Minha noite no século vinte e outros pequenos avanços

by Kazuo Ishiguro, Antônio Xerxenesky (translator)

Em seu discurso proferido na Academia Sueca, Kazuo Ishiguro transmite uma poderosa mensagem de respeito às diferenças ao percorrer a própria história e, com ela, a do século XX.

No dia 7 de dezembro de 2017, Kazuo Ishiguro recebeu da Academia Sueca o prêmio Nobel, distinção máxima da literatura. Em seu discurso, o escritor inglês nascido no Japão esmiúça a própria história e, com ela, a do século XX, numa mensagem tocante que termina em apelo às novas gerações.
Ao revelar o impacto que a leitura de Em busca do tempo perdido teve em sua formação, Ishiguro assume o recurso de Proust como princípio compositivo de seu discurso e coloca lado a lado memórias distantes e eventos recentes, numa colagem em que as semelhanças abolem fronteiras de tempo, espaço e linguagem e fazem transparecer uma brilhante síntese do projeto literário do autor.
É assim que o escritor revela, sempre com a mesma despretensão pela qual ficou conhecido, como uma canção de Tom Waits influenciou a criação de uma das personagens de seu primoroso romance Os vestígios do dia. Com a disponibilidade de espírito das grandes mentes, Ishiguro encontra inspiração em formas mundanas como a comédia americana Século XX, de Howard Hawks, por meio da qual se dá conta da importância de se dedicar ao relacionamento entre as personagens, e não a elas em particular. Foi a partir dessa percepção, prosaica em sua origem, que surgiu a ideia do triângulo amoroso de Não me abandone jamais.
Rememorando desde a relação com o Japão de sua infância e as lembranças da terra à qual levou décadas para voltar até uma visita a Auschwitz, Ishiguro destila uma poderosa reflexão sobre memória e esquecimento, sobre o dever de preservarmos o passado e a tarefa — nem sempre fácil — de seguirmos adiante e preservarmos o futuro.
Comovente afirmação dos direitos e das liberdades individuais, este discurso abre fogo contra o racismo e, numa afirmação da necessidade de expandir os limites do discurso literário para abarcar mais visões de mundo, apresenta-se como um texto de valor literário que em nada deve aos romances do autor. Sua leitura deixa claro por que ele é um dos maiores escritores do século XX.

Genres: Nonfiction, Essays, Writing, Memoir, Nobel Prize, Audiobook, Japan

62 pages, Hardcover

First published December 11, 2017

About the author

Sir Kazuo Ishiguro (カズオ・イシグロ or 石黒 一雄), OBE, FRSA, FRSL is a British novelist of Japanese origin and Nobel Laureate in Literature (2017). His family moved to England in 1960. Ishiguro obtained his Bachelor's degree from the University of Kent in 1978 and his Master's from the University of East Anglia's creative writing course in 1980. He became a British citizen in 1982. He now lives in London.

His first novel, A Pale View of Hills, won the 1982 Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize. His second novel, An Artist of the Floating World, won the 1986 Whitbread Prize. Ishiguro received the 1989 Man Booker prize for his third novel The Remains of the Day. His fourth novel, The Unconsoled, won the 1995 Cheltenham Prize. His latest novel is The Buried Giant, a New York Times bestseller. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 2017.

His novels An Artist of the Floating World (1986), When We Were Orphans (2000), and Never Let Me Go (2005) were all shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.

In 2008, The Times ranked Ishiguro 32nd on their list of "The 50 Greatest British Writers Since 1945". In 2017, the Swedish Academy awarded him the Nobel Prize in Literature, describing him in its citation as a writer "who, in novels of great emotional force, has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world".

Reviews

[Dr. Appu Sasidharan (Dasfill) · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is usual to hear protests from readers after the Nobel Prize for Literature is announced. Many people will think that their favorite author deserved to win the prize more than the winner. I must confess that I also have felt the same a couple of times.

A similar controversy arose when Ishiguro was given the Nobel prize. As an ordinary reader without much literature background, I felt he deserved it. It might be because Ishiguro is one of my favorite authors, and I am biased. But that doesn't change my opinion, and I am happy to read this book, his Nobel Lecture.

This book's specialty is one of the simplest Nobel lectures I have read or heard. He has written it like a friend talking to us about his incredible and inspiring journey.


