This is very strange novel; Mr. Ishiguro took six years to write it. In this novel absolutely anything may happen without seeming strange in any way. Kafkaesque in its disjointed reality and in its dark Eastern European ambience, this novel attempts to disorient readers by confusing them as to what's taking place. Upon his arrival, Mr. Ryder (a world-renowned pianist) seems to be awakening from a dream; he remembers little of where this place is and how he comes to be here. As a Twilight Zone feeling develops, Ryder becomes embroiled in other people's tangled personal lives. He seems to know things about people he's never met before--or has he?--and they know things about him... Ishiguro doesn't respect the standard restrictions of time and space. Buildings that take an hour by car to get to are all of a sudden next door. Friends and commitments are abandoned to no negative consequence (and they talk for inordinate amounts of time about nothing). Corridors, passageways and rooms are often distorted; They are often narrower than they should be, darker than they should be, longer than would be physically possible, and their nature changes frequently. In this gripping psychological mystery readers often feel perplexed and surprised, due to constant absurdity and surrealism. Sometimes, what happens doesn’t seem to have any consequences at all, that gives the impression that facts are interchangeable.
This is an intriguing if perplexing tale for serious fiction readers. Expect demand where Ishiguro has a following.


PERSONAL NOTE:
This is probably the most frustrating book I’ve ever read, and certainly one of the most amazing. I was enjoying in every single page of this massive (over 600 pages), dark, surreal, sometimes grotesque, labyrinth-tale. This is ‘either you love it or hate it” type of novel and I’m considering it as nearly a masterpiece. But indeed, sentence from above (“…for serious fiction readers”) is absolute truth. This novel is not for everyone and I don’t say this in some negative tone: my friends who are quite serious readers just couldn’t get into it too.
I just wanted to post this as some kind of “warning”.
Once again: I LOVE this book but hey, that’s me …

reserved for non-genre swap and it goes to lovely Canadian friend KarinAlyssa :)



This is Kazuo Ishiguro!

Book is on its way to Canada to my dear, charming friend KarinAlyssa
Safe voyage!
Enjoy!

The book arrived yesterday, but I just saw it today. Thank you zzz for allowing me to read this novel, I hope it'll be a fantastic book !