"The fact that Don Quixote and Sancho Panza have been ripped off as Ralph Kramden­/Ed Norton and Fred Flintstone/Barney Rubble should tell you something about why this first great novel endures."

"The clarity of prose which Ishiguro achieves in this novel is the treat here. He is a master of the sentence, a sorcerer of language; the writing here is quiet, calm, and mesmerizing."

"She’s an extremely talented writer. Her first novel, set in the 1950s, is about a woman who grew up with a very eccentric mother, which, of course, is why I related to it."

"A first novel by a doctor, inspired by his own experiences in India, Ethiopia, and New York. It is an epic and beautifully crafted story, and I was so sad when it ended."

"I've read most of the 80-some novels of this superb sensualist, who knows everything about flowers, pets and men, but this is her most satisfying novel as a plot and a portrait."

"Sure to be a classic. A present-day venture into the surrealist novel. It’s the best description of the art world ever and the existential void every artist faces in an art practice."

"A murder mystery set in 16th-century Istanbul, this gripping novel is about art and religion, the encounter of East and West, and above all the question of how we deal with modernity."