What I learned from this book
1) What makes Kazuo Ishiguro's books special?
There are many things unique in Kazuo Ishiguro's books. His writing style, the themes and topics he chooses for his books, and the dystopian elements enmeshed with literary fiction make it a treat to read. It reminds me of my favorite author Ursula K. Le Guin.

But what makes his novels extraordinary is his courage to explore his roots during a time when no other writer was successful in doing it. It takes a lot of endurance to follow our heart even after knowing there are easier ways to achieve our target if we can compromise on our writing style.

"Today, the prevailing atmosphere is such that it's virtually an instinct for an aspiring young writer with a mixed cultural heritage to explore his "roots" in his work. But that was far from the case then. We were still a few years away from the explosion of "multicultural" literature in Britain. Salman Rushdie was an unknown with one out-of-print novel to his name. Asked to name the leading young British novelist of the day, people might have mentioned Margaret Drabble; or older writers, Iris Murdoch, Kingsley Amis, William Golding, Anthony Burgess, John Fowles. Foreigners like Gabriel García Márquez, Milan Kundera or Borges were read only in tiny numbers, their names meaningless even to keen readers."

2) How can we make a writer creative and confident?
If we look at the life history of most of the successful writers of the current world, we can see a startling resemblance. It is the appreciation they received for their first work. We can see that some of the initial creations of some of the masters of the work are nothing special. Still, their friends and family decided to support them and appreciate their work which motivated them to write more. Whatever criticism they received initially was positive, constructive criticism given in a friendly manner which made them better writers.

"It was only after considerable hesitation that I began to show the story around, and I remain to this day profoundly grateful to my fellow students, to my tutors, Malcolm Bradbury and Angela Carter, and to the novelist Paul Bailey—that year the university's writer-in-residence—for their determinedly encouraging response. Had they been less positive, I would probably never again have written about Japan. As it was, I returned to my room and wrote and wrote.”

3) What is the difference between novels and screenplays?
Ishiguro tells us the importance of having a difference between novels and screenplays and why books and movies are different

"I'd been for a time reasonably proud of my first novel, but by that spring, a niggling sense of dissatisfaction had set in. Here was the problem. My first novel and my first TV screenplay were too similar. Not in subject matter, but in method and style. The more I looked at it, the more my novel resembled a screenplay—dialogue plus directions. This was okay up to a point, but my wish now was to write fiction that could work properly only on the page. Why write a novel if it was going to offer more or less the same experience someone could get by turning on a television? How could written fiction hope to survive against the might of cinema and television if it didn't offer something unique, something the other forms couldn't do?"

4) What are 'stories' according to Kazuo Ishiguro?
The author gives a simple explanation of how the stories should be in this book.

"One person writing in a quiet room, trying to connect with another person, reading in another quiet—or maybe not so quiet —room. Stories can entertain, sometimes teach or argue a point. But for me, the essential thing is that they communicate feelings. That they appeal to what we share as human beings across our borders and divides. There are large glamorous industries around stories; the book industry, the movie industry, the television industry, the theatre industry. But in the end, stories are about one person saying to another: This is the way it feels to me. Can you understand what I'm saying? Does it also feel this way to you?"

5) What is Ishiguro's opinion about racism?
The author tells us more about the old and new versions of racism through this book.

"Racism, in its traditional forms and in its modernized, better-marketed versions, is once again on the rise, stirring beneath our civilized streets like a buried monster awakening. For the moment, we seem to lack any progressive cause to unite us. Instead, even in the wealthy democracies of the West, we're fracturing into rival camps from which to compete bitterly for resources or power."

My favourite three lines from this book

"I should say here that I have, on a number of other occasions, learned crucial lessons from the voices of singers. I refer here less to the lyrics being sung, and more to the actual singing. As we know, a human voice in song is capable of expressing an unfathomably complex blend of feelings."

"New genetic technologies—such as the gene-editing technique CRISPR—and advances in Artificial Intelligence and robotics will bring us amazing, lifesaving benefits, but may also create savage meritocracies that resemble apartheid, and massive unemployment, including to those in the current professional elites."

“Good writing and good reading will break down barriers.”

What could have been better?
This is one of those rare books where I can't point out any mistakes. This is simply perfect in every way.

Rating
5/5 If you are someone who loves literature, you should never miss the opportunity to read this small book.

[Sean Barrs · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ishiguro has written some great novels, though I really don’t think he deserved to win the Noble Prize for Literature last year.

