Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro is one of the world’s most revered and loved living authors. His books have been adapted for the big screen, establishing him as the king of unreliable storytellers, and exploring complex yet relatable human themes.
The Japanese-born British author has never written a bad book. each of his novels is a masterpiece. That said, some are more solid and successful masterpieces than others.
so, if you’ve ever wondered where to start reading ishiguro, or what are the best ishiguro books, here are all of kazuo ishiguro’s books ranked from worst to best.
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biography of kazuo ishiguro
Before we discuss the ranking of kazuo ishiguro’s books, it’s worth exploring the life of kazuo ishiguro, an author who has lived quite a romantic life and showed his genius quite early.
kazuo ishiguro was born in japan, specifically, in the southern city of nagasaki. When he was five years old, his parents moved to the UK and settled in Guildford, Surrey.
The effects of his Japanese background and British upbringing can be seen in his novels’ focus on both Japanese and British settings and characters.
Ishiguro’s first two novels are set in Japan and feature Japanese characters, with his first novel a pale view of the hills, shifting his narrative between present-day England and a Japan of the recent past.
shiguro’s literary influences, at least as a young author, were more western than japanese, and he has commented on how the japan we see in a pale view of the hills and an artist of the floating world are, to some extent, fantastical. .
those books are built from an idea of japan that ishiguro had in his head, rather than first-hand research and experience.
faber published a pale view of the hills before ishiguro turned thirty, and he has written a total of eight novels and one book of short stories (all published by faber) over a career spanning more than three decades .
A 1993 film adaptation of Ishiguro’s book The Remains of the Day, starring Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, and Christopher Reeve, was nominated for eight Academy Awards.
In 2017, Ishiguro won the Nobel Prize for Literature. in 2019 he received a knighthood for his services to literature. In 2020, her daughter Naomi Ishiguro published her first book of stories on Tinder Press, titled Escape Routes.
Let’s now move on to a discussion of the classification of kazuo ishiguro’s books, what they are about, their themes and characters, and why each of his books is a masterpiece.
kazuo ishiguro’s books ranked: worst to best
Now that we have a brief biography of Ishiguro covered, here are all of Kazuo Ishiguro’s books ranked (excluding his collection of short stories, Nocturnes) starting with his weakest novel and ending with his best work.
when we were orphans (2000)
in 2005 i moved to shanghai. the buried giant had just been published, so I threw that and a paperback copy of when we were orphans in my suitcase.
reading a book set in a place before or after moving there is a very satisfying experience, and when we were orphans is set in the shanghai of the past.
The novel follows a British detective named Christopher, who grew up in Shanghai and is drawn in to solve a case. His return to Shanghai takes place against a background of war and invasion, as the Japanese invade Shanghai.
when we were orphans is not a bad book. ishiguro doesn’t write bad books. it is, however, his weakest novel. it has none of the magnificence at its heart that makes his other novels so brilliant.
its infamously unreliable narrator, its themes of memory and time. these things are missing or undercooked here.
If a new reader didn’t know any better, they might suspect that When We Were Orphans would be ishiguro’s debut novel (instead of what it is: his fifth book), given how uneven and amateurish it reads compared to his other it works.
All of this leads to the fact that while it’s still a good enough novel in its own right, When We Were Orphans is the weakest book when it comes to kazuo ishiguro’s books ranked from worst to best. just get better from here.
the buried giant (2015)
As an avid reader of fantasy novels, it was the buried giant that first drew me to ishiguro. while not his best novel, it represents an interesting departure from his usual settings and character types.
shiguro likes to write about japan and britain. The Buried Giant is possibly his most British novel. set in an alternate medieval world of Arthurian legend.
The story follows an elderly couple named Axl and Beatrice, who suddenly remember that they have a son.
Both suffer from a kind of memory loss that seems to be linked to a mist that has settled over the land. most of the novel is a hobbit-style journey across the land in search of his newly remembered son.
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the buried giant almost mocks the mechanic that ishiguro is most famous for: the dodgy narrator. if our storytellers can’t be trusted to remember anything, how reliable can they be? is a fun approach that makes this a simpler and more joyful ishiguro novel.
