Book Review: Kazuo Ishiguro- A Pale View of Hills

This debut novel from Kazuo Ishiguro ruminates on the unreliability of memory, love, friendship and generational trauma. Skipping between past and present, Etsuko, the narrator, attempts to reconcile both as she weaves a complex story of life in the UK and her past in post-war Japan. But it seems that history casts a long shadow.

The dialogue, which drives the storyline, is stilted and awkward, but with good cause. Ishiguro is interested in the gaps in meaming, in what his characters can only imply. Such a device is at once effective and frustrating – the reader has to interpret what is lurking beneath the surface. Sachiko, Etsuko’s friend, who has fallen on hard times, is another character whose words must be decoded.

The trauma of war and neglect of self is delicately tackled by Ishiguro, with the cultural gap between East and West duked out by family members. As this story unfurls, it’s like a riddle which can be slowly solved. But it’s what remains unresolved in Ishiguro ‘s poignant, knotty prose that is most haunting. It still resonates after thirty years.