Quotes by Kazuo Ishiguro

About Kazuo Ishiguro:

Kazuo Ishiguro is a British novelist, screenwriter and short story writer. He was born in Nagasaki, Japan; his family moved to England in 1960 when he was five. Ishiguro obtained his Bachelor's degree from the University of Kent in 1978 and his Master's from the University of East Anglia's creative-writing course in 1980.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

The book was at a reasonably high position on the New York Times... before I was in the country. I thought it would be an interesting experiment to see if my presence here would push it up or down.

Kazuo Ishiguro

People aren't quite sure what it means when a book is a Booker Prize winner. They're not quite sure what is being recommended, what literary values it stands for, because every year it stands for something different.

Kazuo Ishiguro

To some extent, at least ,you have to shield children from what you know and drip-feed information to them. Sometimes that is kindly meant, and sometimes not.

Kazuo Ishiguro

There's something very misleading about the literary culture that looks at writers in their 30s and calls them 'budding' or 'promising', when in fact they're peaking.

Kazuo Ishiguro

Why would somebody just read a novel when they can see it on TV or in the cinema? I really have to think of the things fiction can do that film can't and play to the strengths of the novel. With a novel, you can get right inside somebody's head.

Kazuo Ishiguro

It had never occurred to me that our lives, which had been so closely interwoven, could unravel with such speed.

Kazuo Ishiguro

When my own time comes, will I too long for the sea? I think I will be content enough with the soil. And I will not demand the exact spot, but let it be within this country Horace and I have spent the years roaming contentedly.

Kazuo Ishiguro

People are not two-thirds one thing and the remainder something else. Temperament, personality, or outlook don’t divide quite like that. The bits don’t separate clearly. You end up a funny homogeneous mixture. This is something that will become m...

Kazuo Ishiguro

I'm wondering if without our memories, there's nothing for it but for our love to fade and die.

Kazuo Ishiguro

It was a fine feeling indeed to be standing up there like that, with the sound of summer all around one and a light breeze on one's face. And I believe it was then, looking on that view, that I began for the first time to adopt a frame of mind approp...

Kazuo Ishiguro

I think genre rules should be porous, if not nonexistent.

Kazuo Ishiguro

More fundamentally, I'm interested in memory because it's a filter through which we see our lives, and because it's foggy and obscure, the opportunities for self-deception are there. In the end, as a writer, I'm more interested in what people tell th...

Kazuo Ishiguro

There's something peculiar about writing fiction. It requires an interesting balance between seeing the world as a child and having the wisdom of a middle-aged person. The further you get from childhood and the experience of the teenage years, the gr...

Kazuo Ishiguro

I work very regular hours, roughly 9 to 5:30. I think I have it much easier than a lot of parents. I just sit at home, I have a very flexible timetable, and I'm very fortunate in that I don't have money problems. I have lunch with my wife at home. I ...

Kazuo Ishiguro

I'm very fortunate in that I don't have money problems. I have lunch with my wife at home. I don't have to commute, so I have much more time with my family.

Kazuo Ishiguro

People were incredibly kind to our family and went out of their way to help.

Kazuo Ishiguro

Our family arrived in England in 1960. At that time I thought the war was ancient history. But if I think of 15 years ago from now, that's 1990, and that seems like yesterday to me.

Kazuo Ishiguro

Screenplays I didn't really care about, journalism, travel books, getting my writer friends to write about their dreams or something. I just determined to write the books I had to write.

Kazuo Ishiguro

I've always had a great fondness for English detective fiction such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers.

Kazuo Ishiguro

I think jogging is bad for your health. All that pressure on the knees and back cannot be good for you.

Kazuo Ishiguro

When you're lucky enough to have a good film made of your novel - and 'Never Let Me Go' is, believe me, a heartbreakingly good film indeed - you get wonderfully talented individuals each focusing on their special area.

Kazuo Ishiguro

Author Bio

  • NameKazuo Ishiguro
  • Descriptionauthor from the United Kingdom
  • BornNovember 8, 1954
  • CountryUnited Kingdom
  • ProfessionNovelist; Writer
  • AwardsMan Booker Prize; Costa Book Awards; Officer Of The Order Of The British Empire