There are so many other writers who have, objectively speaking, contributed more to the arts. Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood, Haruki Murakami and even Neil Gaiman stand out as immediate examples to my mind. They have just done so much more for literature in general with their creativity and innovative writing styles.

I don’t mean to undermine the power of Ishiguro’s writing. The Remains of the Day and When We Were Orphans are both fantastic books but there are more accomplished writers out there today; there are writers who have written more and demonstrated a wider range of skills. Look at all the different things Gaiman has done: comic books, fantasy novels, children’s lit and epics about godhood, his imagination and skill set is far wider.

The speech Ishiguro gave here is not very engaging or inspiring. He talks about his own experiences as a writer and what led him to the craft and, surprisingly, it’s not that interesting to read about. I appreciated his stance on global literature, on looking beyond standard western writers, though this was only mentioned briefly at the end. All in all, it’s mundane and unremarkable.

Only recommended to those that thought he deserved the noble.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Twentieth Century Evening and Other Small Breakthroughs is Kazuo Ishiguro’s speech from when he was awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize for Literature. It takes the form of a truncated career retrospective/autobiography, touching upon the creation of his more well-known books like The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go.

The lecture, in the author’s usual style, is eloquent and understated but not especially powerful, moving or thought-provoking either. And, as I was reading this, I began to wonder: did Kazuo Ishiguro really deserve the Nobel Prize? I mean, he’s a decent writer and I enjoyed The Remains of the Day (the only other book by Ishiguro I’ve read is An Artist of the Floating World which I didn’t like nearly as much) but have his contributions to literature warranted the Nobel? I don’t think he’s pioneered any innovative techniques or ideas, nor are his books especially pivotal or influential literary landmarks.

He also basically admits towards the end that he’s no longer relevant these days – hence the title’s focus on “Twentieth Century” – which I feel is true, going by his latest novel, The Buried Giant, a vague and unimpressive book that I tried and failed to get through (SO boring!). That said, the Nobel Prize for Literature has effectively been a lifetime achievement award - as opposed to being given to the writer who contributed the most to their field in the past year - for decades now anyway. Still, I’m not convinced he was ever that relevant a writer!

My Twentieth Century Evening is a well-crafted and readable though underwhelming and forgettable speech. Kazuo Ishiguro continues to be a skilful stylist with at least one great book to his name. At any rate, congrats, Kazuo!

[Ammar · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this lecture that was delivered on December 7th, 2017. Kazuo Ishiguro delivers a personal lecture about literature, his beginning as a novelist, the creative writing class he took in East Anglia, and how it made him the writer he is today.

He describes the England that he moved to with his parents when he was 5 years old. How very different it is from today. And how the community accepted them even though he was the only Japanese in his school and probably the first Japanese encountered in his town.

He talks about writing about his roots and heritage before that became popular and common in English lit, and how it helped him to immortalize his own vision of Japan into the written record even in a fictional form.

Kazuo also talks about the effect of music on writing and how listening to some songs or the voice of singers helps him achieve an effect or fill a void in a piece he is writing.

He encourages the Nobel committee to be inclusive of all kind of literature and to keep this form alive .

This is an amazing short book. A lecture that is tremendously personal, yet universal.

[John]

MY FAVOURITE PART FROM THE LECTURE

"But let me finish by making an appeal – if you like, my Nobel appeal! It's hard to put the whole world to rights, but let us at least think about how we can prepare our own small corner of it, this corner of 'literature', where we read, write, publish, recommend, denounce and give awards to books. If we are to play an important role in this uncertain future, if we are to get the best from the writers of today and tomorrow, I believe we must become more diverse. I mean this in two particular senses.

Firstly, we must widen our common literary world to include many more voices from beyond our comfort zones of the elite first world cultures. We must search more energetically to discover the gems from what remain today unknown literary cultures, whether the writers live in far away countries or within our own communities. Second: we must take great care not to set too narrowly or conservatively our definitions of what constitutes good literature. The next generation will come with all sorts of new, sometimes bewildering ways to tell important and wonderful stories. We must keep our minds open to them, especially regarding genre and form, so that we can nurture and celebrate the best of them. In a time of dangerously increasing division, we must listen. Good writing and good reading will break down barriers. We may even find a new idea, a great humane vision, around which to rally."

