3 Mini Reviews: Kazuo Ishiguro

Hi guys, so it’s time for some more reviews. Today I thought I would share 3 mini reviews of 3 books by one of my favourite authors, Kazuo Ishiguro. I read my first book by him probably in my mid teens and have been slowly been making my way through his books ever since.

 

An Artist of the Floating World / ★★★★

This was one of the first Ishiguro books I read and it definitely cemented my love for his works after reading Never Let Me Go. In this one we get a look at post-war Japan and we follow the main character, Masuji Ono. The pacing is pretty slow, but for me the writing very much pulls it forward. I never felt that it dragged in any way. This is a short book, at around 200 pages, and there are trademark things that Ishiguro always seems to use in his books, for example an unreliable narrator. I can definitely see that in some ways this is quite similar to Remains of the Day  – they are both set after WWII, both focus on old men and have unreliable narrators, but in my opinion they are separate books. Yes they have similarities but they also have differences. The setting of Japan is wonderfully done and it’s one of my favourite things about this book. Ishiguro is able to capture the Japanese scenery, culture and tradition. As always with Ishiguro, the characters are also very well written. Overall I very much enjoyed this one and would of course recommend it.

 

When We Were Orphans / ★★★

I have to admit that I wasn’t a huge fan of this one, but as you can see from the rating I did still enjoy it. Like all the other Ishiguro books I’ve read (5 for those interested) I enjoyed this book, however I didn’t enjoy it as much as some of his other works. Once again Ishiguro crafts a complex, flawed and unreliable narrator, Mr Banks. The pacing was abit off for me – it starts out quite slow and doesn’t really pick up until the last third of the book. Also I felt the plot wasn’t particularly well thought out. To be honest I’m still not entirely sure what it was – I kind of feel something was lacking maybe or I just didn’t engage with the plot as much as I have in his other books. Overall if you’re a fan of Ishiguro’s work then you will probably enjoy this, but if you are new to his work then I wouldn’t recommend this book to start with. I think Ishiguro himself has said that this is his weakest novel. Don’t quote me on that though. I did enjoy it, but I didn’t love it.

 

Never Let Me Go / ★★★★★

This is one of my favourite books. I actually first read it in school as part of my English literature course and I have loved it ever since. I’m not going to go into too much detail as I think this is the type of book to read when you don’t know much about the plot, if that makes sense. One of the main strengths of this book (in my opinion) is the characters. Ishiguro writes such amazing and detailed characters, as well as creating great friendships and relationships. The concept is such an interesting one and really quite eerie. The setting is fantastic and obviously the writing is wonderful too. If you are looking for a unique science fiction book then you should definitely check this book out. Overall I love this book and I would recommend it to everyone.

 

As you can tell I am a bit of a fan of Kazuo Ishiguro. I hope to read more of his books this year as I think I still have 3 to read. My opinion on his books can vary a bit, but you can always rely on fantastic writing and interesting characters and I have enjoyed all of his books, just to varying degrees. Have you guys read these books? What did you think? I hope you are all having a wonderful day and I will see you next time.

 

Pippa