New Releases by Kazuo Ishiguro

The Romans have long since departed and Britain is steadily declining into ruin. But, at least, the wars that once ravaged the country have ceased. Axl and Beatrice, a couple of elderly Britons, decide that now is the time, finally, for them to set off across this troubled land of mist and rain to find the son they have not seen for years, the son they can scarcely remember. They know they will face many hazards -- some strange and otherworldly -- but they cannot foresee how their journey will reveal to them the dark and forgotten corners of their love for each other. Nor can they foresee that they will be joined on their journey by a Saxon warrior, his orphan charge, and a knight -- each of them, like Axl and Beatrice, lost in some way to his own past, but drawn inexorably toward the comfort, and the burden, of the fullness of a life''s memories.

''De rest van de dag'' van Nobelprijswinnaar Ishiguro werd bekroond met de Booker Prize en werd verfilmd met Anthony Hopkins en Emma Thompson in de hoofdrollen. In ‘De rest van de dag’ van Nobelprijswinnaar Kazuo Ishiguro kijkt Mr. Stevens, een ouder wordende Engelse butler, terug op de tijd dat hij in dienst was van lord Darlington, in de jaren dertig en veertig. Zijn leven lang heeft hij zijn waardigheid afgemeten aan die van zijn werkgever, maar achteraf blijkt dat hij de ware aard van de gebeurtenissen verkeerd heeft ingeschat. ‘De rest van de dag’ werd bekroond met de Booker Prize en werd verfilmd met Anthony Hopkins en Emma Thompson in de hoofdrollen. Kazuo Ishiguro is een van de meest bekroonde en gelauwerde auteurs uit het Engels taalgebied. In 2017 werd zijn oeuvre bekroond met de Nobelprijs voor de Literatuur. ‘In romans met een grote emotionele zeggingskracht legt Ishiguro onze wankele verbintenis met de wereld bloot.’ – Nobelprijscomité 2017

From the universally acclaimed author of The Remains of the Day comes a mesmerizing novel of completely unexpected mood and matter--a seamless, fictional universe, both wholly unrecognizable and familiar. When the public, day-to-day reality of a renowned pianist takes on a life of its own, he finds himself traversing landscapes that are by turns eerie, comical, and strangely malleable.

Hailsham aparenta ser un agradable internado inglés, lejos de las influencias de la gran ciudad. La escuela se ocupa bien de sus estudiantes, enseñándoles arte y literatura y todo lo necesario para que se conviertan en el tipo de persona que la sociedad espera. Pero, curiosamente, en Hailsham no se enseña nada sobre el mundo exterior, un mundo con el que casi todo contacto está prohibido. Dentro de Hailsham, Kathy y sus amigos Ruth y Tommy crecen indiferentes ante el resto del mundo, pero será solamente cuando finalmente dejen la seguridad de la escuela que se darán cuenta de lo que Hailsham en realidad esconde. Nunca me abandones rompe con los limites de la novela literaria. Es un misterio conmovedor, una hermosa historia de amor, una crítica mordaz de la arrogancia humana y también una investigación moral de cómo tratamos a la gente más vulnerable en nuestra sociedad. En su exploración del tema de la memoria y el impacto del pasado en un posible futuro, Ishiguro ha creado su libro más conmovedor hasta la fecha.

La Kathy, la Ruth i en Tommy eren alumnes de Hailsham, una idíl·lica institució docent situada en ple camp anglès. Els estudiants hi vivien escrupulosament protegits del món de fora, i se''ls educava en el convenciment que eren especials, i que la seva integritat física era fonamental. Però, ¿per què hi eren, en realitat?Passaran molts anys abans que la Kathy, als seus trenta-un anys, es decideixi finalment a reviure el passat. El resultat és el captivador relat de com la Kathy, la Ruth i en Tommy, amants, amics i companys, van descobrint la veritat sobre la seva infància aparentment feliç...i sobre el seu futur.

BOOKER PRIZE WINNER • From the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, here is “an intricate and dazzling novel” (The New York Times) about the perfect butler and his fading, insular world in post-World War II England. This is Kazuo Ishiguro''s profoundly compelling portrait of a butler named Stevens. Stevens, at the end of three decades of service at Darlington Hall, spending a day on a country drive, embarks as well on a journey through the past in an effort to reassure himself that he has served humanity by serving the "great gentleman," Lord Darlington. But lurking in his memory are doubts about the true nature of Lord Darlington''s "greatness," and much graver doubts about the nature of his own life.