[Deniz Balcı · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dünyaya dair sözler sarf ettiği, konuşmanın son bölümünü etkisiz ve fazla optimist bulsam da kendi yazma tecrübesine dair ilginç detaylar verdiği ilk bölümü çok sevdim. Çift-uluslu olmasına dair psikolojisini kitapları üzerinden anlamaya çalışmaktansa böyle bir metinle, ilk ağızdan duymak bana iyi geldi. "Uzak Tepeler" neden bende o kadar eksik bir duyumsamaya sebep oldu, kitabın yazılışına dair ayrıntıları öğrenince anlaşılabilir hale geldi. Ayrıca Ishiguro'ya yazarlığı öğreten insanın Proust olduğunu öğrenmek ise farklı bir hoşluk oldu. Güzel bir Nobel konuşması, meraklılarına tavsiye ederim.

[Mevsim Yenice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bir nobel konuşması ya da kısacık bir hikaye de denebilir.

Sinema, müzik gibi disiplinlerarası eserlerin, kendi metinlerine ne gibi katkıları olduğunu Ishiguro'nun kendinden dinlemek için bile okunabilecek kısacık bir metin.

Yirminci Yüzyıl filmini izlerken "karakter yaratmak" ile ilgili bir ipucunu keşfettiği an, Tom Waits'in Ruby's Arm şarkısındaki katarsis anında Waits'in sesindeki vurgunun Ishiguro'yu kendi metinlerindeki edebi karşılığını bulmaya zorlaması, sanatın birçok dalının birbirinden beslenmesinin takibinden çok keyif alan biri olarak beni oldukça heyecanlandırdı ve sevindirdi.

Kısa sürede okunabilecek, tatlı bir metin...

[Deniz Ata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Önsözü kitap yapmışlar . Farklı bir tasarrufla karşıma çıkabilirdi .Neysee mevzuya döneyim .

İshuguro 'yu samimi buldum . Aynı ritimde uzun uzun okuyabileceğim bir metin . Kendini arayan ve tekrarlamayan bir ruhu olduğu için ; "hadi anlat bana bu kitabını yazmana ne sebep oldu , peki bunu yazmana peki bunu ? " Sonrasında da "ee sen bunları yazarken Dünya'da neler oluyordu ,evet hatırlıyorum o yılları ama sen bana gene anlat " diyesim geldi .

Bir de kendim adına imgeler ve izlenimlerle doldurmam gereken bir depom olduğunu yeniden hatırlattı .

[Eylül Görmüş · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nobel Edebiyat Ödülü alan yazarların kabul konuşmalarını çok severim, hepsini okurum, ara ara böyle kitap olarak basıldıklarında da mutlaka alırım. Ishiguro'nun 2017'de yaptığı konuşmayı da vaktiyle okumuştum ama tabii üstünden çok zaman geçti, şimdi Ishiguro'nun bugüne dek yazdığı her şeyi okumuş biri olarak bambaşka bir yakınlık duygusuyla okudum metni.

Marquez ve Saramago'nun olağanüstü konuşmalarının yanında biraz zayıf kalsa da, yine de seviyorum bu metni. Özellikle şurası, edebiyatla kurduğum ilişkinin özeti gibi olduğu için benim için çok kıymetli: "Öyküler eğlendirebilir, bazen öğretir ya da bir tez öne sürer. Fakat benim için esas olan, öykülerin duyguları iletmesidir. Sınıfların ve uçurumların üstünden ortak insani yönlerimize hitap etmesidir. Öykülerin etrafında büyük, göz alıcı endüstriler var: Kitap sektörü, film sektörü, televizyon sektörü, tiyatro sektörü. Ama sonuçta öyküler bir insanın başka bir insana şunları söylemesinden ibarettir: Ben böyle hissediyorum. Ne kastettiğimi anlıyor musun? Sana da öyle geliyor mu?"

Edebiyatın yarattığı o büyük duygudaşlık - okumaya duyduğum sonsuz açlığın ardında yatan temel şey bu. Yani cevaplayayım: anlıyorum Ishigurocuğum ve evet, bana da sık sık öyle geliyor. ❤️

Ishiguro'nun yazarlık yolculuğunu, ondaki izi çok bariz olan Proust'la ilişkisini, iyimserliğinin kökeninde yatanları anlamak için kıymetli bir metin bu. Özellikle son bölümünde aslında Nobel sonrası yazacağı Klara ile Güneş'i tarif etmiş, onu da şimdi tekrar okuyunca anladım. Bir de Malcolm Bradbury ile Angela Carter'ın (bu sıra ne kadar sık Angela Carter ile karşılaşır oldum ben ya?) kendisinin hocası olduğunu da bilmiyordum, bu konuşmadan öğrenmiş oldum.

