/lit/ - Literature

Lit*

>>18510498
I like it a bit, definitely more than Klara and the Sun, but it feels like a test run for The Unconsoled, which is a borderline masterpiece and by far one of the best books published since 1995.

>>18510498
I enjoyed it a lot and read it in 1-2 days

>>18510498
I'm trans btw in case it matters

>>18510522
The prose in Remains of the Day was so elegant compared to Klara. I understand that, since the latter story is being told from the viewpoint of an AF, the narrative must have a certain sterility to it in order to reflect Klara’s technological thinking process, but I couldn’t help find it rather elementary, boring, and cliched.

>>18510558
>I couldn’t help find it rather elementary, boring, and cliched.
Same here, cliched is the word for it. I never would have expected him to write something that unimaginative and plain.

Probably the best crystallization of Ishiguro's methods and themes with the whole unreliable restrained narrator thing. Pity Ishiguro never managed to top it. I think it's a book that will be considered a classic in the future.

>>18510644
Checked. And yes, I do agree that it could possibly be considered a classic in the future. The juxtaposition in quality between Klara and Remains of the Day is like night and day; I read Klara first and it was honestly hard to believe the two books were written by the same author.

>>18510730
Why do you keep comparing it to Klara? He has other books, The Unconsoled being his best work by far. Never Let Me Go is also solid.

I have this terrible feeling like I’ll be disappointed once I read this guy’s books.

>>18510498
>comfy
Did we read the same book?

>>18510498
Love it. If I had to pick a single book that has had the biggest impact on my life, I'd probably say Remains. Saw far too much of myself in Stevens. Honestly, "Remains" is a perfect book. There's not a single thing wrong with it, and the complaints you'll see on /lit/ about its prose fail to take into account that the prose is Stevens' narration.

>>18510522
I 100% agree that The Unconsoled is a masterpiece, and the best book written in the last 25 years.

That said, I struggle with seeing "Remains" as a test run for it. Remains is a pretty solidly realist short novel. I can see precursors to "The Unconsoled" in the China section of "When We Were Orphans," and certainly in the short story Ishiguro wrote for the New Yorker that was basically just a small section of "Unconsoled," but I don't see it in "Remains."

Whereas I do see "An Artist of the Floating World" being in some ways a test run for "Remains."

>>18510558
>>18510597
The critic James Wood describes Ishiguro's prose as 'punishingly cliched and banal' or something like that, and he isn't wrong. But even so I think it works. I can't think of any other author who can create such emotional effects with such flat prose. It's kind of uncanny.

>>18510644
>>18510730
Honestly, I think it's already a classic, at least among those who read contemporary literature.

>>18512843
Before the soul-crushing ending, it's comfy. The parts where Stevens is just puttering around the English countryside in the old car and talking about how great England is because it is not 'grand' like Africa or America are hilarious and cozy.

-----

I put together this chart earlier this year before Klara came out. Will have to update it some time.

>>18512840
adjust your expectations accordingly. Ishiguro is one of the best literature has to offer in the last 30 years or so, but his works always touch on the same themes (unreliable narrator, mutability of memory, strained relationships).

>>18513166
I’ll be honest and say I find it appealing that he’s not afraid to go into fantasy or sci fi territory but I’m not sure.

>>18512837
Just started reading him anon. Only have got my hands on those two books as of now.

Bump

Remains is already a classic.
Unconsoled will override as more people discover it.
His writing style is excellent but hes only struck gold twice, which is more than most famous authors anyway

>>18513163
>and the best book written in the last 25 years.
Hi! I am Roberto Bolano and i wrote 2666. You were saying....

>>18513163
>Before the soul-crushing ending, it's comfy
Ishiguro establishes pretty early the themes he brings to a head at the ending. I bet you think the ending is sad just because of muh romance.