Éste es el primer libro de relatos del autor, reúne cinco historias que pueden leerse como estudios y variaciones sobre unos cuantos temas o como todo un concierto. En «El cantante melódico», un guitarrista de oficio reconoce a un vocalista americano y juntos aprenden una lección sobre el distinto valor del pasado. En «Come Rain or Come Shine», un maniaco-depresivo es humillado en casa de una pareja de antiguos progres que han pasado a la fase yuppie. El músico de «Malvern Hills» columbra su mediocridad cuando prepara un álbum a la sombra de John Elgar. En «Nocturno», un saxofonista conoce a una vieja artista de variedades. En «Violonchelistas», un joven prodigio del chelo encuentra a una mujer misteriosa que le ayuda a perfeccionar su técnica. Las cinco barajan elementos que son habituales en el autor: la confrontación de las promesas de la juventud y los desengaños del tiempo, el misterio del otro, los finales ambiguos y sin catarsis. Y la música, íntimamente relacionada con la vida y obra del autor. «Otro brillante libro de Kazuo Ishiguro» (Frank Kermode, London Review of Books); «Obras maestras intemporales, traducidas a más de cuarenta idiomas» (Alexandre Fillon, Lire).

Nineteen interviews conducted over the past two decades on both sides of the Atlantic and beyond with the author of the Booker Prize-winning The Remains of the Day

Ryder, un famoso pianista, llega a una ciudad de provincias en algún lugar de Europa central. Sus habitantes adoran la música y creen haber descubierto que quienes antes satisfacían esta pasión eran impostores. Ryder es recibido como el salvador y en un concierto apoteósico, para el que todos se están preparando, deberá reconducirlos por el camino del arte y la verdad. Pero el pianista descubrirá muy pronto que de un salvador siempre se espera mucho más de lo que puede dar y que los habitantes de aquella ciudad esconden oscuras culpas, antiguas heridas jamás cerradas, y también demandas insaciables. "Los inconsolables" es una obra inclasificable, enigmática, de un discurrir fascinante, colmada de pequeñas narraciones que se adentran en el laberinto de la narración principal, en una escritura onírica y naturalista a un tiempo, y cuentan una historia de guerras del pasado, exilios y crueldades, relaciones imposibles entre padres e hijos, maridos y mujeres, ciudades y artistas. Una obra que ha hecho evocar "El hombre sin atributos" de Musil.

Kath, Ruth et Tommy ont été élèves à Hailsham dans les années quatre-vingt-dix ; une école idyllique, nichée dans la campagne anglaise, où les enfants étaient protégés du monde extérieur et élevés dans l''idée qu''ils étaient des êtres à part, que leur bien-être personnel était essentiel, non seulement pour eux-mêmes, mais pour la société dans laquelle ils entreraient un jour. Mais pour quelles raisons les avait-on réunis là? Bien des années plus tard, Kath s''autorise enfin à céder aux appels de la mémoire et tente de trouver un sens à leur passé commun. Avec Ruth et Tommy, elle prend peu à peu conscience que leur enfance apparemment heureuse n''a cessé de les hanter, au point de frelater leurs vies d''adultes.

Kathy, Tommy e Ruth são clones criados para doar órgãos. Tendo esse cenário de ficção científica por pano de fundo, e o triângulo amoroso como gancho, o ganhador do prêmio Nobel de Literatura de 2017 fala de perda, de solidão e da sensação que às vezes temos de já ser "tarde demais". Eleito um dos melhores livros do século XXI pelo The New York Times. Kathy H. tem 31 anos e está prestes a encerrar sua carreira de "cuidadora". Enquanto isso, ela relembra o tempo que passou em Hailsham, um internato inglês que dá grande ênfase às atividades artísticas e conta, entre várias outras amenidades, com bosques, um lago povoado de marrecos, uma horta e gramados impecavelmente aparados. No entanto, esse internato idílico esconde uma terrível verdade: todos os "alunos" de Hailsham são clones, produzidos com a única finalidade de servir de peças de reposição. Assim que atingirem a idade adulta, e depois de cumprido um período como cuidadores, todos terão o mesmo destino - doar seus órgãos até "concluir". Embora à primeira vista pareça pertencer ao terreno da ficção científica, o livro de Ishiguro lança mão desses "doadores", em tudo e por tudo idênticos a nós, para falar da existência. Pela voz ingênua e contida de Kathy, somos conduzidos até o terreno pantanoso da solidão e da desilusão onde, vez por outra, nos sentimos prestes a atolar. Finalista do Man Booker Prize 2005.

NOBEL PRIZE WINNER • From the acclaimed, bestselling author of The Remains of the Day comes “a Gothic tour de force" (The New York Times) with an extraordinary twist—a moving, suspenseful, beautifully atmospheric modern classic. One of The New York Times’s 10 Best Books of the 21st Century • A Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction Book of the Century • A Los Angeles Times Best Fiction Book of the Last 30 Years As children, Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy were students at Hailsham, an exclusive boarding school secluded in the English countryside. It was a place of mercurial cliques and mysterious rules where teachers were constantly reminding their charges of how special they were. Now, years later, Kathy is a young woman. Ruth and Tommy have reentered her life. And for the first time she is beginning to look back at their shared past and understand just what it is that makes them special—and how that gift will shape the rest of their time together.