While it doesn’t reach great heights, The Buried Giant is far from a bad book. In a list of Kazuo Ishiguro’s ranked books, it might be near the bottom, but it’s certainly not a junk novel. none of his books are.
a pale view of the hills (1982)
oh, this book. A Pale View of the Hills was Ishiguro’s first novel. It’s a book that I have fond memories of, and it’s one that isn’t talked about enough.
a pale view of the hills is often overshadowed by ishiguro’s most successful books, the ones that received film adaptations. however, it is one that is very much worth your attention. I hope I can convince you why.
kazuo ishiguro’s first novel tells the story of etsuko, a Japanese woman who lives alone in an English country house.
Her eldest daughter has committed suicide, and during a visit from her youngest daughter, Niki, Etsuko tells the story of how she ended up leaving Japan for England.
etsuko’s story is one of love and friendship. focuses on her friendship with another Japanese woman who dreams of moving to the United States. motherhood is also a strong narrative thread throughout this novel, with etsuko and her friend both being mothers with eyes on the future.
What really makes A Pale View of the Hills such a memorable read is its jaw-dropping and immensely satisfying twist ending (which I won’t spoil here).
This is the book that established ishiguro as the king of the unreliable storyteller, and it still stands as one of his best books. i am very happy to put it right in the middle of a list of kazuo ishiguro classified books. It’s not the best, but it’s far from the worst.
the heartbroken (1995)
the unconsoled is ishiguro’s longest book. It’s a Kafkaesque angst dream of a novel that follows the strange and surreal story of a concert pianist named Ryder who ends up in an unnamed European city. he’s there to put on a performance.
In the days between his arrival and the concert, Mr. Ryder finds himself thrown into an ocean of strange requests, dates, and demands from people who, as the title suggests, are not comforted. he is burdened with responsibilities that he does not understand and that he did not expect.
the unconsoled is a hugely polarizing novel, which was met with both praise and scorn from critics upon its release, and those extreme reactions have remained reliable in the years since. most readers of unconsoled are convinced by its brilliance or abhorred by its frustrating elements.
This is a 530-page novel that unfolds like a horrible dream. I mean this literally: Ishiguro uses dream logic to layer events and places on top of each other. A stranger Ryder meets early in the book is a woman whom he soon realizes is his wife. a building he drives far to get to suddenly joins the one he left.
The dream logic is heavily Kafka-inspired, as Ryder goes in circles and is forced from one frustrating date to another, doing favors for people he doesn’t know. the inconsolable is exhausting and frustrating, but if you allow yourself to move with him, you will love his humor and absorb his themes.
Those themes relate primarily to a wasted life (Ishiguro’s most popular theme, found in many of his novels) and the anxiety that comes with anticipation, the burden of responsibility, and self-doubt.
Heartbroken is certainly not for everyone. Personally, I enjoy the novel’s dreamlike logic, Kafkaesque tone and events, and dark humor. but I was also frustrated by his length and thought he overstayed his welcome. Sometimes, less is more. for this reason, it ranks above his worst but below his best works.
klara and the sun (2021)
Ishiguro’s most recent novel, which follows the buried giant, is Klara and the Sun.
this is a science fiction masterpiece that tells the story of klara, an artificial friend (or af). the purpose of an af is to be a companion to the teen who selects them.
klara begins her story in a store in an unspecified American city. she puts herself on display and, through her eyes, we learn about the world, or, at least, the world as she sees it. Klara is soon chosen by a teenage girl named Josie who takes Klara home to live with her in the country.
klara and the sun never reach the scorching heights of ishiguro’s other science fiction novel, never let me go, but it comes close.
This is a novel about love and hope. Klara’s relationship with Josie, and Josie’s relationship with Ella’s own mother Chrissie and Ella’s best friend Rick, is the glue of this book.
what makes this almost an elevation of ishiguro’s unreliable narrator trope is klara’s unique perspective on the world (literally how her robot eyes see things and metaphorically how she learns and comes to understand others). people and their relationships).
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This is a very sweet and tender novel full of love in all its forms. it considers classes and social groups, but also deals heavily with love, religion, superstition, and most importantly, how we hope; how we use hope as a method of survival.
along with never let me go, klara and the sun demonstrate that ishiguro’s greatest strength is observing human relationships through a variety of lenses; and he’s at his best when he uses science fiction as a tool to explore that to the fullest.
never let me go (2005)
It is a universally recognized truth that Never Let Me Go is Ishiguro’s masterpiece. his magnum opus. I can’t disagree with that statement, but it’s still only my third favorite ishiguro novel.
