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3.42 AVERAGE
3.42 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Got this for Christmas from my cousin, Geoff and really enjoying it so far. On the second story. . .Ishiguro is really good at capturing awkward tension between people.
Finiished up Nocturnes in just a few days. The stories were very compelling and I enjoyed the tenuous relationships between some of the stories.
During some stories, I started to think Ishiguro was a serious misogynist. I still enjoyed the clarity of his prose and they way he is able to get deep into the mindset of his characters while leaving out plenty of major details about their lives.
This was my first Ishiguro book. Curious to read Remains of the Day.
Finiished up Nocturnes in just a few days. The stories were very compelling and I enjoyed the tenuous relationships between some of the stories.
During some stories, I started to think Ishiguro was a serious misogynist. I still enjoyed the clarity of his prose and they way he is able to get deep into the mindset of his characters while leaving out plenty of major details about their lives.
This was my first Ishiguro book. Curious to read Remains of the Day.
None of the stories were very good. I was really surprised how amateurish it was.
I have to admit that I hated this book. This is hard for me to announce, as Ishiguro's last novel, "Never Let Me Go," is one of my very favorite books. The fact that "Nocturnes" was written by the same author is astonishing to me.
Not all of these stories are painful; "Crooner," the collection's opener, is just fine. But that's just it - it's just FINE. There is nothing particularly lovely or interesting or clever about this story; it just is. But then the second story begins, and it has to be the weakest of the bunch. (I'm sorry that I don't remember the name of this story; I seem to have blocked it from my brain). It goes on forever, and it's completely purposeless. By the time the narrator is literally on all fours chewing up a magazine, I was done with this book.
However, I stuck it out, figuring there wasn't much left to go and I owed it to the guy who gave me Kathy H. to finish his book. "Malvern Hills" follows a very similar storyline as "Crooner" - in fact, all five of the stories have a couple who is going through problems and the musician who helps them - and ultimately was a little TOO similar. It was dull. And then I got to the fourth story, and again was appalled. It meandered, the characters were DUMB, and it went on for far too long. The female lead is a recurring character from the first story, and I have to say: 75 pages spent with this woman was 74 too much.
The last story was just okay, probably the most successful for what it wanted to do. Maybe these stories would have been better NOT as a collection, but found in smaller doses in The New Yorker or another literary magazine. As it is, Nocturnes made me so unhappy and bored (much like this review has done for you, I'm sure).
Not all of these stories are painful; "Crooner," the collection's opener, is just fine. But that's just it - it's just FINE. There is nothing particularly lovely or interesting or clever about this story; it just is. But then the second story begins, and it has to be the weakest of the bunch. (I'm sorry that I don't remember the name of this story; I seem to have blocked it from my brain). It goes on forever, and it's completely purposeless. By the time the narrator is literally on all fours chewing up a magazine, I was done with this book.
However, I stuck it out, figuring there wasn't much left to go and I owed it to the guy who gave me Kathy H. to finish his book. "Malvern Hills" follows a very similar storyline as "Crooner" - in fact, all five of the stories have a couple who is going through problems and the musician who helps them - and ultimately was a little TOO similar. It was dull. And then I got to the fourth story, and again was appalled. It meandered, the characters were DUMB, and it went on for far too long. The female lead is a recurring character from the first story, and I have to say: 75 pages spent with this woman was 74 too much.
The last story was just okay, probably the most successful for what it wanted to do. Maybe these stories would have been better NOT as a collection, but found in smaller doses in The New Yorker or another literary magazine. As it is, Nocturnes made me so unhappy and bored (much like this review has done for you, I'm sure).
I'm gradually working my way through Kazuo Ishiguro's novels. "Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall" is (unsurprisingly) a collection of short stories. I always look forward to reading Ishiguro's works and this one was a joy to read. His novels are all in a sense very different with genres such as: historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction and dystopia fiction yet having said that he revisits familiar themes in many of them this collection of short stories revisits a theme of missed potential, it runs through each of the five stories.
All the stores have a connecting theme of music in some way, and though these are set in the 'real world' and not a fantasy world they still have a sense of being very slightly out of step with our world in a way that Ishiguro does so well. Amongst the five stories we come across an American crooner who gets a Polish musician to help serenade his wife, a man revisits old fiends he met at university and finds himself in the middle of their marriage tensions, an aspiring rock musician disillusioned by his lack of success goes his sisters where he encounters a pair of Swiss tourists who cause him to reasses himself, a man recovering from plastic surgery meets the wife of the man in the first story and gets unexpectedly involved with a turkey, and a cellist is tutored by an Americsn virtuoso who it transpires can't actually play the cello herself.
