The Trump effect: Why sale of dystopian books like ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, ‘1984’ is on the rise

Arts & Culture, Books

Donald Trump on Wednesday achieved a comeback with his commanding victory over Vice President Kamala Harris.Dark fantasy books about dystopia, tyranny, and feminism quickly rose to the top of bestseller charts following his victory.This is because these narratives strike a chord with readers in politically tense times.Here’s why.Sales surge for dystopian books after Trump victorySet in a totalitarian society where women are compelled to produce offspring, Margaret Atwood’s
The Handmaid’s Tale rose more than 400 spots and is now ranked third on the US Amazon Best Sellers list. Sales of The Testaments, the sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, have also increased. In the theocratic, male-dominated future America depicted in The Handmaid’s Tale, women are compelled to produce children for the ruling class, the US Constitution is suspended, and the media is banned.Dark futuristic narratives, such as George Orwell’s 1984 and Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, were in the Amazon top 40 as of Thursday afternoon.Another best-seller from Trump’s previous time in office, Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, was in the top 10.AdvertisementAfter seeing a more than 30,000 per cent rise in sales, Sami Sage and Emily Amick’s book Democracy in Retrograde is near the top of the Movers and Shakers chart, which lists the books with the biggest sales gains over the previous 24 hours, as per The Guardian.Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit is also one of the top performers, rising almost 40,000 spots in the last day. The feminist essay collection from 2014 is currently in the middle of the 300s on the bestselling list.Since Trump’s victory, Paola Ramos’ book Defectors, which examines the surge in far-right sentiment among Latinos, has risen in thousands of places. He made big gains with Latino votes, especially men, in the 2024 election.Pro-Trump books also were selling well. Former first lady Melania Trump’s memoir, Melania, was number one on the Amazon list, and Vice President-elect JD Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy was at number seven. Donald Trump’s photo book Save America was in the top 30.The Truths We Hold, Kamala Harris’ memoir, has risen almost 2,000 spots in the last day, landing at number 345 on the Best Sellers list.Also read: 
Why American women are threatening a sex strike after Trump’s winThe reasonThe dystopian wave has sprung back to life with Trump’s win.This is because these narratives strike a chord with readers in politically tense times.Throughout history, dystopian stories have heightened and comforted readers’ anxieties, but people are increasingly using these books for guidance and information rather than as dark fantasy and solace.AdvertisementReproductive rights were a major issue in this race. This had kept Trump worried as polls indicated that voters
strongly supported Harris on the subject.Despite his claims that he would veto a federal abortion ban, it was notable that the 78-year-old took credit for the appointment of three conservative justices that helped tip the US Supreme Court’s balance and overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022.Former Barack Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett told MSNBC that “women do not want to be in The Handmaid’s Tale” in response to the high turnout of female voters in early voting data.Before the election results, Atwood posted a political cartoon on X herself that included women in handmaid costumes waiting in line to cast their ballots and changing out of their uniforms for regular clothing as they left the polling place.Advertisementpic.twitter.com/a0vjVJuL9w— Margaret E Atwood (@MargaretAtwood) November 1, 2024“Despair is not an option,” Atwood wrote in a post on X following the election result. “It helps no one.”Despair is not an option. It helps no one. pic.twitter.com/owauYG1XtH— Margaret E Atwood (@MargaretAtwood) November 7, 2024AdvertisementThe idea that Americans may be living in an Orwellian dystopia became even more compelling in 2017 when Trump denounced the media as “fake news” and his adviser Kellyanne Conway discussed “alternative facts” on national television.“With our current president, people’s taste in reading has definitely changed,” Molly Ash, the newsstand buyer at Book Soup in LA, told Entertainment Weekly.AdvertisementIn a 2021 interview with Rolling Stone, Atwood talked about Trump’s rise, saying that this isn’t new and looks more like “it’s right out of the playbook.” She cited “the big propaganda lies, the replacement of people in pivotal positions in the judiciary – because every totalitarian regime controls the judiciary.”She said, “It was either Hitler or Goebbels who said if you tell the big lie often enough, people will believe it. Make the lie big, and make it often. We saw that. And it’s not a question of left or right — so-called left regimes have done the same thing. It’s a question of totalitarianism or not totalitarianism.”According to Anna DeVries, executive editor at the book imprint Picador, in an interview with The Fader in 2017, explained that “dystopian and science fiction has always been a way for writers to play with reality, stretching some truths into extreme form while creating new ones, all the while highlighting basic truths about humans and society.”“Ever since the election, we have gone down a rabbit hole, into a world where mothers are handcuffed and led away from their children by immigration officials protecting us against ‘illegals’; laws are proposed that would allow husbands to sue their wife’s doctor after an abortion; and a general atmosphere of hostility and fear has settled over the country. So when readers are buying 1984 and making it a bestseller again, it is clear they are not looking for escapist entertainment, but for information,” she said.In a column for The Guardian, author Solnit said, “Our mistake was to think that racism and misogyny were not as bad as they are, whether it applied to who was willing to vote for a supremely qualified Black woman or who was willing to vote for an adjudicated rapist and convicted criminal who admires Hitler.”With inputs from agenciesGet all the latest updates of US Elections 2024

