Ishiguro is known for his relatively straightforward writing style, use of first-person narrators, and desire to explore the human condition. His writing won the Nobel Prize for Literature and is read and studied around the world. He’s also won the Booker Prize and several other prestigious awards.
Never Let Me Go
‘Never Let Me Go’ is one of Ishiguro’s best-known novels. It’s a dystopian fiction book that takes place in a 1990s alternate version of England. It was published in 2005 and is regarded as one of the best English-language novels since 1923.
It is the author’s sixth novel and is focused on mass human cloning and forced organ transplants. The book is narrated by Kathy H, who is nearing the end of her life as she tells the story of her childhood. As the book unfolds, readers learn more and more about Kathy’s world and the terrible truth she and her friends must contend with, that their bodies will be used as living sources of organs for the non-clones.
The Remains of the Day
‘The Remains of the Day’ is another very well-known book by Ishiguro. It was published in 1989. It takes place in England and focuses on Stevens, a butler. The novel won the Booker Prize for fiction the same year it was published and has been adapted into a film.
As the book progresses, readers learn that Lord Darlington, whom Stevens has served all his life, is dead and that Stevens is in love with the housekeeper of the state, Miss Kenton. The latter sends him a letter in the first few pages of the novel and eventually goes to visit her. When they met, Miss Kenton (now Mrs. Benn) had been married for twenty years. Much of the book consists of flashbacks to when the two were working together.
An Artist of the Floating World
‘An Artist of the Floating World’ was published in 1986 and takes place in post-WWII Japan. The novel uses a single narrator, Masuji Ono, who is looking back on his life and reputation as a painter. He reflects on how the latter has changed since the war and the guilt he feels about his role during the war. The novel is considered to feature elements of both historical fiction and global literature and is regarded as one of Kazuo Ishiguro’s best books.
The novel was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and won the Whitbread Book of the Year Award.
Klara and the Sun
‘Klara and the Sun’ is another well-known Ishiguro novel. The title character, Klara, is a robot, or Artificial Friend, who starts the book in a store. She is chosen by Josie, a young, sick girl, to be her companion. The novel is set in the future and was published in March 2021. It was long-listed for the 2021 Booker Prize and is regarded as a fantastic contemporary science fiction novel.
The Unconsoled
‘The Unconsoled’ was published in 1995. It takes place over a three-day period in which a famous pianist arrives to play a concert. He struggles through a complicated series of appointments and obligations that he can’t quite decipher and continues to miss. The book is almost 500 pages long and is regarded by some reviewers as a masterpiece and by others as indecipherable and overly complicated.
A Pale View of Hills
‘A Pale View of Hills’ tells the story of a middle-aged Japanese woman living in England. The novel was Ishiguro’s first and was published in 1982. The book focuses on Etsuko and reflects on her life and the recent suicide of her daughter, Keiko. The novel is mysterious and eerie in a unique way that will keep readers guessing throughout.
The Buried Giant
‘The Buried Giant’ is a 2015 fantasy novel. It focuses on an older couple living in post-Authorian England. In this alternate history, no one is able to retain their memories, something referred to as “the mist.” The couple, Axl and Beatrice, can vaguely remember that they had a child and decide to find out who he is.
When speaking about the novel, Ishiguro stated that it took ten years to write and that he had at least one failed attempt to get the story off the ground. He took his inspiration for this novel from the Dark Ages in Britain.
When We Were Orphans
‘When We Were Orphans’ is a coming-of-age detective story that was published in 2000. The novel takes place in the early 20th century and focuses on Christopher Banks, an English boy born in Shanghai. He grows up to be a world-renowned detective and returns to China years later to solve a series of disappearances.
Christopher tells the story from a first-person narrative perspective, and readers learn more and more about what’s going on and Christopher himself as the book progresses.
