A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro

A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro

Read Nov 2017

This is by far the most puzzling book of all Kazuo’s book that I have read but the cliffhanger at the end of each chapter begs me to pursue the story.

The background of the story is mostly set in post atomic bomb Nagasaki, with the people rebuilding their lives with the help of the Americans.

Etsuko, living in London, has just lost her eldest daughter. Keiko who left for Manchester, has hung herself after suffering from years of depression. Niki, Etsuko’s second daughter is not on friendly terms with her family members but returns to keep her grieving mum company. Keiko is the daughter by her Japanese husband before going to London and Niki is her second daughter with her English husband.

The story, from Etsuko’s perspective,  goes back and forth in time, from the current day in London and the past  in Nagasaki. Etsuko reminisces her time in Nagasaki. While pregnant with child, Etsuko befriended a woman, Sachiko and her daughter Mariko who have fallen on hard times due to the death of Sachiko’s husband. Death and war was the leveller that made her on the same footing as the rest of Nagasaki’s refugees.

Etsuko has a poignant background before her union with her current husband Jiro, though it is not elaborated. Esuko is an amicable woman on very  good terms with her father-in-law, a person with an influential past. Jiro is patronising towards his father and would rather focus on his work.

Etsuko shows lots of patience with Sachiko, who only has dreams of going to America with her American boyfriend so that she can start all over again. Sachiko’s daughter, Mariko, suffers from post traumatic syndrome disorder after witnessing a woman drowning her own baby. The girl is left alone pretty often and Etsuko’s maternal instincts meant reaching out to Mariko on many occasions.

Sachiko uses her wealthy relatives as a backup plan in case her move to America does not fall through, which happened a couple of times. Mariko has a brood of kittens which she wants to bring over to America should she leave but this idea was vehemently disapproved. Sachiko drowns the kittens in the river before Mariko’s eyes in the heat of the moment. This section is so vivid I actually shook my head in disbelieve at the plausible scene.

From Nagasaki and then back to England, Etsuko shows a photo of Keiko in a fair in Nagasaki to Niki. It was Etsuko’s outing to Inasa with Sachiko and Mariko as a kind of parting gift. In the end, the reader realises that Keiko is Mariko and Etsuko is actually Sachiko, perhaps?

Just as Sachiko tries to justify her actions and decisions, Etsuko does the same to Niki. This, Etsuko did by telling her story through another person who may or may not be real. Etsuko has said that memory is not a reliable thing and is colored in the way and circumstances one remembers it.

There are a lot of unresolved issues, such as why  Etsuko left Jiro and whether Sachiko actually migrated but the stunning fact that Keiko is actually Mariko throws everything off balance.

I like that Ishiguro could speak in the voice of a polite Japanese housewife and weave excuses through her politeness. Etsuko’s refrain from speaking at awkward moments speaks volumes especially of her disapproval of Sachiko’s lifestyle and mothering habits. I like the friendly banter between daughter and father-in-law which shows lots of friendship in a hierarchical society. Ogata-san’s friendly demeanour belies his passive aggressive attitude towards his son and his son’s friend.

Besides the issue of how memory colors the way we remember things, it also shows the fragility of relationship between parents and children. One wrong move and no amount of explanation can right it again.

It feels that there are 2 parallel universes and the characters and plot has a lot of similarities, though it is hard to pin point where. Exceptional in itself.