Japanese-born Kazuo Ishiguro was raised and educated in Britain. He won the 1989 Man Booker Prize for his novel The Remains of the Day, and is the author of dystopian science fiction novel Never Let Me Go (2005). Both novels have been made into films. Ishiguro’s writing often deals with self-deception and the unreliability of memory.
“But perhaps something of this sort has been on the cards for some time. For the truth is, over the past year, I have become increasingly preoccupied with my memories, a preoccupation encouraged by the discovery that these memories––of my childhood, of my parents––have lately begun to blur. A number of times recently I have found myself struggling to recall something that only two or three years ago I believed was ingrained in my mind for ever. I have been obliged to accept, in other words, that with each passing year, my life in Shanghai will grow less distinct, until one day all that will remain will be a few muddled images. Even tonight, when I sat down here and tried to gather in some sort of order these things I still remember, I have been struck anew by how hazy so much has grown. To take for instance this incident I have just recounted regarding my mother and the health inspector: while I am fairly sure I have remembered its essence accurately enough, turning it over in my mind again, I find myself less certain about some of the details…”
––When We Were Orphans, 2000
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