What happened with the Washington Agreement signed by Donald Trump and Aleksandar Vučić?

Technology

Donald Trump is returning to the White House after a four-year hiatus, the same period since he, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, and Kosovo’s Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti signed the famous Washington Agreement.Although legally non-binding, analysts saw this document as a set of promises Serbia made too readily to the U.S. administration, whose policies don’t shift with every new president.This somewhat forgotten document might come back into relevance now that Trump is “back in the saddle,” both in its political and economic aspects. These provisions included accelerating the construction of a motorway and railway between Belgrade and Pristina and avoiding cooperation with “unreliable suppliers” of 5G networks—primarily targeting Chinese companies, and Huawei in particular. It also envisioned opening an International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) office in Belgrade and diversifying energy supply sources.In essence, the document signed by Vučić and Hoti was meant not only to normalize relations between Belgrade and Pristina but also to push Serbia, economically and in terms of energy, to distance itself from China and Russia—bringing it closer to the West and the United States.Forbes Serbia investigated the extent to which Serbia adhered to the commitments made in the Oval Office during Trump’s years in opposition.None of the Promised KilometresThe “Highway of Peace,” a route from Belgrade through Niš and Pristina to the port of Durrës, was originally envisioned by the Berlin Process a decade ago, gaining strong support from both Brussels and Washington. The Washington Agreement reiterated Serbia’s and Kosovo’s commitment to this motorway’s construction, as well as to building a railway on the same route.However, progress has been meagre. So far, Serbia has built only 5.5 kilometres of road, and that, reportedly, incorrectly. The former Minister of Construction, Goran Vesić, said he was unsure how the error occurred. In short, instead of a motorway, a semi-motorway profile was built on the existing road. Since this wasn’t the original plan, Vesić announced a restart of the construction. Earlier estimates suggested the project would cost €1.4 billion.The completion deadline passed several years ago, with no new one in sight. The revised fiscal strategy, as reported by Forbes Serbia, now plans to allocate only one million dinars to the project next year, down from the originally planned 13.7 billion dinars. Even in 2026, investments will remain modest, making it likely that the motorway won’t be a priority for Serbia anytime soon.Shifting PrioritiesThe Fiscal Council’s assessment of the revised fiscal strategy for the next three years highlighted significant cuts to this transport project.“Niš–Merdare, specifically the Niš–Pločnik section, initially had an allocation of 30.6 billion dinars in the 2024 budget rebalance, aiming for completion by early 2027. However, the revised strategy allocates only 4.7 billion dinars across 2025, 2026, and 2027, deferring most of the investment beyond 2027,” according to the Fiscal Council’s report.One obstacle could be the lack of financing for this motorway. The promised loan from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, mentioned four years ago, has yet to materialize.DFC Investment OfficeThe progress of the DFC story hasn’t been much better. Soon after the agreement’s signing, the DFC opened a virtual office in Belgrade, with Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić and DFC CEO Adam Boehler signing a joint statement at Serbia Palace. The public welcomed the appointment of John Jankovic, a Serbian-American, as head of DFC.The DFC promised to fund various projects in Serbia and Kosovo outlined in the Washington Agreement, along with providing credit lines to entrepreneurs and American initiatives in Serbia. However, in March of the following year, President Joe Biden’s administration replaced both Jankovic and Boehler. According to Forbes Serbia’s sources, the office hasn’t been formally closed, but its operations stalled before they even began.Stefan Vladisavljev, program director of the Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence, confirmed to Forbes Serbia that the DFC never actually took off. “It was meant to be a hub for American investments and loans. However, that never materialized.”Hopes for Trump’s Return“There’s a sense of excitement in the Serbian government over Trump’s return to the White House, partly because of the economic agreements from four years ago. There’s renewed hope for rebuilding the General Staff Headquarters and pushing forward with other investments,” said an insider. However, additional pressure from Washington to economically distance Serbia from China could pose a challenge.