ABSTRACT
This book examines the literary career of Kazuo Ishiguro, who is generally considered to be one of the finest writers working today. Part 1 provides a survey of the pertinent familial, historical and social context. It links these details to a general account of the trajectory of Ishiguro’s work and authorial reception. Part 2 provides convenient synopses of the novels as well as detailed, closely referenced accounts of their salient features and concerns. A review of Ishiguro’s short story and screenplay work is given in the final subsection, ‘Other creative works’. Part 3 offers an account of the main trends in the critical reception of Ishiguro’s writing. It identifies a number of clearly defined areas: Ishiguro’s style and narrative theory; Ishiguro, multicultural Britain and postcolonial studies; Ishiguro and psychoanalytic criticism; Ishiguro as an international writer, and other readings. The major readings in each area are reviewed with the aim of providing a state-of-the-field survey of the major directions in Ishiguro criticism. A final sub-section, ‘Film adaptation’, provides in addition a review of the reception given to the 1993 film adaptation of The Remains of the Day. This sub-section complements Part 2, ‘Other creative works’ by venturing beyond the usual novel-centred discussion of Ishiguro’s work. Throughout the volume, cross-reference is made between different sections and sub-sections so that readers can get a sense of the multiple links between texts, contexts and analysis. This Routledge Guide to Literature volume thus provides a synopsis of Ishiguro’s life and contexts, an authoritative introduction to his oeuvre, and a comprehensive account of the principal directions in Ishiguro criticism and commentary. Read through, it is a detailed introduction to Ishiguro’s work and its recurrent thematic and stylistic concerns; alternatively, cross-references between the sections make it possible to pursue a particular line of enquiry within the book, supported by an extensive bibliography.
