Ishiguro, Kazuo. (b. 1954).
L i f e
- born in Nagasaki, moved to England when 6 year old, and accepted British citizenship (1982)
W o r k
- highly subjective: his first person narrators often exhibit human failings and reveal their flaws implicitly during the narrative
- preocuppied with the past: his delicate, historically accurate descriptive technique captures the details and atmosphere of a period
- offers no sense of resolution, typically concludes with a melancholic resignation, and leaves the issues of his characters unresolved
A Pale View of the Hills (1982):
- the protagonist: a Japanese widow settled in England
- recalls the destruction and rehabilitation of Nagasaki after WW II
An Artist of the Floating World (1986):
- set in Nagasaki in the period of reconstruction following the detonation of the atomic bomb in 1945
- a fictional study of an ageing painter’s awareness of, and detachment from, the political and cultural development of 20th century Japan
The Remains of the Day (1989):
- set in England in the pre-WW II and post-WW II period
- the protagonist: a typical elderly butler in a large country house
- reflects on his life and evaluates whether or not it was necessary always to retain his loyalty: failed to reconcile his sense of service and his personal life and so failed to act on his romantic feelings toward the housekeeper
Quote
"I am a writer who wishes to write international novels. What is an 'international' novel? I believe it to be one, quite simply, that contains a vision of life that is of importance to people of varied backgrounds around the world. It may concern characters who jet across continents, but may just as easily be set firmly in one small locality."
Kazuo Ishiguro
Basics
(Photo: Mariusz Kubik. 2005. Source: Wikipedia).
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Author
Kazuo Ishiguro. (b. 1954). Born in Japan. British citizen since 1982. -
Work
Novelist. Short story writer. Author of The Remains of the Day (1989). -
Genres
Modern novel. Psychological realism. The Second World War.
Literature
Abrams, Meyer Howard, ed. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. New York: W. W. Norton, 1993.
Barnard, Robert. Stručné dějiny anglické literatury. Praha: Brána, 1997.
Baugh, Albert C. ed. A Literary History of England. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1967.
Coote, Stephen. The Penguin Short History of English Literature. London: Penguin, 1993.
Sampson, George. The Concise Cambridge History of English Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1946.
Sanders, Andrew. The Short Oxford History of English Literature. New York: Clarendon Press, 1994.