Kazuo Ishiguro， who won 2017 Nobel Prize in Literature， has a number of strings to his bow， or rather his guitar. The 63-year-old is world famous as a writer of fiction， but his early dream was to be a great singer and songwriter， like the winner of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature， Bob Dylan.

His friend and former publisher Robert McCrum recalls the young Ishiguro turning up at the publishing house Faber and Faber with a bunch of his stories in one hand and a guitar over his shoulder. It was his stories that earned him the great honor.

As his name indicates， Ishiguro comes from a Japanese background， although he came to Britain from Japan at the age of 5 and is a British citizen who writes in English. He was educated at the University of East Anglia， a school that has become known for training writers.

Ishiguros writing is highly restrained. His characters are often reluctant to express themselves， except in a kind of code. This certainly gives his writing a quality in common with that of Jane Austen， an author to whom he is often compared. The best example of this is his novel The Remains of the Day， which later became a successful film.

The central character of the book is a butler called Stevens. He is an extremely loyal servant to an English lord， and is a character who some might call repressed. He misses out on affection and love because he will not confess his feelings to anyone.

The story is told by Stevens， and his style is as polite and unrevealing as his behavior. Of course， we have to read between the lines to uncover the “real” story， which isnt quite the one the butler is telling. Stevens finds it a challenge to communicate， and communication is often a theme in Ishiguros novels.

In this authors sense of the world， there is a gap between our feelings and our ability to communicate them. The Nobel Committee emphasized this theme when it talked about Ishiguros work. The writer， the committee claimed， “in novels of great emotional force... has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world”.

2017年諾贝尔文学奖得主石黑一雄不只会写作，他还会弹吉他。现年63岁的他是一位举世闻名的小说家，但他早年的梦想却是成为一位杰出的歌手和词曲作家，就像2016年诺贝尔文学奖得主鲍勃·迪伦那样。

他的好友——前出版商罗伯特·麦克鲁姆还记得年轻的石黑背着一把吉他，一只手拿着一叠他所写的故事，出现在费伯出版社的情景。而正是这些故事让他获得了诺贝尔文学奖的殊荣。

正如他的名字一样，石黑有着日本血统，尽管他在5岁时就从日本移民到英国，并用英文进行写作。他在以培养作家著称的东安格利亚大学接受了教育。

石黑的写作风格十分克制。他笔下的人物总是不愿意表达自我，除了以某种密码的方式。他的这一写作特点与简·奥斯汀十分相似，两人也经常被拿来作比较。最好的一个例子是他所著的小说《长日留痕》，这部小说后来被成功地改编成了电影。

小说的主人公是一位名叫史蒂文斯的男管家，他是一位英国贵族极尽忠诚的仆人。有人会认为这是个情感压抑的角色，他错过了自己的爱恋，因为他不会向任何人吐露自己的心声。

故事以史蒂文斯的视角进行讲述，他的口吻就像其行为那样有礼又克制。当然，我们需要在字里行间读出“真正的”故事，而这与这位男管家所讲述的大相径庭。史蒂文斯认为沟通是种挑战，而沟通也常常是石黑小说中的一个主题。

在石黑的世界观中，人们的情感和表达能力之间存在鸿沟。诺贝尔奖委员会在谈及他的作品时，着重强调了这一主题。委员会称这位作家“凭借充满强烈情感的小说……揭示了隐藏在我们与世界相联系的幻觉之下的深渊”。

Word Study

recall /r?'k??l/ v. 回想起；回忆起；记得

I dont recall what he said at the meeting.

restrained /r?'stre?nd/ adj. 克制的

reluctant /r?'l?kt?nt/ adj. 不情愿的；勉强的

confess /k?n'fes/ v. 承认；坦白

emphasize /'emf?sa?z/ v. 强调；着重

I must emphasize the fact that she is only a little girl.

claim /kle?m/ v. 宣称；声称

They claimed to have discovered a new planet.