major themes (motherhood; aftermath of war; trauma; guilt) were expressed. Overall, this book wasn't phenomenal, but it was pleasant enough to read! While I will still be reading more of Ishiguro's work, but I hope it is more decisive than A Pale View of Hills, but with all the same introspection and consideration.

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seraphimgt's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I'm very confused and upset and I'm not sure how I will ever recover. Four stars 👌🏽

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kstericker's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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spacecars's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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booksjessreads's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

I read this a long time ago, but I do remember this being quite a difficult read to get through. I felt it was very telling of Nagasaki during the time in which it was set, especially surrounding the cultural norms of women and childbearing. I did like elements of the writing, but the story was quite monotonous and at times it felt hard to read. I think it has been interesting to see the way in which the writing style of the author has evolved and it was nice to read and appreciate his earlier works. This book was just not my favourite but it has not made my estimations of Ishiguro sink. I just thought it was quite average.

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