So, just because we've got Murakami in the title, I REALLY want to cast about 10 million votes for Killing Commendatoree

His prose and style are reminiscent of Ishiguro and the story is wacky without being overblown and fantastical without being completely unbelievable.

I was so confused. I kept reading the description wondering when it was going to mention Murakami haha

oh that’s so smart ! i wanna do that as a hobby of sorts i guess but idk when i would revisit the word docs. when do you use them ?

Never Let Me Go is just phenomenal. I adore it

AMAZING writer.

I enjoyed Klara and The Sun :)

I have never seen anything about her besides hate, this question is like "Why do people love JK Rowling"

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I’m right there with you on his two masterpieces. I started but couldn’t finish The Buried Giant. I just love his themes of regret - something we can all relate to.

I loved When We Were Orphans. For me, it was the most Ishiguro of all the books of his I have read. It is his style, super-concentrated.

Reading it, at first I felt "this is a stupid and unbelievable mystery novel". Then the penny dropped.

Re the scene where the narrator is being driven around by the driver in the nice car, and they're trying to get close to where he believes is mother is being held: Have you ever watched two children playing, and one is real bossy and the other is rather passive? Suddenly, the passive child says "I'm not playing anymore!", and walks away. I felt this way about the driving scene and immediately felt this was just two insane people playing on the grounds of their insane asylum. Probably with a cardboard box standing in for the car.

Klara and the Sun was actually my intro to Ishiguro and I found it wonderful!

Did you read the post ?

This is a great post. Really insightful and comprehensive.

However I do think Klara and the Sun is worth reading especially if you love Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go. To me, they are a triptych bound together by themes of servitude, sacrifice, and identity/personhood.

By chance I finished remains of the day last night. I have to say I wasn't expecting to be so blown away when I reached the end. I also found it hard to describe the book when talking to others about it. I really enjoyed the way the book built up. The disconnect of Stevens' thoughts and insights compared to the way he lived moment to moment was really fascinating to observe.

It was my first book by Ishiguro and I'm curious to get more into the rest of his books. Thank you for the detailed list!

I just finished reading The Remains of the Day so I’m really getting a kick out of these replies.

1Q84 is the only book in the last five years I just stopped reading partway through. I found it creepy and I just could tell I wouldn’t like it, but I know several people who loved it.

Thank you so much for this descriptive post, I have been interested in reading him so this is very helpful

The Buried Giant doesn’t receive the attention it should

I think i see what youre talking about when i look it up. I didnt know they even made those. Thank You!!!

I was really disappointed by Klara. Definitely give it a miss in favour of the others

1Q84 is good place to start

I've only read the buried giant so far but really enjoyed it.

When I worked at a library we covered all the books, and it's relatively easy to do yourself I think, you would just need clear contact paper for paperbacks, I'm not sure about hardcover paper covers though, we covered them with this clear plastic thing

I'm not sure quite how to explain it without pictures but if you look up how libraries cover books you might find something

I really liked When We Were Orphans and it was only a few years later I discovered its considered his artistic nadir. The Buried Giant is the one that never did anything for me.