A Pale View of Hills

I finished reading "A Pale View of Hills", by Kazuo Ishiguro, Sunday evening. It's a beautiful book but difficult to completely understand. Perhaps I need to read it again. The switching narrative was somewhat confusing to me.

For the most part, the book flowed evenly, and I found little that jumped out at me. One exception came during a dialogue between Niki and her Mother, Etsuko, towards the end of the book. Etsuko had just asked her daughter if she had any plans to get married.

"Well, why should I get married? That's so stupid, Mother. So many women just get brainwashed. They think all there is to life is getting married and having a load of kids."

I continued to watch her. Then I said: "But in the end, Niki, there isn't very much else."