Nobel konuşmaları güzeldir ya. Keşkem Annie Ernaux'nunki de basılsa. :)

[el]

“If we are to play an important role in this uncertain future, if we are to get the best from the writers of today and tomorrow, I believe we must become more diverse.”

[Moonkiszt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a short, deeply profound read. I go back to it over and over, and he says it best himself, so I will leave it in his hands:

“My Nobel appeal: it’s hard to put the whole world to rights, but let us at least think about how we can prepare our own small corner of it, this corner of literature where we read, write, publish, recommend, denounce, and give awards to books. If we are to play an important role in this uncertain future, if we are to get the best from the writers of today and tomorrow, I believe we must become more diverse. I mean this in two particular senses.

Firstly, we must widen our common literary world to include many more voices from beyond our comfort zones of the elite first world cultures. We must search more energetically to discover the gems from what remain today unknown literary cultures, whether the writers live in faraway countries or within our own communities.

Second, we must take great care not to set too narrowly or conservatively our definitions of what constitutes good literature. The next generation will come with all sorts of new, sometimes bewildering ways to tell important and wonderful stories. We must keep our minds open to them, especially regarding genre and form, so that we can nurture and celebrate the best of them. In a time of dangerously increasing division we must listen. Good writing and good reading will break down barriers. We may even find a new idea, a great humane vision around which to rally.”

[Miss Ravi · Rating 4 out of 5]

اگه به من بود به‌جای ایشی‌گورو، نوبل ادبیات رو به مارگارت اتوود یا کورت ونه‌گات می‌دادم، ولی خب مثل هزاران اتفاق دیگه در جهان، به من نیست. کتاب از اولین تجربه‌های نوشتن ایشی‌گورو شروع می‌شه که نتیجه‌اش رمان منظر پریده‌رنگ تپه‌هاست که اتفاقاً کتاب موردعلاقه‌ی من از ایشی‌گورو هم هست. شاید اگه بیشتر از یه کتاب از ایشی‌گورو خونده باشید، متوجه شده باشید که این کتاب رو چقدر غریزی نوشته و همین خودش تبدیل شده به ویژگی مثبت کتاب. اما خب این روش رو نمی‌تونید برای بیشتر از یه رمان به‌کار ببرید، اگه هم بتونید، بابتش بهتون نوبل نمی‌دن.
یه لحظه‌های جالبی این کتاب داره که اتفاقاً خیلی کوتاه و در حد چند جمله‌اند، ولی می‌شه فهمید که تو سر یه نویسنده چی می‌گذره یا نمی‌گذره. مثلاً لحظه‌ی کشف یه ایده و یا فکر کردن به چطور نوشتن به‌جای چی نوشتن و همین‌ها باعث شد به کتاب چهار بدم. وگرنه که طرفدار ایشی‌گورو نیستم و هنوز فکر می‌کنم مارگارت اتوود برای گرفتن نوبل ادبیات لایق‌تره.

[Sidharth Vardhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/lit...

[Akylina · Rating 5 out of 5]

"If we are to play an important role in this uncertain future, if we are to get the best from the writers of today and tomorrow, I believe we must become more diverse. I mean this in two particular senses. Firstly, we must widen our common literary world to include many more voices from beyond our comfort zones of the elite first world cultures. [...] Second: we must take great care not to set too narrowly or conservatively our definitions of what constitutes good literature. [...] Good writing and good reading will break down barriers. We may even find a new idea, a great humane vision, around which to rally."

Words are needless. Ishiguro said everything.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

This is Kazuo Ishiguro’s acceptance speech for his Nobel Prize in literature. It discusses his growth as a writer, inspiration for his work, thoughts on the world’s current condition, and hopes for the future.

[Radwa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an inspiring little read!

I was so proud when I heard of Ishiguro's Nobel win, not just because he was the first Nobel winner I've actually read prior to his win, but because I was actually rooting for him, and this speech reminded me why!

It's a biographical lecture about his beginnings as a writer, how music had a big impact on his writing (among other things), and the progress he's undergone as a writer. I loved hearing about "his" Japan, and his view on England and his double heritage. Now, I can't read more for him!