“Siding against China would impact Serbia economically, as Chinese companies currently construct most road networks and manage major capital projects in Serbia. How things unfold will largely depend on Trump’s new cabinet. Should Richard Grenell return, U.S. insistence on implementing the Washington Agreement might intensify,” the source speculated.Huawei as a Strategic PartnerJudging by recent visits by Serbian officials to Huawei, collaboration with this Chinese tech giant has never been stronger. During recent trips by Interior Minister Ivica Dačić and former Minister of Construction Goran Vesić to Shenzhen, Huawei’s headquarters, discussions focused on continuing smart city and smart road projects.Serbia’s partnership with Huawei began over a decade ago, with Huawei promoted as a key partner in broadband network development. Huawei also has agreements with various Serbian state enterprises.In contrast, Serbia lags in launching a 5G network, making it one of the few European countries still lacking this technology. Originally planned for 2020, 5G rollout was delayed due to the pandemic. Meanwhile, Serbia agreed in Washington to “prohibit the deployment of 5G networks by untrusted suppliers” and to phase out existing equipment from such suppliers “within reasonable timelines.”5G Without Chinese Involvement?Is Serbia’s delay in launching 5G partly due to its Washington Agreement obligations? Stefan Vladisavljev says it likely is.“Huawei and other Chinese companies were expected to be the main contenders. The Washington Agreement placed Serbia in a tough spot. Since the Biden administration took office, Washington has continued pressuring Serbia to avoid Chinese suppliers. That’s why it remains unclear who might participate in the 5G rollout tender,” Vladisavljev explained.Kosovo, unlike Serbia, has joined the Clean Network initiative, which bans the use of Chinese technology from unreliable suppliers.“The Washington Agreement was a swan song of Trump’s previous term. Future relations depend on Trump’s new administration, the next Secretary of State, and any personnel changes in the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade,” Vladisavljev concluded.Energy CooperationThrough the recently signed Strategic Cooperation Agreement in the field of energy between Serbia and the U.S., Serbia has effectively continued to fulfil promises made during Trump’s administration. These commitments primarily involved further diversifying Serbia’s gas policy to reduce its reliance on Russian gas imports.In addition, the agreement, recently signed by the current Foreign Minister Marko Đurić, also entails cooperation between the two countries in the field of renewable energy sources. Officially, Serbia has pledged to inform interested American companies about planned energy projects within the country. Unofficially, American company Bechtel has shown interest in constructing the Đerdap 3 reversible hydroelectric power plant.It’s worth recalling that efforts to diversify Serbia’s gas supply have been ongoing for at least two decades, largely prompted by Western initiatives due to Moscow’s influence on Serbia’s energy security.This diversification involves the interconnector with Bulgaria, gas supplies from Azerbaijan, and links to the port in Greece, which receives liquefied natural gas from the U.S.(Forbes Serbia, 08.11.2024)https://forbes.n1info.rs/biznis/vasingtonski-sporazum-nakon-trampovog-povratka-ima-li-5g-mreze-i-autoputa-bez-kineza/ This post is also available in: Italiano

Scientists have found a way to reduce the incidence of malaria in Mali by 10 times

Science and Health

AK&M 08 November 2024 11:21

An international group of scientists from Russia, Mali, Germany, Lithuania, and Israel has been conducting experimental studies for several years to control the population of malaria mosquitoes in Mali, one of the countries of West Africa where hundreds of thousands of people die from malaria every year. Researchers have found an approach that has reduced the number of carriers of this dangerous disease by 10 times. Scientists use toxic sugar as their main tool. The results of their work are published in the journal “Malaria Journal” (Q1).

