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The Buried Giant: A Novel
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The Buried Giant: A Novel
Unavailable
The Buried Giant: A Novel
Audiobook11 hours

The Buried Giant: A Novel

Written by Kazuo Ishiguro

Narrated by David Horovitch

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

From the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature and author of the Booker Prize-winning novel The Remains of the Day

In post-Arthurian Britain, the wars that once raged between the Saxons and the Britons have finally ceased. Axl and Beatrice, an elderly British couple, set off to visit their son, whom they haven't seen in years. And, because a strange mist has caused mass amnesia throughout the land, they can scarcely remember anything about him. As they are joined on their journey by a Saxon warrior, his orphan charge, and an illustrious knight, Axl and Beatrice slowly begin to remember the dark and troubled past they all share. By turns savage, suspenseful, and intensely moving, The Buried Giant is a luminous meditation on the act of forgetting and the power of memory.

Editor's Note

Haunting & beautiful...

What do we have to forget in order to survive? Personal deeds & historical wrongs fade in and out of the mist of memory in this haunting & beautifully written novel from one of contemporary fiction’s greatest masters.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateMar 3, 2015
ISBN9780739381793
Unavailable
The Buried Giant: A Novel
Author

Kazuo Ishiguro

Kazuo Ishiguro nació en Nagasaki en 1954, pero se trasladó a Inglaterra en 1960. Es autor de ocho novelas –Pálida luz en las colinas (Premio Winifred Holtby), Un artista del mundo flotante (Premio Whitbread), Los restos del día (Premio Booker), Los inconsolables (Premio Cheltenham), Cuando fuimos huérfanos, Nunca me abandones (Premio Novela Europea Casino de Santiago), El gigante enterrado y Klara y el Sol– y un libro de relatos –Nocturnos–, obras extraordinarias que Anagrama ha publicado en castellano. En 2017 fue galardonado con el Premio Nobel de Literatura.

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Rating: 3.6672102396514163 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

