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/lit/ - Literature

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17704725 No.17704725 [Reply] [Original]

Why haven't you read the latest Ishiguro's masterpiece yet?

>> No.17705052

>>17704725
I have. I made a thread about it as well that (somewhat surprisingly) brought out a number of anons that dislike Ishiguro, seemingly as a matter of principle.

I loved Klara and the Sun. I think it is his best since The Unconsoled. The book begins as derivative of things like Corduroy and the film AI, but then it becomes its own thing. There are shades of Remains of the Day in it, and certainly of Never Let Me Go, but it moves beyond those too - Klara's narration is reliable and isn't beset by self-deception or faulty memory the way Ishiguro's past narrators have been. And this is also his first work to take on the concept of God; at first only obliquely, and then very directly. A wonderful, beautiful book. The best thing about our species is our capacity for kindness and for love; Klara and the Sun illuminates this.

>> No.17705085

>>17704725
is actually lit, or is he just another airport chick lit writer?

>> No.17705127
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17705127

>>17705085
He won the Nobel. While he is approachable, he is very much a writer of real literature. "The Unconsoled" is one of the great works of our time.

>> No.17705227

>>17705052
I disliked Never Let Me Go but quite enjoyed The Buried Giant (The Unconsoled is on my list), is this worth buying?

>> No.17705302

>>17705227
I am not a big fan of Never Let Me Go (I find it one of Ishiguro's weaker efforts, though I admit that it appeals to a certain [and large] audience), but Loved Klara and the Sun. Your mileage may vary, but I'd say give it a shot. Though if you haven't read Remains of the Day I would read that first (you don't have to; just a recommendation).

>> No.17705522

>>17705302
Yeah. In my opinion, NLMG was muted and drab where TBG was dreamy and ephemeral. Was planning on skipping Remains of the Day, honestly. I think I'll pick this one up maybe.

>> No.17705541

>>17705522
For dreamy and ephemeral, you definitely want "The Unconsoled." The new one is somewhere between the two in terms of feel, but probably more on the drab side than the dreamy side (with a few exceptions, notably in the last third of the book).

>> No.17705688

>>17705541
>dreamy and ephemeral
Assumed that was the case, I'm looking forward to it :)
Few other bits to finish first though

>> No.17705710

>>17705127
I have a copy of the unconsoled lying around and a thinking about reading it. Is it necessary to read all his other books first, or can I jump right in if I pay attention?

>> No.17705751

>>17705710
You can jump right in. His other books kind of help to set the stage for the themes that he works with, but they aren't necessary if you read attentively. You also need to be prepared for a few hundred pages of meandering while things are only slowly coalescing though.

>> No.17705891

>>17705052
Bought a copy because of that thread along with Never let me go. Loved the movie, so I'm exited to see if the book will enhance that experience

>> No.17706146

>>17705127
Are we getting a v2 chart with Klara?

>> No.17706229

>>17706146
I'm thinking about it. Probably will put Klara where Orphans is, and move Orphans down to the bottom. Considering replacing Orphans with Klara though.

>> No.17706374

>>17705052
Don't worry anon. Your passion has convinced me to read him eventually.

>> No.17707303

>>17704725
I don't read shit.

>> No.17707468

>>17704725
It's very good. Probably one of his best. I was surprised by how starkly religious it was

>> No.17707542

>>17705522
>Was planning on skipping Remains of the Day, honestly.

It depends on what you like. It’s quiet and realistic, so if that’s not your thing don’t read it, but it’s extremely good. If had to choose between Remains and Stoner for quiet, melancholy “perfect” novel about an ordinary, forgettable person that’ll cut you to the quick, I’d take Remains.

>> No.17707632

>>17706229
>Considering replacing Orphans with Klara though
Sorry, I meant I'm considering replacing Never Let Me Go with Klara, then moving NLMG down into Orphans spot, and Orphans down to the bottom.

>> No.17707690

>>17707542
Ideologically I'm a dyed in the wool realist. But Ishiguro's writing just lacks verve in my opinion. Without an accommodating setting, that complements his dreamy, sedimentary style, I feel no particular reason to devote time to him. Not that I want to do him down. It's just that I have a shelf full I'm eager to get through. Your summary intrigues me though

>> No.17707709

>>17707632
That's quite a change. Never Let Me Go is probably the major way that readers are introduced to Ishiguro now, particularly given there's school editions and a movie version. Can Karla really take its place? With any new book, it can take a while for its lasting impression (or lack thereof) to settle.

>> No.17707723

>>17707709
It would be. The far more likely result will just be sliding in Klara in place of Orphans.

But I do think that Klara is better (substantially so) than NLMG, and still likely to appeal to a similar wide audience. I could be wrong in that though; I'm not sure how important having Kathy H as the narrator in NLMG is for giving readers more accustomed to YA fiction an entry-point to more mature concepts.

>> No.17708362

I ordered it, takes a while for Amazon where I live

>> No.17708398

i've read never let me go, remains of the day and artist of the floating world. i enjoyed never let me go the most and loved kathy as narrator. just picked this up and i'm excited to say the least

>> No.17708422
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17708422

what does he write like? what's his "style"? I've seen this shilled hard recently and everyone seems to enjoy it, so I'm certainly considering it. I've been on a /sffg/ sci-fi, good-ideas-but-poorly-written-characters binge for many books now and am starting to feel dead inside.

>> No.17708470

>>17708422
James Wood in the New Yorker isn't wrong when he says that Ishiguro's foremost style is one of almost "punitive blandness." But it nevertheless works well, I think. He doesn't use any rhetorical flourishes or ecstatic prose; everything is relatively straightforward. At most you will have an Ishiguro narrator circling around a thought or idea, and coming to say the opposite of what he starts out saying by the end of the page, but by and large that's infrequent.

He sometimes uses this to comical effect (much of Remains of the Day is hilariously stuffy, and knowingly so; anyone who writes about how 'the English countryside is the best countryside on the planet precisely because it is so unassuming in comparison to Africa or America' is clearly having a bit of a lark), but it also results in there being very little barrier between the reader and his narrators, so when those narrators hit on hard truths it hits the readers pretty hard too.

I don't know of another writer who can use such straightforward 'bland' prose to such effect.

>> No.17708579

>>17708470
thanks anon.. I was a bit afraid of this, but I'll still have to read him to "get" his prose for myself. When I think "bland" my mind goes to Murakami. a dreamy sort of bland, I guess.

>> No.17708613

It hasn't been released here and I won't be able to pick it up for a week or two after it comes out. I've been rereading Never Let Me Go and The Remains of the Day while I wait.

>> No.17710424

>>17704725
The ultimate storybook for fedora tippers.

>> No.17710519

Might actually give this a shot if the narrator is reliable
I swear the only people who ever figured out how to do unreliable narrators were Nabokov and Pamuk

>> No.17712145

>>17710424
Care to elaborate? I'm surprised at that take given the overt presence of God in this book.