– Great strides have been made in the fight against malaria in the world, but, nevertheless, hundreds of millions of people are infected with it every year, hundreds of thousands of them die. The largest number of victims is among preschool children,” says Roman Yakovlev, one of the study participants, a scientist at Tomsk State University and AltSU. – This problem is especially relevant for the countries of West Africa. For several years, our international team of scientists has been conducting experimental research in Mali. The idea of the project was formulated by the innovative Malaria Vector Control Center operating at the University of Bamako.

One of the methods tested by scientists gave a good result – it allowed to reduce the number of malaria–carrying mosquitoes from one person to another by 10 times. The essence of the approach is to organize a network of stations in the villages of Mali. There were traps filled with lures in the form of toxic sugar.

– All mosquitoes, especially females, whose environmental burden is higher due to the fact that they reproduce offspring, in addition to blood, require additional nutrition in the form of carbohydrates, – explains Roman Yakovlev. – In nature, mosquitoes feed on the nectar of plants. As part of the experiment, they were offered another “dessert” – toxic sugar. Unlike traditional methods, such as insecticide pollination, it acts selectively and does not adversely affect other parts of the ecosystem. Volunteers from the villages also took part in the experiments.

Comparative analysis showed that in villages with traps, the number of mosquitoes was much lower than in control settlements where bait was not used. The data obtained by the researchers will form the basis of recommendations to be developed by the World Health Organization.

The participants of the international scientific group plan to transfer their research to regions of Africa where other seasonal mosquito activity and other types of malaria–carrying mosquitoes are present.

We should add that TSU scientists are comprehensively investigating the problem of malaria infection and trying to solve it using different approaches, including using genetic technologies. Scientists from African countries are also involved in the research, among them a citizen of Mali, a geneticist Mohamed Kader.

One of the recent results of large-scale research conducted under the guidance of a scientist from TSU and the Polytechnic University of Virginia Igor Sharakhov, the answer to the question was: when and how did malaria mosquitoes appear in Siberia? Thanks to the sequencing of the genome of more than a thousand individuals belonging to 13 species of malaria mosquitoes, geneticists have managed to solve a 20 million-year-old mystery.
Please note that this press release is based on materials provided by the company. AK&M Information Agency shall not be held liable for its contents, nor for the legal and other consequences of its publication.

“Sound of Freedom” director announces new film

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

The director behind one of 2023’s box-office hits is back with a new movie, this time keeping one of the big stars a secret.Alejandro Monteverde directed the surprise smash, Sound of Freedom, and will helm a new movie called Bethlehem.While Sound of Freedom told the story of Tim Ballard, an antitrafficking agent, the new movie is set in Biblical times and stars some A-list talent.Bethlehem is the saga of a young woman, Mary, who will do anything to protect her newborn son from the murderous King Herod, who is obsessed with finding and killing the child.Angel Studios, which also produced Sound of Freedom, described the movie as telling the tale of Herod’s slaughter of the innocents in Bethlehem but reimagined as a profound spiritual thriller.The film has cast Sam Worthington (Avatar) as Herod’s son Antipater; Emmy-award winner Ben Mendelsohn (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) will play the devil Nahash; and Golden Globe-winner Gael García Bernal (Mozart in the Jungle) stars as Joachim. Newcomer Deva Cassel will play the role of Mary.But Monteverde and Angel Studios have decided to keep the identity of the actor playing Herod under wraps because “the actor is virtually unrecognizable in the role.””When I first met Alejandro and experienced his passion for filmmaking, I felt like I had just encountered the next Frank Capra [the director of It’s a Wonderful Life],” said Jordan Harmon, president of Angel Studios, in an emailed statement to Newsweek. “His approach to sharing stories is always unique, accessible, and powerful. I am thrilled to experience firsthand how he is bringing the story of Bethlehem to life.”Bethlehem is Monteverde’s second follow-up after Sound of Freedom became one of the highest-grossing independent movies of all time. Earlier this year, Angel Studios released his movie Cabrini, which told the story of the first U.S. citizen to be canonized a saint by the Vatican, Frances Xavier Cabrini.

