A truly delightful story. Imagine sipping a cool lager on a sunny afternoon or slipping away on a cloud of your dreams. Japanese storytelling is written in a clear and direct language, so easy to follow and engage with. Locations often range from the atmosphere of cocktail bars to the sleepy world of jazz music. Nocturnes by the wonderful Kazuo Ishiguro has as its theme love and music from the sights and sounds of an always romantic Venice to the picturesque quintessentially English Malvern Hills. It comprises 4 stories, loosely connected, cleverley presented, lovingly told….Highly, highly recommended.

   

Yey!  I wasn't totally enamored with The Buried Giant and Nocturnes (and I've yet to read The Unconsoled and An Artist of the Floating World), but I'm a fan of his on the basis of Never Let Me Go, The Remains of the Day, and When We Were Orphans alone.

 

Congratulations, Mr. Ishiguro!

I think if you look at my ratings on Goodreads you'll see that I'm much more sympathetic to short story collections. A good short story collection often shows an author's commitment to craft. You can see how much care the author takes with every word, you can get a sense of his or her range when dealing with subject matter and characters. You can get a sense of how their style carries from one kind of story to another.

 

There is another reason -- there is very little money in short stories, even for established writers. Thus, writers write short stories "for the love of the game".

 

For the most part, the stories in this collection share a kind of tonal consistency. Each story tells a tale of disappointment, subtle loss, memory, and the way we look foolish in pursuit of a dream. All the stories share musical elements and songs. Various songs and melodies tie these stories together. But this short story collection could also have been about the travails of writers and writing.

 

The story "Come Rain or Come Shine" stuck out for me as a bit awkward. It wasn't poorly written. It featured compelling characters and fantastic dialogue. However, because the short story takes place in a single space and is mostly dialogue, I felt that the story would have been better as a one-act play. (In some ways, it reminded me of the low-budget, but clever movie "Tape" with Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman). The story also features an absurd scene that doesn't quite work prose fiction but might have seemed less absurd and entertaining as a piece of theater physical comedy. You'll know the scene as soon as you read it.

 

There are some compelling reasons to stay away from these stories. One -- the emotional journies in these stories are subtle. There is rising action and things do happen, but by the end of the story, you often get the impression that the things that were left unsaid and that didn't happen were just as important. As a writer, I love these stories. I also appreciate how hard they are to pull off. Also -- the endings are not traditional endings. They may even feel like non-endings to some readers.

 

If you are a writer, there is also a compelling reason to read this book. A close reading of these stories will help you master your craft. In particular, these stories will help you master the craft of dialogue, character, and how to use compelling details.

 

Happy readings!

Hmmm...A Tale As Old As Me

I borrowed an electronic version from the library.

I've heard so many fantastic things about this series that I just had to try it out. I've read other of Gaiman's work but I'm not an invested fangirl by any means.

The foreword and afterwords were extremely helpful for context and understanding. I'm such a noob when it comes to comics. I've never read a comic as old as me.

I wasn't a fan of the art style, it does repulse and disgust as the story requires. That portion hasn't aged well IMHO.

As I was about the shrug the series off as historically important but not for my reading enjoyment, I was suddenly hooked.

Then it was an edge of my seat, heart racing intriguing tale. Now I'm looking forward to suffering through the gross art for what happens next.

He has finally escaped his imprisonment and now he needs to find his tools but who has them? He is the King of Dreams and without his tools, he is weak and powerless. In his weaken stage, he starts to gather what was once his so he can reign once again, in the world of dreams. I have to admit it took me a while to capture what was actually happening in this novel for I was lost by the chain of events and by the individuals in the panels. Why the events were happening and how these individuals were related are just a few of the questions that still puzzle my mind today, but knowing that this is a series, perhaps in the future, I will gain answers.

 

As a recent Neil Gaiman fan, I received this graphic novel from my son for Christmas. It was a surprise as I hadn’t come across this one yet. On a happy note, my library carries many of the next editions of this series, so I can borrow them. In this novel, I enjoyed all the references to music that were scattered throughout the text. Symbolic to the events transpiring on the page, there was music playing on the jukebox, characters singing or thinking about a specific tune. This novel was not tame, there were parts of this novel that many might find disgusting but I appreciate a good horror novel so I enjoyed these startling, dark illustrations with the disturbing characters with their fantastic facial expressions. Printed on glossy paper, the bright illustrations told the story of a King who was determined to get his power back. What will the King of Dreams accomplish when he has all his tools back, I have no idea but that is another question that I pondered? I wondered also if he is mad at the individual(s) who trapped him or if he is mad at his brother who was supposed to be the one trapped? Will he retaliate for all the years that he lost? There are so many questions that I have. I know that I am not a great reader of graphic novels as I feel that I am extremely slow. I feel as if I am analyzing each frame, afraid that I am missing something, perhaps a clue, before I continue on to the next frame. I picked up book two of this series today at the library, I hope there are some answers inside it and not more questions. Neil, give me some answers!