Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro ISBN: 0-679-72267-X Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 12 September, 1990 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.15 (27 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A Subtle Portrait Painted by Genius. Extraordinary.
Comment: Etsuko's older daughter has recently committed suicide. Living alone in England, Etsuko recalls her encounter with an unusual woman, Sachiko, and her young daughter, Mariko, in Nagasaki a few years after Japan's defeat. Her memories of this summer long ago appeared to have little significance to the present, but gradually the story unravels into two strands, a concrete retelling of distant events and a more oblique revelation about Etusko herself. Ishiguro tantalizes the reader with hints and intimations and vague indications.
I realized that Ishiguro is a master of subtlety as I have read some of his other novels, but nonetheless I was unprepared for the obscure ending. What had I just learned? Was this a confused memory or had I glimpsed something macabre? Some rereading helped me resolve my confusion, but I leave the ending for your speculations.
In "A Pale View of Hills" Kazuo Ishiguro tells a story, develops convincing characters, and paints a portrait of post-war Japan. Ogata-San, Etsuko's amicable father-in-law, is publicly criticized for teaching patriotism during his long career as a school master. He quietly struggles with the seeming injustice around him. Etsuko's husband, Jiro, is a traditionalist, but has rapidly adapted to the emerging corporate Japan, and simply ignores the recent past. Etsuko's somewhat unbalanced friend, Sachiko, knows that her optimism is unrealistic and that she is jeopardizing her daughter's future, but she continues along a path almost ensured to end in disaster. As for Etsuko herself, her memories only speak obliquely to her views on the American imposition of dmocracy and women's rights. Ishiguro does not moralize, but lets us see post-war Japan through the eyes of his complex characters.
Ishiguro could easily have been a writer with only one great book. This haunting story, Ishiguro's first novel, was awarded a literary prize by the Royal Society of Literature. Ishiguro's life had some parallels with "A Pale View of Hills" as he himself was born in Nagasaki in 1954 and immigrated to England in 1960 and it is natural to expect that Ishiguro might have difficulty expanding beyond this "autobiographical" novel. And yet, his second book, "An Artist of the Floating World", was short listed for the prestigious Booker Prize. His third book, the highly successful "The Remains of the Day", captured the Booker Prize for its compelling portrait of an English butler.
Ishiguro is a remarkable writer. "A Pale View of Hills" is an extraordinary work of complexity, subtlety, and beauty.
Rating: 4
Summary: More than meets the eye
Comment: Kazuo Ishiguro is a literary master; there's no doubt about that. A Pale View of Hills is somewhat slow moving, but there's more than meets the eye. Lovers of literary analysis and interpretation will love all of Ishiguro's writing, including this novel. Hidden meaning is everywhere.
A Pale View of Hills is about a Japanese woman, Etsuko, now living in England dwelling on the recent suicide of her daughter. As she recounts her life, a reader may note striking parallels with her memories and her present suffering; is it possible reality and imagination have faded? An interesting aspect of the novel is its theme of intergenerational conflict. Set partly in post-WW2 Japan, conflict develops between the old generation, whose regressive ideals are now socially unacceptable, and the new generation, who look toward a future of Americanization.
(For all you English buffs out there, Ishiguro is not a bad choice for a research paper, provided you have access to critical analysis. My local library was able to get books on Ishiguro's writing--which are rare--from university libraries in the state. The internet was also useful.)
For the casual reader, while A Pale View isn't a bad book by any means (it is very readable), perhaps Remains of the Day would be more engaging.
Rating: 3
Summary: It's Okay...
Comment: A Pale View of Hills is definitely written well. The figurative language, narrative technique, etc. all add up to a flawless structure in which a mother struggles to deal with her daughter's suicide. The memory blurs are subtle and surprising. However, I thought the plot was lacking in some areas. Many of the Sachiko-Mariko scenes were repetitive, and the plot seemed to drag in some areas. Furthermore, I found it annoying that Etsuko never gave the immediate cause for her immigration to Britain and never thoroughly described her English husband. More details on Keiko's life in Britain would have been appreciated also. If you want study the structure of the English language, than I suggest this book, but if you like a plot with a bit more action, this is not the book for you.
 |
Title: An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro ISBN: 0679722661 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 19 September, 1989 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
 |
Title: The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro ISBN: 0679735879 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 01 October, 1996 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
 |
Title: The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro ISBN: 0679731725 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 12 September, 1990 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
 |
Title: When We Were Orphans : A Novel by Kazuo Ishiguro ISBN: 0375724400 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 30 October, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
 |
Title: Death in the Andes by Mario Vargas Llosa, Mario Vargas Llosa, Edith Grossman ISBN: 0140262156 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: February, 1997 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