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  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    “That’s true, good lady, but then we boatmen have seen so many over the years it doesn’t take us long to see beyond deceptions. Besides, when travellers speak of their most cherished memories, it’s impossible for them to disguise the truth. A couple may claim to be bonded by love, but we boatmen may see instead resentment, anger, even hatred. Or a great barrenness. Sometimes a fear of loneliness and nothing more. Abiding love that has endured the years—that we see only rarely. When we do, we’re only too glad to ferry the couple together. Good lady, I’ve already said more than I should.” Axl and Beatrice, an elderly couple, live in post-Roman Britain. They – like everyone – are suffering from some strange memory loss that prevents them from recalling large parts of their lives: “Now I think of it, Axl, there may be something in what you’re always saying. It’s queer the way the world’s forgetting people and things from only yesterday and the day before that. [...] Like a sickness come over us all.” Sometimes, though, either Axl or Beatrice do remember things from their past; just like one morning Axl remembers their son who has moved to a village not too far from their home. Not having seen him for many years, they decide to visit him. The entire book is basically about their journey and the people they meet. This book is definitely not for the casual reader – you always have to read closely and attentively or you will miss a lot of small details that are not always of great relevance but which help form the “big picture”, e. g. we learn early on that Beatrice and Axel aren’t allowed to own and use a candle at their home. When they’re talking about a cloak much later on, we learn said cloak was one they “later we lost in that fire”. Furthermore, the entire book can be read in a number of ways – as a somewhat simple story of the arduous journey of our elderly couple, or maybe that journey itself isn’t one of physical hardship but an allegory for their life together and the challenges they encountered. Even individual encounters and deeds during the journey can often be interpreted in many ways. The more abstract interpretation is all the more plausible as the writing style is very formal, sometimes excessively so: “Master Ivor told us of it, and we thought it poor news to succeed your brave intervention.” Nobody – at least today – talks like that. While this is, undoubtedly, yet another means to achieve a feeling of estrangement, it is too much for me. In addition to this strange formality, the narrator often doesn’t directly describe the landscape but how it could or would have been at the time narrated: “There would have been elms and willows near the water, as well as dense woodland, which in those days would have stirred a sense of foreboding.” This adds again to the feeling of estrangement from the literal story itself and makes it harder for me to actually enjoy the story. It distances the reader from the story and while that might be the right way if you only care about your art and not your reader, I didn’t like that. I always felt like I was being led by the nose somewhere and tried to anticipate it. I felt like being manipulated to be “educated” and I didn’t enjoy it. The weird forgetfulness everyone is afflicted by makes for very strange dialogue like this one: “What’s this you’re saying, princess? Was I ever the one to stop us journeying to our son’s village?” “But surely you were, Axl. Surely you were.” “When did I speak against such a journey, princess?” “I always thought you did, husband. But oh, Axl, I don’t remember clearly now you question it. And why do we stand out here, fine day though it is?” Uh, yes, and why are you tormenting us with repeating dialogues like that all the time?! It’s really truly annoying to have to keep reading stuff like that. On the other hand, it’s the most important narrative feature of this book so I do understand the general need to make sure we fully understand it and its implications. Even more so since both Beatrice and Axl do remember additional fragments of memories whenever they talk in length about any given topic. Quite a bit of information is given in that indirect way. Especially information that has been hidden before – because every character in this entire book is hiding things – some major, some minor – from everyone else. Sometimes with good reason, sometimes we simply don’t know and have to find our own answer. Everything in this book is taxing like that, even down to the names of our heroes: Beatrice literally means “she who makes happy" - and she is Axl’s one and only. The only person for whom he really cares and she makes him happy. Axl means “father of peace” (or “father is peace”) and even that is quite fitting as we will learn late in the book. “The abbot will insist we carry on as always. Others of our view will say it’s time to stop. That no forgiveness awaits us at the end of this path. That we must uncover what’s been hidden and face the past. But those voices, I fear, remain few and will not carry the day.” While I was reading “Giant”, I constantly felt like the author was wagging his finger at me and lecturing me. Literature, to me, though, is not about lecturing. I want “my” books to entertain me, to make me think and question things but not by moralising, lecturing, finger-wagging but unobtrusively. Maybe that’s too near to “edutainment” (which I have no qualm with) for some but that’s just the way I feel. I don’t like reading the old classics (Schiller, Goethe, etc.) either anymore – they're just too far from my life and times. “Giant” does read like such a classic or, possibly, a play: “Should I fall before I pass to you my skills, promise me you’ll tend well this hatred in your heart. And should it ever flicker or threaten to die, shield it with care till the flame takes hold again. Will you promise me this, Master Edwin?” At least a few amusing passages found their way into this book (possibly by accident!): “Let’s come away, child,” Axl said. “This is no sight for you or your brothers. But what is it made this poor ogre so sick? Can it be your goat was diseased?” “Not diseased, sir, poisoned! We’d been feeding it more than a full week just the way Bronwen taught us. Six times each day with the leaves.” Ultimately, though, “The Buried Giant” is lost on me due to its excessively allegorical nature and narrative complexity – if a book is so taxing, I can hardly enjoy reading it anymore, it’s simply too much for me. Maybe it’s Ishiguro handing us all the essential information to make up our own mind and come to our own conclusions and it’s just me. I didn’t give up on this book but I’m giving up on its author for good.