A Pale View of Hills

De: Kazuo Ishiguro

Narrado por: Roe Kendall

The story of Etsuko, a Japanese woman now living alone in England, dwelling on the recent suicide of her daughter. In a story where past and present confuse, she relives scenes of Japan's devastation in the wake of World War II.

©1982 Kazuo Ishiguro (P)1999 Random House Audio

A Rich Tapestry....

Ishiguro delicately weaves a story with present tense narrative and flashbacks, bringing the grief of a suicide alongside the ravages of WWII. A great addition to Japanese literature.

Hmmmm

Very engaging novel. Etsuko is an unreliable narrator but she’s interesting. I read this for a book challenge; published the year you were born (1982). The plot was strange and didn’t flow well, the ending was strange for sure.

The Mother's description of the past and present. Coming to my own conclusion about the story.

The narrator was very good. I was drawn in immediately and the story kept my attention the entire time. I could feel her concern and love for her friend and her friend's daughter, and I had to know more about what happened to her daughter.

Moments of shocking possibilities in tedious read

I wanted to love this early novel of our latest winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. I can see that the writing is extraordinary. The various interpretations seem brilliant. Unfortunately, however, I struggled with boredom during long sequences, particularly those having to do with Agata-San. It's possible that the unpleasant voice used by the narrator for this one character was a factor. Otherwise, I thought her performance was excellent.

Great narrator but boring plot

I loved the performance / voice of the woman who narrates this, however I found the plot altogether boring compared to Ishiguro’s other works

Delicate prose - intense book

Any additional comments?

This is not the type of book that can generate a juicy recommendation.

The prose in this book is very delicate, never mentioning the tragedie in Nagasaki directly.
The protagonist in this story (who is also the narrator) doesn't relate to her own experience directly, but only as a listener to her family at the time, and by watching a close friends attempt to move to 'America'.
Layer by Layer, it creats an intense picture.
The author (through this story) carefully tells a story about the old Japanese way, which trigered a lot of emotions in me. (as a non Japenese reader) and another emotional stroy about parental choices.

The narrator did a very good job.

Interesting

Very interesting story. Author seems to be playing with Japanese ghost story genre. Unlike western literature where the story lines are usually linear, this story line is circular.

Life goes on until it doesn't

The actions and beliefs of the major protagonist involves a distorted framework highlighted by abandonment and repression. Her plight is foretold during the tale, as she lacks insight and ego strengths as a young adult. This is evidenced by her distancing herself from the repulsive and dangerous acts of her friend, who manifests marginal judgement, commits antisocial acts all the while maintaining great hubris, devoid of psychological insight, and an overall unconcern for her daughter's well being., All this despite the manifest declarations to the contrary. The central theme is not just repression, but a more complex mix of emotional control that involves shielding and containing emotions from entering a conscious realm, which sacrifices their humanity in the process. This is highlighted by her alignment with a character who displays increasing bankrupt, misplaced and convoluted values, She cares little for her daughter or her subsequent memory, during and after her abandonement. Their is no subsequent acknowledgement or reckoning, everything devoid of guilt or sorrow, yet this all lead to her daughter's demise in London Her memoir is purposely devoid of emotional content and casts her in the same light as her shallow, uncaring friend, Her friend's behavior toward her daughter mirrors the relationship she had with her own daughter; robotic, disengaged and nonempathetic, creating instead false and fabricated imagery and narration of her daughters.

It's not suitable for an audiobook

I often listen to audiobooks for a little before bed and I actually couldn't quite made sense of this book. Only after I checked out some literature reviews that I realized the meaning and the depth of the story. I think it would be a book I'll find time to read on the paper. Also the performance per se feels somehow awkward.

A great book

A wonderful book that I found to be developmental and maturative for a young man coming of rage such as myself. I found this book to be worthwhile and highly relatable. I further highly recommend this book.