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Nocturnes

NocturnesFive Stories of Music and Nightfall

Written by

Kazuo Ishiguro

Narrated by

Simon Vance

, 

Lincoln Hoppe

, 

Kirby Heyborne

, 

Mark Bramhall

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Avg: 4.0 (2 ratings)

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Audiobook Download Information

Edition:
Unabridged (Random House Audio)
Length:
6 hours, 39 minutes
File Size:
183 MB (6 files)
Published:
September 2009

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Review by Alice Gregory, eMusic

Ishiguro turns his finely tuned ear to the theme of music — sweet harmony ensues Known for his indelible and finely drawn characters — a British butler (The Remains of the Day), a cloned organ donor (Never Let Me Go), an aging painter (An Artist of the Floating World) — Kazou Ishiguro makes his first published stab at short fiction with Nocturnes, and like much of his past work, Nocturnes is narrated in the first person — or, in this case, first persons. Here we have a withered American singer; an expatriate E.F.L. professor; a disillusioned young guitarist; a saxophonist recovering from plastic surgery; and a mesmerizing imposter of a cellist. These narrators are all at once nostalgic and alarmingly candid; Ishiguro's talent for pitch-perfect vernacular becomes especially harmonious when applied to the theme of music.

Each of the five thematically-linked stories, as the subtitle suggests, focuses on "music and nightfall." Appropriately, the stories are arranged to allow for an especially euphonic reading: characters reappear, locations are revisited, motifs are cyclical. Every story has a cadence and rhythm that exposes the inevitable disappointment so often stoked by musical aspiration and idealism. Though the short story is a divergence in form for Ishiguro, each thematic iteration feels decidedly his own.

Quotes from the Critics

"Over the years Ishiguro has come to seem the most consistent writer of his generation: consistent in his formal choices, and consistent too in the quality of his work....He has a complete mastery of a particular kind of narrative structure, in which we move always towards anticlimax." - Times Literary Supplement

"Questions of identity, artistic integrity, and success shape each of the five meshed stories in this droll and enrapturing collection. Each tale of musicians, muses, and users is funny and incisive; each is a fable about the dream of mastery and the nightmare of pragmatism; and each dramatic story line delivers arresting psychological transformations." (starred review) - Booklist Upfront

"Characters in contemporary fiction often suffer from Multiple Epiphany Disorder. Part of what makes Ishiguro so refreshing is that he leaves the epiphanies to the reader. We emerge feeling as if we have grasped insights that elude the characters, as if we have glimpsed the shapes of their lives and perhaps something significant about life itself." - Los Angeles Times

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