The stories all explore themes of loss and missed potential but they are so rich and as is often the case with Kazuo Ishiguro they have more to them than what appears in the surface, there are themes that bear thinking through to get at what the author is saying. Each one of them are so beautifully written and we care about all of the people we get a snapshot of.
There is comedy among the stories too. The second story is pretty much a farce, it's genuinely laugh out loud funny before ending on a poignant note. The fourth also takes a comic turn. Others take a melancholic tone in fact all of them strike that note to some degree. The final story was for me the weakest of the bunch but still that doesn't mean it's in any way bad. This is a strong collection of short stories, beautifully written by an author who is always a joy to read. 5 well deserved stars.
All the stores have a connecting theme of music in some way, and though these are set in the 'real world' and not a fantasy world they still have a sense of being very slightly out of step with our world in a way that Ishiguro does so well. Amongst the five stories we come across an American crooner who gets a Polish musician to help serenade his wife, a man revisits old fiends he met at university and finds himself in the middle of their marriage tensions, an aspiring rock musician disillusioned by his lack of success goes his sisters where he encounters a pair of Swiss tourists who cause him to reasses himself, a man recovering from plastic surgery meets the wife of the man in the first story and gets unexpectedly involved with a turkey, and a cellist is tutored by an Americsn virtuoso who it transpires can't actually play the cello herself.
The stories all explore themes of loss and missed potential but they are so rich and as is often the case with Kazuo Ishiguro they have more to them than what appears in the surface, there are themes that bear thinking through to get at what the author is saying. Each one of them are so beautifully written and we care about all of the people we get a snapshot of.
There is comedy among the stories too. The second story is pretty much a farce, it's genuinely laugh out loud funny before ending on a poignant note. The fourth also takes a comic turn. Others take a melancholic tone in fact all of them strike that note to some degree. The final story was for me the weakest of the bunch but still that doesn't mean it's in any way bad. This is a strong collection of short stories, beautifully written by an author who is always a joy to read. 5 well deserved stars.
While I appreciate the craft in writing a book in movements, and in the style of a musical symphony, and the variations on a theme and returning motifs do land, I found the five stories themselves to not have much engagement or interest in their own right.
This book really is Kazuo Ishiguro at his best. Each of these stories could easily have been developed into beautiful novels, but they are incredible as they stand alone. I love Ishiguro's style of writing, he has a certain way around words and it is absolutely beautiful. I loved all of the stories, but I think the first one, Crooner, was my favourite.
These short stories deal with fame, music, love, loss, hopes, dreams, the future and the past. And they do so magnificently Never getting overly emotional or overly involved. Always keeping things slightly at a distance, which just makes the truth in the stories stand out even more clearly.
The stories are not long, the book is just 220 pages, but they are beautiful and well-worth reading.
These short stories deal with fame, music, love, loss, hopes, dreams, the future and the past. And they do so magnificently Never getting overly emotional or overly involved. Always keeping things slightly at a distance, which just makes the truth in the stories stand out even more clearly.
The stories are not long, the book is just 220 pages, but they are beautiful and well-worth reading.
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
this collection made me cry, and i enjoyed the stories profusely. having only read klara and the sun previously, i was deeply interested in more of ishiguro's works and this is the one that called out to me most. the things i have to say about the indivdual stories vary, and i found it difficult to give the collection a rating as a whole.
i would say that crooner, the first story, was my favorite. i really connected deeply to the piece, and found the analysis of love in a capitalistic, fame-driven environment to be very touching. the other works were enjoyable, but fell a bit flat due to my love for crooner and the way it set the tone for the collection.the connection between the first piece and nocturne was a welcomed surprise. i also didnt expect for cellists to connect back to laneck. i am terribly excited to read more from ishiguro later this year.
my ranking of the short stories are:
1. crooner
2. nocturne
3. cellists
4. come rain or come shine
5. malvern hills
i would say that crooner, the first story, was my favorite. i really connected deeply to the piece, and found the analysis of love in a capitalistic, fame-driven environment to be very touching. the other works were enjoyable, but fell a bit flat due to my love for crooner and the way it set the tone for the collection.
my ranking of the short stories are:
1. crooner
2. nocturne
3. cellists
4. come rain or come shine
5. malvern hills