I was thinking about this today, because I am about to finish Kazuo Ishiguro's 1989 masterpiece 'The Remains of the Day', and one of the most amazing aspects of the novel, IMHO, is that Ishiguro was only 34 years old when it was published.
To be able not only to understand, but also to subtly express, a lifetime's worth of love, longing, regret, and so on, when you are only in your early 30s is just not fair. Haha. What immense talent he had, and has.
What are some other examples of writers who just seemed to be wise beyond their years?
by tkinsey3
12 Comments
Donna Tart did a pretty good job of explaining how difficult ancient Greek is to learn….
it’s been 8 years since I read that book, and I still get chills when I think about it.
Ocean Vuong comes to mind.
a fine and private place was published when Peter S Beagle was, I dunno, 20 or something.
Pratchett was in his 30’s when he wrote Mort and Equal Rites.
He was only in his early 40’s when he wrote Reaper Man and Small Gods.
Carson McCullers wrote “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter” at 23.
Annie Dillard was 28 when she published *Pilgrim at Tinker Creek*.
Mary Shelly
I can’t believe that Mark Z. Danielewski was in his early 30s when he wrote House of Leaves.
I read remains of the day for the first time a couple months ago and it blew my mind away.
I never thought the premise of an English butler driving cross country post war would be interesting at all but it broke my heart.
Ishiguro’s writing is sublime. I would recommend never let me go as well. The way he’s able to capture the innocence of children just had me in tears.
Joyce was in his 20s/30s when he drafted the Dubliners, published at 32
William Wordsworth peaked in his 20s (he published *Lyrical Ballads* at 28) and 30s (*Poems* came out at 37, and most of the *Prelude* was written in this time).