A masterful novel from one of the most admired writers of our time. Christopher Banks, an English boy born in early-20th-century Shanghai, is orphaned at age nine when both his mother and father disappear under suspicious circumstances. He grows up to become a renowned detective, and more than 20 years later, returns to Shanghai to solve the mystery of the disappearances. Within the layers of the narrative told in Christopher''s precise, slightly detached voice are revealed what he can''t, or wont, see: that the simplest desires—a child''s for his parents, a man''s for understanding—may give rise to the most complicated truths. A feat of narrative skill and soaring imagination, When We Were Orphans is Kazuo Ishiguro at his brilliant best. Performed by John Lee

Après le suicide de sa fille aînée, Etsuko, une Japonaise installée en Angleterre, se replonge dans les souvenirs de sa vie. Peut-être l''explication du drame demeure t-elle enfouie dans ce Japon des années cinquante qui se relevait des plaies de la guerre et du traumatisme de la bombe... Roman fort dont on ne sort pas indemne, Lumière pâle sur les collines possède un rare pouvoir d''envoûtement.

From the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature and author of the Booker Prize–winning novel The Remains of the Day comes this stunning work of soaring imagination. Born in early twentieth-century Shanghai, Banks was orphaned at the age of nine after the separate disappearances of his parents. Now, more than twenty years later, he is a celebrated figure in London society; yet the investigative expertise that has garnered him fame has done little to illuminate the circumstances of his parents'' alleged kidnappings. Banks travels to the seething, labyrinthine city of his memory in hopes of solving the mystery of his own painful past, only to find that war is ravaging Shanghai beyond recognition—and that his own recollections are proving as difficult to trust as the people around him. Masterful, suspenseful and psychologically acute, When We Were Orphans offers a profound meditation on the shifting quality of memory, and the possibility of avenging one’s past.

The fifth novel "When We Were Orphans" by the Japanese Nobel Prize-winning British writer Kazuo Ishiguro throws the harsh reality of Shanghai occupied by Japanese forces on the eve of World War II. Shanghai is also the childhood city of Christopher Banks, where both of his parents have disappeared: a mother who openly criticized the devastating British opium business in China, and a father who worked for a large opium business. In 1937, the detective returns to Shanghai to begin the search for missing parents. As is often the case with Ishiguro, the reader soon notices that Banks is not a very reliable narrator - the boundaries between the chaos in his inner world and the confusion around him tend to blur. The protagonist arrives at a painful end in Shanghai''s burning poor quarters, which are more like a nightmare. One of the pervasive themes of Ishiguro''s work is the secrets cut out of life or buried deep in life, brought to light by accidental yet inevitable contact with the pain points of another life. From an aerial point of view, the novel is reminiscent of a safe classic crime novel, while at the same time suggesting the irony and bitterness lurking beneath the surface.

Mr. Stevens er en rigtig engelsk butler, pedantisk og uden sans for demokratiske omgangsformer, men han mindes med stolthed årene før krigen, da "Darlington Hall" var samlingssted for tidens store ånder.

From the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature and author of the Booker Prize–winning novel The Remains of the Day Here is the story of Etsuko, a Japanese woman now living alone in England, dwelling on the recent suicide of her daughter. In a novel where past and present confuse, she relives scenes of Japan''s devastation in the wake of World War II.

La Segunda Guerra Mundial ha terminado y Japón comienza a levantarse de entre sus cenizas. En los meses que van desde octubre de 1948 a junio de 1950 —el tiempo que media entre el comienzo de las negociaciones para casar a una hija y el matrimonio—, Masuji Ono, un anciano pintor, recuerda su vida y reflexiona sobre su carrera artística, en un intento por comprender una realidad cada día más ajena. «No sé de ningún colega que pintara su autorretrato con absoluta honestidad», declara Ono, y la pintura que va trazando de sí mismo y de su época es una versión susceptible de múltiples y contradictorias interpretaciones, una trama compleja de instantes perfectos y decisiones erróneas, de heroísmos y traiciones. Los triunfos del pasado de Ono quizá son ahora —como insinúan sus hijas, que esconden sus cuadros— aquello de lo que debería avergonzarse. Ono eligió abandonar las tradiciones pictóricas de sus maestros, los pintores del mundo flotante de los barrios de placer, donde las cosas más bellas se construyen en la noche y se desvanecen en la mañana, para dedicarse a loar un presente más heroico y menos fugaz. Y ahora, el imperio militar que pintó no es más que otro mundo flotante, desvanecido para siempre en la mañana del Japón «democrático» de la posguerra...

From the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature and author of the Booker Prize–winning novel The Remains of the Day In the face of the misery in his homeland, the artist Masuji Ono was unwilling to devote his art solely to the celebration of physical beauty. Instead, he put his work in the service of the imperialist movement that led Japan into World War II. Now, as the mature Ono struggles through the aftermath of that war, his memories of his youth and of the "floating world"—the nocturnal world of pleasure, entertainment, and drink—offer him both escape and redemption, even as they punish him for betraying his early promise. Indicted by society for its defeat and reviled for his past aesthetics, he relives the passage through his personal history that makes him both a hero and a coward but, above all, a human being.