Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall (original 2009; edition 2009)

Fairly light by Ishiguro standards, but still has that appealing narrative flavor. These stories definitely don't rank with Remains or Never Let You Go, but were entertaining enough. ( )

I read this short story collection after completing his two very popular novels, Never Let Me Go, and Remains of the Day. Like other readers, I had high hopes. His novels looked at broad social themes--like the unswerving loyalty of British help in the early twentieth century, our own dehumanization of people for the sake of medical care for the majority (a utilitarianism gone awry, perhaps? an allusion to stem cell research, or just a concern about the future?)--and personalize them. You live through these sweeping movements through the lives of individual characters, and so you're touched. It's like a fictionalized version of Anne Frank's diary.

I will acknowledge that these stories fell a little bit flat in comparison to what his novels accomplished--but that's not to say they aren't good. Ishiguro has set high standards for himself. Of particular interest is the story, "Cellists," which explores the relationship between a budding talent and a never-was--a woman whose talent was too great to instantiate in reality, who, in her forties, was still waiting for the right instructor to tease out her talent without damaging it. This is a story I still come back to months later when my mind wanders. ( )

I've loved the two Ishiguro novels that I've read (Never Let Me Go, The Remains of the Day), so I had high hopes for this collection of short stories. Unfortunately, this is not the author at his best. A few of the stories are narrated by Americans, and the voices seem stilted. The best story, "Come Rain or Come Shine", is about a man living abroad visiting old college friends in London who's marriage is on the rocks. This story is funny and sensitive and the contrast between the way the narrator views himself and the way his friends view him keeps things interesting. ( )

Short collection of soothing and beguiling tales, lightly themed around some musical aspect, but connected more by the humble to diffident voice of each of their first person narrator characters. All interesting, none momentous. Pleasing and easy to read, a few funny scenarios, one at least hilarious. In keeping with the tentative tone, each story is set up neatly then broken off unresolved - left hanging in the air or resonating perhaps like a memorable musical phrase. ( )

I've never read anything by Ishiguro, so all the gushing on LT was making me feel a bit guilty. I thought I'd start with this collection of short stories--which may have been a mistake. It's what I'd call a "concept" collection, and the concept really didn't engage me. Each of the five stories centers on a musician: a young emigré cellist from a former Soviet bloc country, a once-great crooner, an itinerant guitar player, musicians whose dreams of glory have faded into part-time gigs in Venetian cafés. On the whole, I just didn't care about them, their often extreme efforts to get ahead, and their somewhat seedy, down-and-out lives. The writing was OK, but not as glorious as I had come to expect. I am underwhelmed. But I'll give Ishiguro another chance down the road. ( )