Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Nocturnes

Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro

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This is a relatively short, short collection by Kazuo Ishiguro, that was published in 2009. I think this is his only collection, and perhaps he never really wrote short stories otherwise. The stories are linked thematically, but in some cases with overlapping elements. The thematic elements appear in the title and subtitle: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall, and a nocturne is a song related to or inspired by night. Oddly though, I would say not all of these stories are about night? Anyway, the […]

Klara and the Sun

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

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DNF at 15 percent. I tried you guys. I tried so hard. But after sitting in the house and watching the snowflakes on Sunday, I just had to give this one up at 15 percent. I know I should be enthralled by this, but I was so bored, and kept getting distracted. I feel like I should be tossed in book jail for not finishing this one and not enjoying it. “Klara and the Sun” follows an artificial intelligence (Klara) who is an Artificial Friend. […]

With Artificial Friends Like These

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

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Kazuo Ishiguro doesn’t make things easy for himself. At least in the books of his that I’ve read, he seems determined to burden himself with the most limited narrator through which to tell his stories. Of course, that also creates a lot of work for the reader, who has to piece together what’s really going on from just the scraps given to them by the narrator’s perspective. The title character of Klara and the Sun, Ishiguro’s eighth and newest novel, is an Artificial Friend (“AF” […]

Perhaps all humans are lonely. At least potentially.

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

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CBR13 BINGO: Book Club (Obama’s Summer Reading List 2021 & Good Morning America’s Book Club) Ishiguro writes the kind of books that you can’t discuss too much without giving away the plot. In the most simple synopsis: Klara is an artificially intelligent robot that can be purchased to be a child’s bff. Initially showcased in a storefront window, she is soon supplanted by newer models and relegated to lesser and lesser positions in the store. While languishing in a shady corner in the back of […]

We need a science fiction equivalent to high/low fantasy

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

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I’ve long thought that a story following the normal life of someone during a really pivotal time in history would be quite interesting. I’ve absolutely adored Derry Girls’ approach of regular people living a regular life while mayhem is sort of sprinkled into their lives. Never Let Me Go is an altogether different take on the idea, the softest touch of science fiction. Plot: Ruth, Tommy and Kathy are students at a British prep school. What are they being prepped for? Not anything we expect […]

Master class on subtlety

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

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CBRBingo: White Whale My local book club is reading classics this year, and this was our April selection.  I had seen the movie with Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson back in the 90s, but had never read the book, even though I had it in my huge Unread folder on my Kindle. This book is a master class on subtlety, the story of a man who inhabits a role that is increasingly out of place in his world.  A butler, son of a butler, he […]



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