Book publication is story of cooperation

Zhang Yiwei, a professor with Fudan University and a prolific writer herself, compared Klara to the classic fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, The Daughter of the Sea. Chen Qiufan, a science fiction writer, was amazed at the author's masterful storytelling, which focuses on emotional and philosophical depth, and how it created a convincing sci-fi setting without extra writing to define the world in which it set.

In its award citation in 2017, the Nobel committee described Ishiguro's books as "novels of great emotional force", noting that he has "uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world".

"We actually had the book printed, ready in the warehouse and waited for the British publisher for a couple of days," says Feng Tao, head of the literature department at Shanghai Translation Publishing House. Bound by an agreement with the British publisher Knopf, the Chinese edition could not be released earlier than the original language version, he says.

It is common practice that publishers share with their foreign language publishing partners the drafts of books by big-name authors before release. "This provides some time to complete the translation process, so that international readers can access a version in their own language as soon as possible," Feng says. The Shanghai publishing house has established relationships with publishers and agencies of acclaimed authors, such as Margret Atwood, Haruki Murakami and Ian McEwan.