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3.42 AVERAGE
3.42 AVERAGE
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
relaxing
Kazuo Ishiguro IS without a doubt (in my humble opinion), the best author of our time. I want to climb up to the top of a tall building and scream it loud.
It's funny, because my first book by him was [b:The Buried Giant|22522805|The Buried Giant|Kazuo Ishiguro|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1451444392l/22522805._SX50_.jpg|41115424] and I wasn't that into it. Then I read [b:Never Let Me Go|6334|Never Let Me Go|Kazuo Ishiguro|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1353048590l/6334._SY75_.jpg|1499998] which was pretty good. But everything I've read after has just blown me away. I really feel like I need to revisit [b:The Buried Giant|22522805|The Buried Giant|Kazuo Ishiguro|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1451444392l/22522805._SX50_.jpg|41115424] some day.
But in any case for me his skill is writing in such a way that it isn't exactly what the words say, but it's everything that is left unsaid that tells the story.
In [b:Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall|4772110|Nocturnes Five Stories of Music and Nightfall|Kazuo Ishiguro|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320430211l/4772110._SY75_.jpg|4836931] we're introduced to five stories. They're seemingly unrelated but all interconnect in the subtlest ways.
One is about a popular singer, past his days, looking to make a comeback. He visited Venice with his wife and employs a talented street singer.
Later, another story returns to the wife in another period of her life, living a short but intense few days on the top floor of a hotel in an adjacent room to a sardonic saxophonist.
We return to Italy, to a group of singers in Greek chorus telling a story of a cellist who forms an intense friendship with a tourist. Where, on a brief holiday he comes across two German hikers.
The same two hikers who take a central role in yet another story. And on it goes.
For me, not a single word felt wasted in any of the stories and each one left me with this feeling of melancholy I don't think I'll shake for a long while. It's so true. Right before I picked it up, I read out a list of titles to my partner asking them:
"Which one I should read next?"
"The Kazuo Ishiguro one, because you love his books."
"Yeah but they always bum me out for days"
Well now I am bummed out. But hey, this is the easiest 5 stars I've ever given a book.
It's funny, because my first book by him was [b:The Buried Giant|22522805|The Buried Giant|Kazuo Ishiguro|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1451444392l/22522805._SX50_.jpg|41115424] and I wasn't that into it. Then I read [b:Never Let Me Go|6334|Never Let Me Go|Kazuo Ishiguro|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1353048590l/6334._SY75_.jpg|1499998] which was pretty good. But everything I've read after has just blown me away. I really feel like I need to revisit [b:The Buried Giant|22522805|The Buried Giant|Kazuo Ishiguro|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1451444392l/22522805._SX50_.jpg|41115424] some day.
But in any case for me his skill is writing in such a way that it isn't exactly what the words say, but it's everything that is left unsaid that tells the story.
In [b:Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall|4772110|Nocturnes Five Stories of Music and Nightfall|Kazuo Ishiguro|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320430211l/4772110._SY75_.jpg|4836931] we're introduced to five stories. They're seemingly unrelated but all interconnect in the subtlest ways.
One is about a popular singer, past his days, looking to make a comeback. He visited Venice with his wife and employs a talented street singer.
Later, another story returns to the wife in another period of her life, living a short but intense few days on the top floor of a hotel in an adjacent room to a sardonic saxophonist.
We return to Italy, to a group of singers in Greek chorus telling a story of a cellist who forms an intense friendship with a tourist. Where, on a brief holiday he comes across two German hikers.
The same two hikers who take a central role in yet another story. And on it goes.
For me, not a single word felt wasted in any of the stories and each one left me with this feeling of melancholy I don't think I'll shake for a long while. It's so true. Right before I picked it up, I read out a list of titles to my partner asking them:
"Which one I should read next?"
"The Kazuo Ishiguro one, because you love his books."
"Yeah but they always bum me out for days"
Well now I am bummed out. But hey, this is the easiest 5 stars I've ever given a book.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Most short story writers couldn't get away with writing five medium-length stories on the same theme and calling it a book, but Ishiguro's famous so he can. And more short story selections should be this short and well-balanced! All the stories are strange but realistic, sometimes brutal but usually tender. One story uses a character from an earlier one, but in a way that doesn't feel predictable. She's another reminder that Ishiguro's women are often more interesting than his men, who usually kind of hang out and wait for bad stuff to happen to them.
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes