Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall by Kazuo Ishiguro

Abstract

uu t? t? < t? t? O But the core thematic concern of the novel remains its explora tion of theprickly relationship that sometimes arises between the so called old and new African "dias poras" in America. The main char acter's open-minded relationship with Africans and African Ameri cans alike proves thatgood, viable relationships between Africans and their brothers and sisters of the Diaspora inAmerica are not only possible but a major imperative. The novel provides a mature and convincing treatmentof this theme. With appropriate attitudes, thechief character succeeds where others are stymied in negativity, and this makes Against the Odds a successful "bridge-building" novel. EmmanuelObiechina Harvard University Kazuo Ishiguro. Nocturnes: Five Sto riesofMusic and Nightfall.New York. Knopf.2009. 221 pages. $25. isbn 978 0-307-27102-0 As the title suggests, music and night themes color these fictions. They feature musicians whose careers have stalled, some with aspi rations still alive, otherswith accep tance, ifnot contentment. While the characters may try to make some thing of today, their lives do not project much beyond tomorrow. One is often leftwith littlemore than a perspective, mood music sus tained asmuch byminor phrases as major events. The opening story, "Crooner," seems a rather engineered disillu sionment. An aging popular sing er and his beautiful wife, both of whom married for the sake of the trophy the other partner represent ed, have fallen genuinely in love over the years. Unfortunately, they feel that to stay at the top of their NOCTURNES FIVE STORI ES ?, Mus,c n. AND * NIOHTFALL .. ZU O IS I?URO *ur?a. ?.THEREMAINS OF THEDAT respective career paths, theymust divorce so they can marry someone more suitable. Enter an admiring narrator whose incredulity buffers our own. "Come Rain or Come Shine" is darker and more effective, made so when the narrator's somber self assessment is reflected and assumed by his two best friends. Though he doesn't realize it, their marriage seems sustained by his failures, some of which they contrive. The song of the titleand the slow dance at the end seem to indicate a mel ancholy but lasting friendship.This is a story thatgets under the skin, summoning memories of betrayed trusts that are best forgotten. Time and again, a musician meets someone whom he feelshad a career or success he might have had. In "Malvern Hills" and in "Noc turne," one doesn't know whether success will come as a result of the encounter. Something will result for theprotagonist, but no great turning point seems to have occurred. Even in themiddle of change, one can't predict the future.As in "Cellists," one may even see the subject of a how things turned out. It's a view of life that admits considerable irony, even comedy, whether one is trying tohide a tro phy inside a turkeyor attempting to fl^H imitate the actions of a large dog to cover an accident in a friend's apart ment. Finally these stories explore what can sustain people?artists or anyone, maybe most of us?who fl^H dependon theapproval ofothers to j^^fl measure success. I V.M. Hagen Oklahoma BaptistUniversity Alvin Levin.Love IsLike ParkAvenue. H James Reidei, ed. JohnAshbery,pref. New York.New Directions. 2009. xxvi fl^l + 196 pages. $13.95. isbn978-0-8112 Like Mr. Keen, hero of a mid- ^^^1 twentieth-century radio program, H^H JohnAshbery has become a Tracer of Lost Persons, or those nearly lost, renewing interest in thepoets JoanMurray (1917-42) and David Schubert (1913-46), among others. j^^H Ashbery's curiosity about a writer he read as a teenager has now led ^^^1 to a New Directions volume of all that can be found ofAlvin Levin's Novelist Alvin Levin (1914-82) began writing while in law school. His prose appeared inNew Direcj ^^l tions annuals and littlemagazines j^^H in the late 1930s and early 1940s, drawing interest from William Maxwell at the New Yorker and Nicholas Moore inEngland. Simon and Schuster found Levin's book lengthmanuscript Love Is Like Park Avenue "too 'experimental'" and hoped for something "more con ventional." For whatever reasons, Levin stopped writing. The com pletemanuscript of Love Is LikePark Avenue has not been found. IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIM 661 WorldLiterature Today ^^^H ...