[Patty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had picked up a little hardcover, just like this one, of the Lecture by last years Nobel Prize in Literature, Bob Dylan. When I saw this one for the winner of the Prize for 2017 I knew I had to read it. Kazuo Ishiguro wrote eight books of fiction and I have only read three but know that his writing is special.

The Swedish Academy gave this as their reasoning for giving the prize to Ishiguro: "...who, in novels of great emotional force, has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world." In his Lecture he is able to describe a sort of journey of breakthroughs that he found worked for him in uniting the world through his stories. He suggests more diverse "literature". "Include many more voices from beyond our comfort zones of the elite first-world cultures. We must search more energetically to discover the gems from what remains today unknown literary cultures, whether the writers live in faraway countries or within our own communities. Second, we must take great care not to set too narrowly or conservatively our definitions of what constitutes good literature...."

Ishiguro also writes screenplays and song lyrics! He mentions in his lecture that on occasions he learned crucial lessons from the voices of singers. He said, "I refer here less to the lyrics being sung, and more to the actual singing. As we know, a human voice in song is capable of expressing an unfathomably complex blend of feeling." He mentions fellow Nobel recipient, Bob Dylan, as well as Nina Simone, Ray Charles, Bruce Springssteen and several others.

This little peek inside an author's soul only makes reading his work that much more enjoyable. I look forward to following Ishiguro in all his endeavors.

[Burak Kuscu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yazarın 2017 yılında kazandığı Nobel Edebiyat Ödülü konuşması metni.

Kazuo Ishiguro, özellikle benim okur dünyamda yeri önemli bir yazar. Japonya doğumlu olsa da beş yaşından sonra dönmemek üzere ayrıldığı Japonya'ya ancak edebi metinleriyle dönüyor. Yetişmesi, serpilmesiyle tam bir İngiliz olmuş esasen.

Eserlerini yazma sürecinden ve hayatının dönüm noktalarından bahsettiği bu konuşma oldukça ilgimi çekti. Hatta konuşmanın sonunda İsveç'li komiteye bir tavsiyede de bulunuyor kırılıp dökülerek mütevazi bir dille. Gölgede kalmış, sükse yapmamış ülkelere de bakın eser seçerken diyor. Komite son yıllarda gerçekten iyi seçimler yapıyor bana göre.

Youtube kanalımın ilk videosu olma özelliğine sahip Kazuo Ishiguro'nun Nobel konuşmasını okumak, güzel bir öğlen arası geçirmemi sağladı.

[Memduh Er · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Öyküler eğlendirebilir, bazen öğretir ya da bir tez öne sürer. Fakat benim için esas olan, öykülerin duyguları iletmesidir. Sınırların ve uçurumların üstünden ortak insani yönlerimize hitap etmesidir. ... sonuçta öyküler bir insanın başka bir insana şunları söylemesinden ibarettir: Ben böyle hissediyorum. Ne kastettiğimi anlıyor musun? Sana öyle geliyor m?"

Evet, kesinlikle! Bana da öyle geliyor!

[Kathrin Passig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ein paar interessante Gedanken zum Schreiben, aber schon sehr wenig Text fürs Geld. 99 Cent statt 4,57 € und ich wäre zufrieden gewesen. Ok, 1,99 wäre auch gerade noch okay gewesen. Aber mehr nicht, wenn ich mehr Geld pro guter Idee anderer Leute ausgeben wollte, würde ich ja nach fünf Minuten Twitterdurchlesen verarmen.

[e. · Rating 5 out of 5]

i can't express enough how much i adore this man

[misael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Opiniões literárias postas de parte, Kazuo Ishiguro, britânico de origem e influência japonesa, venceu o Prémio Nobel da Literatura em 2017, atribuído pela Academia por “em romances de grande força emocional, desvelar o abismo que existe sob o nosso sentido ilusório de conexão com o mundo”.
Este é o discurso do Nobel, que Ishiguro proferiu como forma de agradecimento à Academia Sueca pela atribuição do galardão.
Neste curto ensaio, o autor aborda muitos temas, parcamente explorados e não raramente apenas referidos. Fala da desorientação de um jovem que queria escrever mas não sabia por onde começar, numa noite de 1979; fala do fracasso e da insatisfação com o primeiro romance; fala dos objectivos e das objecções; fala de Tom Waits e do casamento; fala do filho e dos certames literários; fala da escrita como método de vida e das frustrações; fala de Awschwitz e da sua aceitação da herança asiática.
Independentemente de Kazuo Ishiguro merecer ou não o Nobel (coisa que não posso avaliar visto que nunca o li), este discurso é honesto e um retrato muito interessante daquilo que foi, até ao Nobel, a vida de um escritor.