Main: Alejandro Monteverde speaks onstage at Cabrini Premiere on February 26, 2024 in New York City; inset: Jim Caviezel stars in “Sound of Freedom.” The director has announced his follow-up film to that movie.
Main: Alejandro Monteverde speaks onstage at Cabrini Premiere on February 26, 2024 in New York City; inset: Jim Caviezel stars in “Sound of Freedom.” The director has announced his follow-up film to that movie.
Angel Studios, Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images
Sound of Freedom defied box-office expectations last year not only as a relatively unknown independent movie with Christian undertones, but also because it was released on the competitive date of July 4. But it quickly raked in the big bucks and even managed to outperform mega-franchises, Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.It was largely due to an innovative grassroots campaign that Angel Studios was able to fundraise the millions of dollars needed to distribute and market the film globally.Angel Studios also innovated a “pay it forward” system where people who watched the movie at the cinema could purchase tickets online for others as a means to promote the film’s message that “God’s children are not for sale.” It was also designed to provide tickets for those who could not afford to buy their own, and the method helped bolster box-office returns.”The campaign to promote the film has been very innovative and succeeded in making an emotional connection with audiences,” said Alexander Ross in an interview with Newsweek in September last year. Ross is the author of The Evolution of Hollywood’s Calculated Blockbuster Films: Blockbusted.

“Sound of Freedom” director announces new film

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

The director behind one of 2023’s box-office hits is back with a new movie, this time keeping one of the big stars a secret.Alejandro Monteverde directed the surprise smash, Sound of Freedom, and will helm a new movie called Bethlehem.While Sound of Freedom told the story of Tim Ballard, an antitrafficking agent, the new movie is set in Biblical times and stars some A-list talent.Bethlehem is the saga of a young woman, Mary, who will do anything to protect her newborn son from the murderous King Herod, who is obsessed with finding and killing the child.Angel Studios, which also produced Sound of Freedom, described the movie as telling the tale of Herod’s slaughter of the innocents in Bethlehem but reimagined as a profound spiritual thriller.The film has cast Sam Worthington (Avatar) as Herod’s son Antipater; Emmy-award winner Ben Mendelsohn (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) will play the devil Nahash; and Golden Globe-winner Gael García Bernal (Mozart in the Jungle) stars as Joachim. Newcomer Deva Cassel will play the role of Mary.But Monteverde and Angel Studios have decided to keep the identity of the actor playing Herod under wraps because “the actor is virtually unrecognizable in the role.””When I first met Alejandro and experienced his passion for filmmaking, I felt like I had just encountered the next Frank Capra [the director of It’s a Wonderful Life],” said Jordan Harmon, president of Angel Studios, in an emailed statement to Newsweek. “His approach to sharing stories is always unique, accessible, and powerful. I am thrilled to experience firsthand how he is bringing the story of Bethlehem to life.”Bethlehem is Monteverde’s second follow-up after Sound of Freedom became one of the highest-grossing independent movies of all time. Earlier this year, Angel Studios released his movie Cabrini, which told the story of the first U.S. citizen to be canonized a saint by the Vatican, Frances Xavier Cabrini.

