On the whole there was a better book to be had here, but similarly a much worse one - I liked the way Ishiguro definitely did not try to create a story in the style of the music, or define the sounds the people were making beyond a few gestures. But I do have to ask quite why similar tales, of people in like circumstances etc, made up a book such as this. It might have reached four stars on a more generous day, but for now I think this is a middling opus.