While I agree that it’s flawless, I think the themes and characters found in my two main ishiguro books are stronger.
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never let me go is a science fiction novel set in the present day. it’s a novel with a central mystery that, if it’s never been revealed to you, you shouldn’t spoil it at all.
our narrator is kathy, a woman who works as a caregiver. who or what he cares about is unclear. Kathy spends much of the novel reminiscing about her childhood at a secret English boarding school called Halisham.
We get acquainted with his old friends and quietly get nervous about the elephant in the room, though we don’t know the elephant’s name or why it’s there. As the story unfolds and secrets are revealed, tragedy begins.
never let me go is a truly amazing work of literary magic. Although it is difficult to talk about it in detail, it is necessary to read it to fully experience it. the less you know about his history, the better.
ask any fan for their opinion on kazuo ishiguro’s books ranked, and chances are you’ll never let me go rise to the top. I won’t argue against that, but it’s still not my personal favorite. that would have to be the next…
an artist of the floating world (1986)
To be honest, the two best ishiguro books are pretty interchangeable. While this is a list of Kazuo Ishiguro’s classified books, you can safely rule out the numbers for the first two.
the reason i put them in this particular order is simply: an artist of the floating world is my favorite ishiguro novel, but i think the rest of the day is a slightly better reading experience. we’ll see why in a moment.
An Artist of the Floating World was Kazuo Ishiguro’s second novel, his first novel set entirely in Japan, and his last set in Japan.
Its story takes place after the end of World War II and the fall of the Japanese Empire, and follows the life and memories of an elderly and once renowned ukiyo-e painter named Ono.
ono has had a long and revered career as an ukiyo-e artist, but when the war began, he strayed from his teacher’s teachings and turned to making propaganda posters.
With the war over, Ono and his works are now a symbol of shame. his family, neighbors and old friends look at him with shame and shame.
an artist of the floating world is a masterpiece, not only because of its setting and its themes of shame, political corruption, and the ability of time to change us. it’s also a masterpiece of character writing and perspective.
We see the world through Ono’s eyes, which makes him a likeable character, and yet we also feel revulsion for him as the story unfolds. there is a persistent tug of war in our hearts as we struggle to sympathize with ono while also being trapped in his mind and memories of him.
an artist of the floating world presents a challenge of perspective and sympathy rarely explored so well in literature. is an absolute masterpiece of modern fiction and my favorite book by kazuo ishiguro.
Although it’s my favorite, however, in a list of kazuo ishiguro’s ranked books, it still doesn’t make it to the top.
the remains of the day (1989)
anyone’s kazuo ishiguro classified book list is likely to have this (or maybe it’ll never let me go) at the top.
as mentioned above, the remains of the day share a large number of themes and a similar central protagonist, with an artist from the floating world. I’m not the only person who sees the former as some kind of prototype for the latter.
And while I personally prefer the prototype for its setting and extra depth of character, The Remains of the Day is ultimately the most polished, polished, and complete novel. is, in fact, ishiguro’s best novel.
The remainder of the day begins with our protagonist and narrator, a butler named Stevens, setting out on a road trip. He has worked at Darlington Hall for years and his new employer, a nouveau riche American, happily encourages him to take a vacation.
Stevens plans to meet the former housekeeper of Darlington Hall, a woman for whom he clearly had deep feelings. Stevens, however, has always been married to her work. he is a rigid, immovable, conservative traditionalist, with a particular attitude towards life, work and class.
stevens and ono have much in common: they are both men stuck in the past, corrupted and dismantled by their politics, their attitude towards life and their inability to move forward as time does.
what makes the rest of the day the better of the two is how much clearer stevens is. it is just as complex but easier to read.
There is less ambiguity in this book, so it feels more accessible without sacrificing any of the depth of subject matter and tone that made A Floating World Artist such a masterpiece.
Ultimately, these two are very similar books that are equally impressive, but the rest of the day builds on its predecessor’s themes to create a neater, more orderly story. this is kazuo ishiguro’s best book.
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