A Pale View of Hills
Kazuo Ishiguro’s first novel. What really enticed me about this was the feeling of anticipation of something serious about to happen throughout the story was amazing. In the end however, nothing special happened. Ishiguro is known for his two novels turned into films: “Never let me go” and “The Remains of the day” which won the Man Booker prize. For his first book, this seemed like an experiment he conducted to observe how people would react because it felt like he was holding something back. I really liked the slow pacing since it fit the theme perfectly. There were the occasional moments of “suspense” which were sketched out vaguely. At the end, it left me a little confused because I thought he would clear up a few doubts towards the end like what became of Mariko and her Mom? I would assume that Frank took them to America (though I have a little doubt in mind). Also, who is Etsuko’s second husband? Shigeo Matsuda? What happened of Ogata-san? As you can see, the book left a lot of loose ends. I wish Ishiguro would have answered these doubts but nevertheless the story left a good impression on me.