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Sunday, November 23, 2014

Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro

Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro

Read this tidy little collection of short stories on an overnight plane ride to Tokyo. Each deals with music and the ending of things. Only one of them sticks in my mind: a story about a plaza musician in Italy who is hired to take part in a sad parting of famous lovers- Hollywood has-beens- who use the young musician to invoke a song that reminds them of their good times.

Ishiguro is a superb writer, with a great sensitivity to the inability of humans to really connect with one another, or ever really get what they want. Each of these tales feels a bit like a sketch though. Readers new to his work should start with Never Let Me Go or The Remains of the Day.

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