Main: Alejandro Monteverde speaks onstage at Cabrini Premiere on February 26, 2024 in New York City; inset: Jim Caviezel stars in “Sound of Freedom.” The director has announced his follow-up film to that movie.
Main: Alejandro Monteverde speaks onstage at Cabrini Premiere on February 26, 2024 in New York City; inset: Jim Caviezel stars in “Sound of Freedom.” The director has announced his follow-up film to that movie.
Angel Studios, Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images
Sound of Freedom defied box-office expectations last year not only as a relatively unknown independent movie with Christian undertones, but also because it was released on the competitive date of July 4. But it quickly raked in the big bucks and even managed to outperform mega-franchises, Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.It was largely due to an innovative grassroots campaign that Angel Studios was able to fundraise the millions of dollars needed to distribute and market the film globally.Angel Studios also innovated a “pay it forward” system where people who watched the movie at the cinema could purchase tickets online for others as a means to promote the film’s message that “God’s children are not for sale.” It was also designed to provide tickets for those who could not afford to buy their own, and the method helped bolster box-office returns.”The campaign to promote the film has been very innovative and succeeded in making an emotional connection with audiences,” said Alexander Ross in an interview with Newsweek in September last year. Ross is the author of The Evolution of Hollywood’s Calculated Blockbuster Films: Blockbusted.

