Writers: Kazuou Ishiguro

   I find that knowing something of the writer's background is helpful for me in understanding their work. I should have been a historian, I tend towards categorizing writers not by personality but historical epoch. One thing wholly lacking in prison is information. The federal Bureau of Prisons is quite terrified of the internet, so no Google. This lack of information aids in infantilizing prisoners. This is part of a series of writers that I did look up when I got internet access. Some will be about the writer, and others may feature the writer. I went to YouTube for my main source, but others will also include some other material relating to the book or author discussed. One thing I did not have when younger was access to information about how writers wrote. I think that kept me from understanding the actual work, which, in turn, led me away from writing.

 Kazuo Ishiguro: On Writing and Literature:

Here, he mentions getting the emotions worked out. All this time, I have not actually thought about doing this; it's more like I improvise. Until last night, when I was trying to keep dinner down, wondering why this felt like acid reflux, when was proofreading "Passion Is Not An Ordinary Word". The story has to hit the marks emotionally. I thought I had done it a year ago, then everyone rejected it. Having it read back to me, I wound up pulling out the grinder on the ending paragraphs. The narrator has emotional reactions to her current boyfriend's ex. The narrator also is having problems with a story which lacks emotional resonance. The course of the story leads the narrator to recognize the hidden emotional ties between the other two, and that leads her to rethink her writing style. Anger and East Coast snobbery makes her oblivious to the emotions of the other two until the other expose their anger towards one another. She sees how she would've written and how she should write them. I had to think more deeply about the emotions that moved the plot. Does it work? No idea as of today.

Ishiguro's discussion of age did not disabuse me of the idea I am too old for what I am doing.

His interview for the Nobel Prize covers a lot of territory, of which the writing itself has a short space. Still, he is worth listening to - particularly for those start writing later in life.

And because it is short. What Is Unique about Kazuo Ishiguro's Contribution to Literature?:

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