A Pale View of Hills

Hardcover, 183 pages

English language

Published Jan. 7, 1982 by Faber and Faber.

ISBN:
978-0-571-11866-3
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2 stars (1 review)

In his highly acclaimed debut, A Pale View of Hills, Kazuo Ishiguro tells the story of Etsuko, a Japanese woman now living alone in England, dwelling on the recent suicide of her daughter. Retreating into the past, she finds herself reliving one particular hot summer in Nagasaki, when she and her friends struggled to rebuild their lives after the war. But then as she recalls her strange friendship with Sachiko - a wealthy woman reduced to vagrancy - the memories take on a disturbing cast.

9 editions

Too subtle for me by far

2 stars

The second Kazuo Ishiguro book I've read, and had it been my first it would also have been my last. I found the story lacking and the dialogue irrelevant and banal. The characters felt flat and affectless. There was just nothing here for me. Apparently a book too subtle for me to enjoy.

The biggest surprise about it was how much I disliked it after really enjoying Never Let Me Go.