Definitive Ishiguro Power Ranking:
>Canonical masterpiece tier
The Unconsoled - S
>Beloved classic tier
The Remains of the Day - A+
The Buried Giant - A+
>Delightful intro tier
Cellists - A
Crooner - B
>Flawed but touching tier
Never Let Me Go - B+
>Novel experimentation tier
A Pale View of Hills - B
>Traditionally proficient tier
Artist of the Floating World - B-
>Flawed experimentation tier
When We Were Orphans - C
Nocturne - C
Come Rain or Come Shine - C-
Malvern Hills - C-
>>7889665
>The Unconsoled
>Reception[edit]
>The Unconsoled was described as a "sprawling, almost indecipherable 500-page work"[1] that "left readers and reviewers baffled".[2] It received strong negative reviews with a few positive ones. Literary critic James Wood said that the novel had "invented its own category of badness". However, a 2006 poll of various literary critics voted the novel as the third "best British, Irish, or Commonwealth novel from 1980 to 2005",[3] tied with Anthony Burgess's Earthly Powers, Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children, Ian McEwan's Atonement, and Penelope Fitzgerald's The Blue Flower. John Carey, book critic for the Sunday Times, also placed the novel on his list of the 20th century's 50 most enjoyable books, later published as Pure Pleasure: A Guide to the Twentieth Century's Most Enjoyable Books.
>>7889786
yea i don't think people really "got" the unconsoled when it first released. critical attitude towards the book has been trending consistently upwards since then however.
>>7889786
James Wood fuckin sucks. I'm not sure if I agree with the assessment that The Unconsoled is his masterpiece (The Remains of the Day is unparalleled imo) but it is far more interesting than critics at the time made it out to be.
Check out Ishiguro answering a question about The Unconsoled https://youtu.be/Wg88dMl2d6s?t=52m43s from when he was doing interviews for The Buried Giant
>>7889901
timestamp for unconsoled?
>>7889911
52:43
>>7889901
what a fucking incoherent rambling question. i love those guys who use an occasion like to this to ask 'hi mr author, i think all this fucking bullshit blah blah blah, right?'
>>7889665
Good list but lower every book one whole grade
>>7889962
Why the hate senpai? Ishiguro is great.
>>7889956
Totally fair but the answer Ish gives is great so I'm glad he asked it, however poorly.
After years of Ishiguroposting, I'm finally starting to see Ishiguro threads started by other people.
My work here is done, my spirit can finally go on to the next life.
>>7890128
well done, it's all thanks to you
>>7889665
Haven't read anything of him yet. Is it wise to start with The Unconsoled?
>>7890141
sure, go for it
>>7890128
I was long a fan but didn't post about him because it didn't seem like anyone else did...but then you came along. Thanks Ishigurofriend.
>>7890207
holy shit this easing yourself into everything attitude is fucking retarded if you're a literate adult. just read the shit you're interested in and stop trying to gradually work up to everything in baby steps
>>7890214
t. someone who hasn't read ulysses, nor the unconsoled
Recommended reading order:
Remains of the Day -> Never Let me Go -> The Unconsoled -> The Buried Giant
Others are all strictly optional and can be inserted at will/leisure. I personally recommend A Pale View of Hills after the main sequence and going from there.
If you disliked the Remains of the Day and still want to try more Ishiguro, skip to The Buried Giant. If you still don't like him then Ishiguro is probably just not for you.
>>7890230
I definitely agree with starting with Remains. It's the most accessible IMO (not that any of his work is particularly inaccessible) and is a bit lighter and funnier than most of his other works, I know if I had started with A Pale View of Hills I might've been discouraged from continuing.
>>7890292
Good!
I had it assigned as reading in a uni course and put it off until the day before I had to write an analysis of it, I wished I had read it right away. It's hands down one of the funniest books I've ever read, while still having a serious theme and message.
>>7890304
Remains is, I firmly believe, one of the funniest novels ever written, which is incredible because it's also one of the saddest.
>>7890813
the unconsoled similarly manages to be very funny while portraying something that is at the very least unsettling.
>>7891285
Oh definitely, but The Unconsoled is closer to what you might usually call a "comic novel." If you described it to someone they'd get why it was kinda funny. The Remains of the Day on paper is just a stark character study but it's fucking hilarious.
Bump for ishiguroposting
