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Nocturnes
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Publisher's Summary
In Nocturnes, a sublime story cycle, Kazuo Ishiguro explores ideas of love, music and the passing of time. From the piazzas of Italy to the Malvern Hills, a London flat to the "hush-hush floor" of an exclusive Hollywood hotel, the characters we encounter range from young dreamers to cafe musicians to faded stars, all of them at some moment of reckoning. Gentle, intimate and witty, this quintet is marked by a haunting theme: the struggle to keep alive a sense of life's romance, even as one gets older, relationships founder and youthful hopes recede.
Read by Adam Kotz, Neil Pearson, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Ian Porter, and Trevor White.
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What listeners say about Nocturnes
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Rochelle
- 30-04-2013
Beautiful stories
A series of 5 vignettes on the themes on music & relationships.
Ishiguro's writing is stunning & the narration in the audiobook is top notch. Each of the 5 stories was wonderful, I usually prefer books to short stories as I like to get involved with the characters, but there was none of that limitation with these stories.
Each story outlines a relationship which provokes a different reaction: I found the first romantic & sad, the extremely funny. There are characters to love, hate & to feel ambivalent towards.
I wish Audible stocked more of Ishiguro's books. Anyone who is familiar with "Remains of the day" (either the book or movie) knows what a fine story teller he is.
This is for anyone who enjoys fine fiction.
1 person found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
- Adrienne
- 23-12-2012
Musical off notes
I love Ishiguro's work- particularly his novels and I was disappointed by these short stories the characters and central themes of which failed to really engage me. Ishiguro uses music as a foundation to the collection and perhaps not having any knowledge or ability in the musical world was a disadvatage for this listener.
5 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- Tracey
- 24-01-2013
Gentle listening
A lovely collection of gentle stories, revolving around music. They tie together wonderfully, and I'll no doubt be giving this collection another listen in future.
4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Busy of Devon
- 23-06-2020
Master of mirth and poignancy
What a joy to read shorts from this master of emotion. Ishiguro creates such bizarre scenes in such a believably visual way one can almost believe they are true stories which actually occurred. I was laughing out loud at several points, at other times feeling for the characters and identifying with them. The musical themes throughout add an extra dimension to each setting. I thoroughly enjoyed these and think the author has once again excelled. Enjoy!
1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- S. Jones
- 29-09-2020
Lovely ensemble piece
This collection deserves 3.5 stars rather than 3, I loved the narration and the stories were gentle and pleasant to listen to
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Culwen
- 03-09-2020
Passes the time
A loosely linked set of stories which isn't engaging but easy to listen to. It's original and while it's not bad, it's not something I would shout from the rooftops about.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- ferelferencz
- 25-03-2020
Inside the musicians world
This was my very first foray into Ishiguro's work. I was not disappointed. The story telling is evocative yet directly conveyed with straightforward dialogue and the characters came to life amidst colourful backdrops both physical and psychological. A melancholy air permeates each of the 5 stories but a sense of the ridiculous is never far away. These were a joy to listen to.
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