>>18516226
I think the ending is a litmus test to see if you’re a cup half full or half empty type of person. Even though the ending is brutal, it’s also bittersweet. At least he had that epiphany and is going to take action. Many people never get that moment

I was going to read it but I ran out of time

>>18510498
As a butler in training, this book has always interested me for obvious reasons. It’s a very demanding profession though, and I haven’t had the time

>>18510530
why would it matter lmao

Is it about dead white males?

>>18516312
Are you seriously a butler in training? Please, for your honour, don't deceive me.

>>18516335
Yes, of course. What else a /lit/ anon would be?

>>18516338
A korean basket weaver, a degenerated transexual, QAnon, unironically Pynchon, me, Evan Dara, a sex slave, a renowned scholar, a gypo. The possibilities are endless.

>>18516360
Right, I'm a butler in training. I'm doing my studies in a butler academy. I'll probably move to Japan after completing my studies and work in a rauzomaido rental service.

>>18516338
I'm an unemployed student and amateur beekeeper.

>>18516284
no, the ending is a round repudiation of servility, detachment, and the abuse of power of the ruling class. there IS no action for him to take. he is old, and like his father will soon become unable to do the job he has dedicated his life to. on the "most important" night of his career, where churchill and all those nobles are gathered, stevens' job is to fetch a bottle of alcohol. for all of his airs and all of his professions of the importance of servility across the novel, when it comes time for the most significant event of his career his job is to fetch a bottle, something a monkey could do. when he breaks down and cries at the end, it's not because he's just mourning the loss of miss kenton, he's mourning the profession he gave his life to, which, as he serves an american magnate who sees him as a curiosity, he comes to realize has been bullshit from the start. it's the kind of abject misery only an old man can experience at the end of his life, looking back on everything. there is no litmus test, no "half full, half empty" dichotomy. the glass is drained down to the dregs -- the eponymous remains of the day, which is drawing for stephens to a close, and for the british empire as well.

>>18510498
I thought it was pretty average and I am surprised by how much it is lauded. I understand that the narrator himself is detached but the writing felt overly mechanical, even for the speaker in question. Don't understand how people could call it elegant with all the MFA prose. The only other thing I have read by Ishiguro is some of his short stories and Never Let Me Go and I enjoyed them both more but still wasn't floored. I will still read The Unconsoled eventually.

>>18516730
If you're going to use MFA prose as a criticism you have to name other MFAers that actually write like Ishiguro. And if you think Ishiguro is formal wait till you dip into Henry James. It's more like that it's just a writing tradition you're not used to but it is far from mechanical.

>>18510498
Never heard of it.

>>18516745
Just using MFA as a euphemism for soulless, which I would describe most MFA authors I've read as. The only contemporary and still writing author who I've enjoyed with an MFA that comes to mind is Marilynne Robinson. There are probably others I don't know about though. And I've only read The Portrait of a Lady and The Ambassadors but I enjoyed them. Not my favorite but definitely more enjoyable than The Remains of the Day. I didn't find Ishiguro's short stories or Never Let Me Go suffered from the same rigidness.

Why would i read an non white book?

>>18516862
It is about dead white males. Living whites are worthless too.

>>18516776
Ishiguro has a very restrained style but to me he manages to achieve that feeling of every sentence and paragraph being refined to fit within the greater thematic whole. The book is the epitome of subtext, which can be seen as engineered to some, but it worked with devastating emotional impact on me. Lots of people want to achieve what Ishiguro achieved but he's the only one I've seen, other than maybe Gene Wolfe who works in a different style altogether, that pulls it off without being trite or pretentious.

>>18516903
I don't know. I've been reading less and less Japanese and Russian authors because of translations. Honestly, I'm going to learn both languages and just read the originals.

>>18516903
I understand, I suppose I just did find it to be somewhat trite. There were sections I enjoyed greatly like Steven's father retracing his steps and Ms. Kenton training the new girl but otherwise, I just found it very average. Not bad, just a good book and not a masterpiece.

>>18516912
Ishigiro writes in English, he’s British.