Kazuo Ishiguro is a popular English writer of Japanese descent today. It was at the junction of two cultures, eastern and western, that this author was formed, who today is rightly considered one of the strongest prose writers of our time.
Emigration to England
Kazuo Ishiguro was born in Nagasaki in 1954. Japan was then in crisis. More recently, the Second World War was lost, the economy, like many other areas of life, was in decline. Kazuo's father was an oceanographer by profession, a promising scientist. Therefore, at the first opportunity, he decided to emigrate to England.
In 1960, the Isiguro family moved to Guildford - a city in the south of England, the administrative center of Surrey, with a population of 125,000 thousand. Kazuo's father goes to work at the Institute of Oceanography, and the young Japanese goes to study at the first level school. Having received secondary education, Kazuo Ishiguro takes academic leave and goes to see the world. During the year he travels to Canada and America. Dreams of becoming a musician. And even records a few records, but the producers leave them unattended. Therefore, returning to his homeland, he enters a university in Kent, where he actively studies English and philosophy. In 1982, Kazuo became a British citizen.
Writer career
The first publications of Ishiguro appeared in 1981. He began with stories. Already in 1983, Kazuo was publishing his first novel, entitled "Where the Hills Are in a Haze." This work is deeply connected with its historical homeland. The main character is an elderly Japanese woman living in England. She is very upset that her daughter committed suicide. After this tragedy, memories of the horrors that occurred in Nagasaki during the war — a nuclear strike, complete devastation and the difficult restoration of the city from ruins — begin to haunt her. For this novel, Ishiguro was awarded a grant as the best young British writer.
His next novel is “The Artist of the Unstable World”. He tells about the attitude of the Japanese to World War II today. The protagonist at one time was a zealous supporter of the government. Today, when his ideas and ideals have crashed, it is not easy for him to find his place in life. The novel became the book of the year in the UK.
Classic British Butler
An exemplary servant in an aristocratic house becomes the protagonist of the next, most famous novel by Kazuo Ishiguro - "At the End of the Day." In 1993, the film of the same name was released, the main role in it was played by Anthony Hopkins. An elderly British butler, James Stevens, recalls his work with Lord Darlington in the 1930s. He was a prominent British diplomat, negotiated with various foreign representatives and even supported the Nazis, for which he subsequently paid seriously. Stevens doesn't care. He believes that he has no right to privacy, and is completely devoted to his lord. By the end of life, such an idea of the world will be dispelled. He is trying to change something, for example, to establish relations with the housekeeper Miss Kenton, who had feelings for him 20 years ago. But it's' too late.
Works in the 1990s and 2000s
In 1995, Kazuo Ishiguro published his most complicated novel in structure and style. Books are published under the heading "inconsolable." It more closely resembles a collection of short stories, united only by mood and general musical and literary allusions. In 2000, he wrote the novel "When We Were Orphans," the action of which was transferred to Shanghai at the beginning of the 20th century. Ishiguro returns to his crown reception - memories of the past. The protagonist is a private detective who is investigating the mysterious disappearance of his own parents 20 years ago.
His 2005 novel "Without Letting Me Go" was again successfully filmed. The film of the same name about clone children who are raised in alternative England to receive donor organs received several awards at prestigious film festivals. For the novel itself, Ishiguro was awarded the Booker Prize. Time magazine included him in the list of 100 best British novels of all time.
Last novel
Most recently, the last novel to date was released - The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro. This is a very mysterious and unusual work. This time, the author places his heroes in medieval England. These are the years of the Saxon war against the British. In those days, the Khmir, according to the author, enveloped the earth, forcing every hour that had just been forgotten. In the center of the story is an elderly couple of Beatrice and Axel. They leave their native village and embark on a difficult and dangerous journey with one goal - to find their son, who disappeared without a trace many years ago. Their wanderings are the main outline of the novel.
"The Buried Giant" Kazuo Ishiguro is a masterfully told story about the features of our memory, the human ability to forget all the most terrible and unpleasant. At the same time, this is a novel about love, human forgiveness, war, fear, revenge. But still, his main characters are people. People who, in spite of everything, most often remain lonely.