Kazuo Ishiguro at 70: which is his best book? We rank every novel

Arts & Culture, Books

Kazuo Ishiguro, who celebrates his 70th birthday today, is that rarest of things: a critically acclaimed novelist — Booker winner, Nobel winner, knight of the realm — who is also much loved by the reading public. Civil in person, he writes books where an unruffled surface covers turbulent emotional depths. But which of his books is best? The difficulty with ranking Ishiguro’s work is that, unusually among his contemporaries, he has never written a bad novel. But some are better than others, and his books have distinct flavours that appeal in different directions. Here’s my ranking of all Ishiguro’s published fiction.Ishiguro approached the task of writing a collection of short fiction with typical rigour: this isn’t a ragbag of previously published stories but a sequence written as one coherent book. It’s themed around music, but the short form doesn’t really suit an author who achieves his best effects with a slow, cumulative build. There are familiar themes: failed potential in Cellists, where a musician decides her talent is such a fragile flower she daren’t actually develop it; wasted time, where in Crooner a musician gets to work with his hero, but only when the latter’s career is on the skids. And there’s welcome weirdness in Come Rain or Come Shine, where a character ends up impersonating a dog to get out of a sticky situation. The comedy of embarrassment has never been so serious.What we said at the time: “Technically accomplished, quickly forgotten.”8. A Pale View of Hills (1982)Ishiguro’s debut novel is about two mothers and two daughters: the narrator Etsuko, living in England, is mourning the death of her daughter, Keiko, and thinking about her past in Japan with her friend Sachiko, whose own daughter, Mariko, was deeply troubled. Like most of Ishiguro’s narrators, Etsuko is trapped by her past. The novel’s weakness is that Ishiguro hadn’t yet worked out how to strike a balance between mystery and revelation, and A Pale View of Hills, while beautifully written, often tilts from pleasant mental exercise into effortful obscurity.What we said at the time: “A macabre and faultlessly worked enigma.”• Kazuo Ishiguro interview: ‘We can fly too close to the sun’7. Klara and the Sun (2021)If Ishiguro’s novels are divided into two kinds — the meticulously precise and the messily tangled — then this story, sleek and simple on the surface, is firmly in the first category. It’s cheerfully told by Klara, a robot or “artificial friend” tasked with befriending a sick girl, Josie. The story is about the ever-present issue of artificial intelligence, but also more elemental concerns: human potential, the desire to be needed, even the question of whether human life is all that special anyway. It’s fascinating, but it ranks low because the developments can be a touch forced and predictable.What we said at the time: “Tender, touching and true.”Advertisement6. The Buried Giant (2015)If Klara and the Sun is one type of Ishiguro novel, The Buried Giant exemplifies the other: this baggy monster is a foggy story set in an early-medieval England where nobody can remember the past, and where an ageing couple, Axl and Beatrice, set out to find their son — who may not even exist. It’s about how societies remember and forget, how we build convictions from empty air, and although some readers will find its mysteries maddening, elements are as good as anything Ishiguro has written: the first time he’s portrayed a marriage, say, or a terrifying scene with pixies. When I first read The Buried Giant, I couldn’t settle into anything afterwards because I just wanted to go back to the rich world Ishiguro had created. Secret trivia: until the last minute, Ishiguro planned to call this novel Blackwaterside, after the folk song.What we said at the time: “There won’t, I suspect, be a more important work of fiction published this year.”5. Never Let Me Go (2005)A mid-table ranking for Ishiguro’s most popular novel? Well, his creation of the sinister world of Kathy H is exemplary, the secret at its heart is horrifying, and the whole thing is an original way of using an extreme example to talk about the limitations of all our lives. But once the secret is revealed, the answers come freely and with less richness than in Ishiguro’s very best work: the characteristic flatness here seems to go below the surface too. Still, any book that provokes mixed feelings — “Why don’t they leg it?” Tony Parsons demanded in response to Kathy’s passivity, when reviewing the book on Newsnight Review — can’t be bad.What we said at the time: “A fine novel, fiction as moving and horrifying as The Handmaid’s Tale or The Chrysalids.”• Nobel prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro: ‘Society has changed. We need fantasists’4. When We Were Orphans (2000)This book was not widely loved on its release and a friend of mine denounced it as unrealistic. But that’s the point: its befuddled narrator, Christopher Banks, believes himself to be a great detective in 1930s Shanghai — but then, he also believes he was popular at school and we have evidence otherwise (friends call him a “miserable loner”). Most of all, Christopher is hamstrung by his parents’ disappearance and feels he can make things right if only he can solve one last mystery. When We Were Orphans is a tricky bird, rather like Christopher himself; an existential mystery disguised as a realistic detective story. It’s a mind-blowing performance.What we said at the time: “You seldom read a novel that so convinces you it is extending the possibilities of fiction.”3. An Artist of the Floating World (1986)Ishiguro didn’t take long to warm up: his second novel was his first masterpiece. It features perhaps the best of Ishiguro’s many unreliable narrators: Masuji Ono, a retired artist living in postwar Japan and coming to terms with his part in the country’s imperialist past. It’s a book that simultaneously looks outwards at the world — at national pride and generational divisions — and inside at the heart. Ishiguro tells the reader just enough to satisfy us, but holds things back to keep us engaged. It’s a book about the mental hoops we jump through to live with our mistakes — and who among us can’t recognise that?What we said at the time: “A work of spare elegance, refined, understated, economic.”Advertisement2. The Unconsoled (1995)Here is the Ishiguro book I would take to a desert island: you could read and reread it and never quite get to the bottom of it. A pianist, Ryder, comes to a European city to perform, but he keeps getting sidetracked, the way we do in dreams, and starts to feel that the whole city’s happiness — not to mention his parents’ approval — depends on his recital. It’s a knotty whirligig of a story, a novel about the modern epidemic of stress, where the people Ryder meets represent aspects of himself — and it’s funnier than most of Ishiguro’s novels. It was controversial at the time — one critic said it “invents its own category of badness” — and remains divisive, but there’s nothing quite like it.What we said at the time: “A masterpiece. It is above all a book dedicated to the human heart.”• 10 things you need to know about Kazuo Ishiguro1. The Remains of the Day (1989)A novel of clockwork perfection, a precision-tooled jewel about love, war, regret, patriotism, fathers and sons, self-deception and dignity, told by a butler in one of the great houses of postwar England. Ishiguro wrote it as a refinement of his first two novels: he wanted people to see that their themes were not peculiar to Japan, but universal. But in the tragedy of the story — and the sombre approach taken by the film adaptation — don’t overlook how funny this book is, from buttoned-up Stevens accidentally telling a dirty joke to a bunch of farmers, to his awkward attempts to tell an engaged young man the facts of life. “Sir David wishes you to know, sir, that ladies and gentlemen differ in certain key respects.” Ishiguro always viewed it as a comedy, and when a film was first planned, the original screenwriter Harold Pinter wanted the part of Stevens to be played by John Cleese. Yes, that John Cleese.What we said at the time: “A triumph … by turns funny, absurd and ultimately very moving.”Which is your favourite Kazuo Ishiguro novel, and why? Tell us in the comments belowBuy from timesbookshop.co.uk. Discount for Times+ members