Kazuo Ishiguro, English novelist and screenwriter who wrote "The Remains of the Day," has been awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize for Literature.
Ishiguro is best known for writing "The Remains of the Day" and "Never Let Me Go," two acclaimed best-sellers that were later adapted for the screen. The prize committee in Sweden said Ishiguro's works contained "great emotional force" that "uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world."
The Nobel Prize is considered to be literature's top honor. Past recipients include Toni Morrison, William Faulkner, Pablo Neruda, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Ernest Hemingway. Last year's honoree, Bob Dylan, was a controversial selection, because he was best known for his music, and because he opted not to attend the ceremony to pick up his prize in person.
Ishiguro's most recent novel, 2015's "The Buried Giant," was a departure for him. It was set just after the fall of the Roman empire and involved mystical creatures. The Guardian described it as "'Game of Thrones' with a conscience."
But Ishiguro has always been attracted to a wide variety of stories and styles. "Remains of the Day" centered on a repressed butler living in a manor house after World War II, while "Never Let Me Go" unfolded in a dystopian future and grappled with questions of medical ethics.