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A Hungarian cellist falls under the spell of a fellow cellist, an apparently virtuosic
American older woman, who tutors him. He later realises that she cannot play the cello as she was so convinced of her own musical genius, no teacher ever seemed equal to it, and so rather than tarnish her gift with
194:
As the subtitle suggests, each story focuses on music and musicians, and the close of day. All of the stories have unfulfilled potential as a linking theme, tinged with elements of regret. The second and fourth stories have comic undertones. The first and final stories feature cafe musicians, and the
178:. After six novels, it is Ishiguro's first collection of short stories, though it is described by the publisher as a "story cycle". As the subtitle suggests, each of the five stories focuses on music and musicians, and the close of day. The hardback was published by
407:
She cannot actually play the instrument at all. So convinced was she of her own musical genius, no teacher ever seemed equal to it, and so rather than tarnish her gift with imperfection, she chose never to realise it at
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hotel becomes involved with a wealthy
American woman (the now ex-wife of the crooner in the first story) and ends up in a rather bizarre confrontation on stage of the hotel (involving an award statuette and a cooked
279:, based mostly on American publications, the book received a "positive" consensus, based on eleven critic reviews: four "rave", six "positive", and one "mixed". On November/December 2009 issue of
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that "Closing the book, it’s hard to recall much more than an atmosphere or an air; a few bars of music, half-heard, technically accomplished, quickly forgotten." Christian House of
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teacher is invited to the home of a couple whom he knew whilst at university. However the couple's tensions affect the visitor, leading to a rather awkward situation.
210:, a fading American singer co-opts a Polish cafe musician into accompanying him while he serenades his wife (whose relationship is disintegrating) from a gondola.
390:"Kazuo Ishiguro: 'There comes a point when you can count the number of books you're going to write before you die. And you think, God, there's only four left'"
234:
countryside cafe owned by his sister and brother-in-law. Whilst there he encounters Swiss tourists whose behaviour causes him to reflect on his own situation.
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Closing the book, it's hard to recall much more than an atmosphere or an air; a few bars of music, half-heard, technically accomplished, quickly forgotten.
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319:, by any other writer, would be praiseworthy; by a celebrated author like Ishiguro, it can best be likened to a minor work from a master composer".
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writes that "Ultimately this is a lovely, clever book about the passage of time and the soaring notes that make its journey worthwhile".
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first and fourth stories feature the same character. All five stories have unreliable male narrators and are written in the
827:
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Ultimately this is a lovely, clever book about the passage of time and the soaring notes that make its journey worthwhile.
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All five stories have unreliable male narrators, who are musicians of some kind, and are written in the first person.
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assessed critical response as an aggregated score of 81% based on
British press reviews. According to
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A young guitarist flees London and lack of success in the rock world to the
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596:"Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall by Kazuo Ishiguro"
562:"Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall By Kazuo Ishiguro"
359:"Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall by Kazuo Ishiguro"
311:(3.5 out of 5) based on critic reviews a summary saying, "Perhaps
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in the United
Kingdom on 7 May 2009 and in the United States by
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A saxophonist recuperating after plastic surgery at a
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imperfection, she chose never to realise it at all.
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537:"Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall"
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167:Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall
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477:"Kazuo Ishiguro – Nocturnes: Five Stories"
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388:Decca Aitkenhead (27 April 2009).
315:summed it up best by stating that
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899:British short story collections
707:An Artist of the Floating World
625:Christian House (17 May 2009).
793:The Saddest Music in the World
627:"Nocturnes, By Kazuo Ishiguro"
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271:was generally well-received.
889:2009 short story collections
16:2009 book by Kazuo Ishiguro
920:
215:"Come Rain or Come Shine"
218:In London, an expatriate
26:
170:is a 2009 collection of
904:Faber & Faber books
894:Works by Kazuo Ishiguro
828:The Remains of the Day
715:The Remains of the Day
283:, the book received a
731:When We Were Orphans
699:A Pale View of Hills
313:Entertainment Weekly
186:in September 2009.
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801:The White Countess
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844:Klara and the Sun
755:Klara and the Sun
592:Robert Macfarlane
572:on 15 August 2018
357:(24 April 2009).
323:Robert Macfarlane
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118:978-0-571-24498-0
88:Publication place
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227:"Malvern Hills"
156:The Buried Giant
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138:Preceded by
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99:Print (hardback)
79:Publication date
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143:Never Let Me Go
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455:the original
451:The Omnivore
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395:The Guardian
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197:first person
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785:Screenplays
507:"Nocturnes"
421:"Nocturnes"
252:"Cellists"
239:"Nocturne"
61:Short story
883:Categories
873:Literature
576:14 January
546:16 January
541:Book Marks
355:Ruth Scurr
341:References
325:writes in
277:Book Marks
203:"Crooner"
83:7 May 2009
63:collection
22:Nocturnes
774:Nocturnes
566:Bookmarks
431:4 October
364:The Times
317:Nocturnes
281:Bookmarks
269:Nocturnes
263:Reception
132:310156229
68:Publisher
247:turkey).
49:Language
638:29 June
607:29 June
521:12 July
491:12 July
461:12 July
401:29 June
370:29 June
232:Malvern
206:Set in
190:Stories
52:English
859:Portal
847:(2024)
839:(2010)
831:(1993)
812:(2022)
809:Living
804:(2005)
796:(2003)
777:(2009)
758:(2021)
750:(2015)
742:(2005)
734:(2000)
726:(1995)
718:(1989)
710:(1986)
702:(1982)
691:Novels
208:Venice
158:
145:
107:221 pp
39:Author
184:Knopf
104:Pages
57:Genre
640:2010
609:2010
578:2023
548:2024
523:2024
493:2024
463:2024
433:2023
408:all.
403:2010
372:2010
126:OCLC
113:ISBN
220:EFL
174:by
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