[Esra Nazenin Özdemir · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5/5

[kashmir21 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bir Nobel konuşması ancak bu kadar duygularıma hitap edebilir,birçok farklı konuda düşünmemi sağlayabilirdi.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This brief work provides insight into the author's writing style, beliefs, and personality.

[Henk · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Nobelprize speech is like a short story of Kazuo Ishiguro, on how he developed as writer and what seemingly small events nudged him to building his oeuvre. You can read the speech for free via the Nobel prize website, following this link: https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/20...

The speech is understated and therefor quite similar to his writing, but surprisingly starts out with Ishiguro who wants to rebel against his Japanese background, and how he lived in two worlds, Japanese and English, for most of his youth. Also the need to innovate and put his characters relationships to the forefront come back in the speech. In the end he reflects on the relevancy of his work in the future, with all kinds of global challenges knocking at the door, in a typical modest way that in my opinion does not do full justice to the quality of Ishiguro's work. Enjoyed it and a good work for anyone interested in the work of Ishiguro.

"I was starting to accept that ‘my’ Japan perhaps didn’t much correspond to any place I could go to on a plane; that the way of life of which my parents talked, that I remembered from my early childhood, had largely vanished during the 1960s and 1970s; that in any case, the Japan that existed in my head might always have been an emotional construct put together by a child out of memory, imagination and speculation. And perhaps most significantly, I’d come to realise that with each year I grew older, this Japan of mine – this precious place I’d grown up with –was getting fainter and fainter."

[Dilara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ishiguro'nun en sevdiğim özelliklerinden biri anlattığı her şeyi müthiş bir yalınlıkla anlatması. Yazarlığına tesir etmiş dönüm noktalarını okurken bunu bir kez daha anladım. Öykülerindeki, romanlarındaki karakterlerin ilişkilerine katabildiği boyutların yanında kendisinin okurla ilişkisine kattığı boyutlara da şapka çıkarılması gerektiğini düşünüyorum. Her ne kadar iyimserliğini paylaşamıyor olsam da ondan güç alabiliyorum. İyi yazmanın ve iyi okumanın engelleri aşabileceğine inanasım geliyor.

[Annikky · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Beautiful and insightful, very much recommended. A side note: I have only read one of Ishiguro's books - The Remains of the Day - and was surprised how similar the voice here was to that novel (where it's more extreme, of course).

[İremini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kendisinin henüz bir romanını okumadan önce bu yazdığı otobiyografisini okumak benim için çok iyi oldu. Yazarla bağ kurmamı sağladı. Aslında bu kitabı daha çok nobel ödülü teşekkürü gibi yazsada otobiyografi demek daha doğru olur. Kitapda en çok ilgimi çeken şeylerden birisi de kendi doğduğu ülkesine hiç gitmemesi. Ait olduğu kültürden “Benim Japonyam” diye bahsedip kendi ütopyasını yaratması. Diğer kitaplarını okumak için sabırsızlanıyorum. Kitaptan bir kısmı paylaşmak isterim. “Ben iyimserlige meyilli bir kusaga aitim;
neden öyle olmayalım ki? Biz büyüklerimizin
Avrupa'yı totaliter rejimlerin, soykirimlarin
ve tarihte benzerleri görülmemis kiyimlarin
yasandiğı topraklardan, bütün dünyanm gip
ta ettigi, dostluk içinde ve neredeyse sınır
lar olmadan yasanan, liberal demokrasilerin hakim oldugu bir bölgeye basarıla dönüstür-
melerine sahit olduk. Biz eski sömürgeci impa-
ratorluklarn, zeminlerini teskil eden kinanasi
varsayimlarıyla birlikte dagilıp yıkılmalarini
izledik. Biz feminizmdeki, escinsel haklarinda-
ki ve irkçiliga karsı farklı cephelerde süregiden
mücadelelerdeki ilerlemelere tanık olduk. Biz
kapitalizm ile komünizm arasindaki hem ide-
olojik hem askeri büyük çatismann olustur-
dugu fonun önünde yetistik ve bu çatışmanin,
çogumuzun mutlu bir son olduguna inandigı
sonucuna sahit olduk.”

[connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really thoughtful look at Ishiguro’s writing process and how it’s changed over time