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Kazuo Ishiguro

Allyboo

I read Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro at the same time as I was completing my autism assessment in November 2021. I'd never read any of his books before so was all new to me. I found it tied in very well with my exploration of autism and ongoing mental health recovery journey. I went on to enjoy reading his book The Remains of the Day (and watch the film) as well as watch (and get the DVD in time) of the film Living (released in cinemas last year https://youtu.be/-hCTXaQ1guE ) which he adapted from the Japanese original. I would like to chat with other Kazuo Ishiguro fans so am on the lookout  for any generally, are any of you interested in his work much? 

Parents

  • That's really interesting, the connection you have made between being 'in service' and autism. I think I see what you mean. The idea of following instructions and a routine, working towards a 'greater good' without having to come up with one's own path in life. Am I understanding you correctly? That does seem reassuring, if there was an authority to follow that could fully be trusted, unlike the one in which poor Stevens placed his faith. If you are interested in other novels with benevolent AI, I must recommend 'Machines Like Me' by Ian McEwan. It's a good companion to 'Klara and the Sun' because McEwan has similarly made his artificial character 'good' in a way that the human characters are not. Also, the best unreliable narrator I have ever read was in 'We Have Always Lived in the Castle' by Shirley Jackson. It's told from the POV of an 18 year old girl who lives a reclusive life with her older sister and one of them may or may not have killed the rest of the family by poisoning. It's obviously dark, but not gruesome or straying into horror - in fact, you might like the way of life the sisters have built together which follows a calm routine with elements of superstition and family eccentricity. It's quite appealing - murder aside! Apologies if you don't want book recommendations, I'm a librarian and it's hard to resist sometimes! Do you have any for me? Which are your other favourite Ishiguros? I would say 'The Buried Giant' does have an unreliable narrator but more because he can't remember things rather than self-deception or trying to deceive the reader.

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  • That's really interesting, the connection you have made between being 'in service' and autism. I think I see what you mean. The idea of following instructions and a routine, working towards a 'greater good' without having to come up with one's own path in life. Am I understanding you correctly? That does seem reassuring, if there was an authority to follow that could fully be trusted, unlike the one in which poor Stevens placed his faith. If you are interested in other novels with benevolent AI, I must recommend 'Machines Like Me' by Ian McEwan. It's a good companion to 'Klara and the Sun' because McEwan has similarly made his artificial character 'good' in a way that the human characters are not. Also, the best unreliable narrator I have ever read was in 'We Have Always Lived in the Castle' by Shirley Jackson. It's told from the POV of an 18 year old girl who lives a reclusive life with her older sister and one of them may or may not have killed the rest of the family by poisoning. It's obviously dark, but not gruesome or straying into horror - in fact, you might like the way of life the sisters have built together which follows a calm routine with elements of superstition and family eccentricity. It's quite appealing - murder aside! Apologies if you don't want book recommendations, I'm a librarian and it's hard to resist sometimes! Do you have any for me? Which are your other favourite Ishiguros? I would say 'The Buried Giant' does have an unreliable narrator but more because he can't remember things rather than self-deception or trying to deceive the reader.

Children
  • in reply to Maybe_Sally

    My mother wanted to be a librarian (she and my father both had 'attention to detail' in common as she became a primary school teacher with a particular interest in English (spelling, grammar, punctuation etc) and my father was a senior accountant all his career overall) and was involved at the school libraries she worked at as a teacher at the same time. I respect libraries and have used them a lot, what's your library like? The poet Philip Larkin was a librarian his whole career while writing his poetry on the side, I especially like his poem 'This Be The Verse' which I can relate to a lot.

    Maybe_Sally said:
    Am I understanding you correctly?

    Yes, you get the idea. Thank you for the recommendations, I'll look out for them. I treated myself to 3 Olivia Laing books in the last year, The Trip to Echo Spring and The Lonely City I've read andm pleased I did and To The River I look forward to reading in time Slight smile

  • in reply to Maybe_Sally

    The actor who played dutiful Stevens, Anthony Hopkins. was diagnosed in late life with autism. So possibly casting him as the clumsy Bezukov in the BBC drsma of War and Peace was an intuitive move. Notwithstanding he did a great and memorable job with Hannibal Lector.

    Alas I havn't read Remsians of tje Day but Ive seen excerpts from the movie about him.