Faint Shadow of Distant Mountains

Name: Faint Shadow of Distant Mountains
Author: Written by Kazuo Ishiguro; Translated by Zhang Xiaoyi

远山淡影

by Written by Kazuo Ishiguro; Translated by Zhang Xiaoyi (石黑一雄著；张晓意译)

Status: Completed
Source: Fanqie

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Stats

9.4Score

28Chapters

Synopsis

"Shadows on Distant Mountains" is Kazuo Ishiguro's debut novel, a masterpiece that is still being reprinted more than 30 years after its publication. The fusion and balance of "sentimentality and irony" are still memorable. The novel tells a memory full of mist, both real and illusory. After the war, a suffering mother and daughter in Nagasaki yearned for stability and rebirth, but they could never escape the shadows and inner demons brought about by the war. In the end, the mother and daughter successfully immigrated, and the daughter committed suicide as a tragic ending. At the end of the play, the remembrancer peels off his disguise, and the story is full of tragedy. The bilingual version of "Shadows of Distant Mountains" comes with the original text of the work, allowing readers to appreciate Kazuo Ishiguro's exquisite and beautiful original English text at the same time, and enjoy double beauty.

Reader comments

Memories can be unreliable things. When people feel that their own experiences are too painful or unbearable to talk about, they will borrow other people's stories to tell their own stories. Well... No matter how many times I watch it, it's still thought-provoking... The novel ends as suddenly as it began, with Keiko dying. The reader was aroused by this, but Etsuko changed the subject and told another story. Just like the postscript of the translation, well, that one has been explained in quite detail, and the complexity of human nature, and the fact that memory will "transform" or "self-beautify" according to people's needs, can only be understood by reading the original text. In short, this article is worthy of its name - the faint shadow of distant mountains. Fuzzy, hazy, thoughtful, and unfinished.
12 likes2y ago
This book is very good! The mother and daughter in the story impressed me deeply, especially the mother, who struggled to find a new life after the war, but was always shrouded in shadow. I really like the author's portrayal of the characters, which made me feel their inner world. Moreover, you can also enjoy the original English in the bilingual version, which is great!
5 likes2y ago
Ishiguro-san is worthy of the Nobel Prize [praise]
1 like2y ago
The translation is wonderful.
1 like1y ago
Deduct one star for the translation. If the translation is not good, it is better to read the original text directly.
3mo ago