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    It's a rare treat to stumble across something so beautiful and magical - the sort of book one can relax into like a hot soak at the end of a long day. It broke away from a large number of the genre tropes to provide a piece of literary fantasy. It speaks on war, revenge, hate, love - not romance, but love. It was pure pleasure to read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Sad, but good.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The Buried Giant sort of snuck up on me really. Several rainy days on a holiday led me to the warm embrace of a fine second-hand bookshop. I saw The Buried Giant, amongst a few other gems, and added it to my pile. Vaguely I remembered reading Ishiguro some other time: a check when I returned to my computer and had access to LibraryThing informed me that I had read When We Were Orphans, but rated it as somewhat mediocre, and certainly it left no impression on me after seven years. I simply could not recall reading it. The rain eased up, and The Buried Giant slipped my mind.Until some down time a few months later. So I reached for it, and it would not let me go. In fact it worked its own strange spell, as strange as that of the breath of she-dragon Querig, compelling and rewarding this reader yet without cause to have done so. The characters trudge along, make their way towards various self-discoveries that emerge from a mystical mist of amnesia, and leave me. And that’s it, really. I think the goat survives.Or does it? Does anyone? The sixth century is a strange lull in the history of the British Isles. At least according to the narrative Arthur’s peace has held, but can peace ever hold where xenophobia and perceived injustice lurk? Saxons loiter with intent, and only amnesia holds them at bay. Pilgrims meander, though amnesia tends to make them wonder why, whither and whence from time to time. Recollections of a life once lived form, and then prove to be chimeric, slipping away. Bad things, good things … things just happen. Amnesia is redemptive. Or does it condemn? One or the other. Amnesia makes it hard to know, really, for the coordinates, the reference points are lost, and why were we loving and hating and fighting and walking anyway?And eventually, one supposes, the Saxons will return, and blood will flow again. Comme ci comme ça. Yet I could not put this book down, and my life is that iota the richer for reading it. I think. What was it about, again?
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Ponderous, but not painful. Languid, but not laborious. Even in a tale of knights and ogres and dragon's curse, Ishiguro stays focused on memory and fidelity and an elderly couple's love for one another. Super.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I found the writing lyrical and fitting to the dark ages setting, but I'm not sure I liked the ending. I'll have to think about it more.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is one of those books that has a definite feel to it - atmospheric doesn't quite define it. The setting, the characters, the way the characters talk and what they are fixated on all contribute. There is a level of frustration involved in it all too - why can't they remember, why does everyone seem to have short-term AND long-term memory issues? How can we be certain they are who we think they are if they can't even remember parts of the past that might help define them? A journey into memory and a quest for identity in a misty, obscure land - or, to borrow from Heinlein: strangers travel in a strange land...[in progress]
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Ishiguro is one of the UK’s literary treasures – and I’m not the only one who thinks so: last year he was awarded the Nobel, and this year he was knighted. Ishiguro has never been afraid to explore genre territory, indeed his best-known novel these days is probably Never Let Me Go, which has an explicitly science-fictional idea at its core. And The Buried Giant is, by any definition of the term, fantasy. It’s sort of ninth century historical fiction, but it’s also about the Matter of Britain and it makes reference to a number of fantasy tropes. I had forgotten the commentary which came out after the book first appeared three years ago, so I pretty much came to it cold (although I’m entirely familiar with Ishiguro’s oeuvre, having read all of the books prior to this one). Anyway, I’d forgotten the genre complaints against the book, but sort of know what to expect given the other Ishiguro books I’d read. And in the latter respect, it did not disappoint. Axl and Beatrice are Britons, old Britons, seeing out the last of their years in a small Briton village, when they decide to go visit their son in a nearby village. They can’t remember exactly which village, but suppose they’ll figure it out as they travel. In fact, they’ve noticed an increasing forgetfulness on everyone’s part, and they don’t like how it has changed things. Of course, it’s not just the forgetfulness brought on my old age, it’s something endemic to everyone in post-Arthurian Britain. En route, they are joined by a Saxon warrior and a Briton boy believed to have been “infected” after being abducted by ogres and who has been rejected by his village. They also bump into Sir Gawain several times. It’s all very cleverly done. The forgetfulness is real, a magic spell laid on the land by a dragon, and it’s a consequence of the last great battle between the Britons, led by Arthur, and the Saxons. Unfortunately, Ishiguro takes his time getting to the core of the novel, and the first third, in which Axl and Beatrice eventually decided to travel, and then walk several miles to the nearest Saxon village, drag badly. But once Gawain appears on the scene, and the central premise begins to be revealed in hints and clues and glimpses, then things begin to pick up. I finished The Buried Giant a great deal more than I had done halfway in. And, to be honest, I couldn’t really give a fuck about whether it was genre or not. It was beautifully-written and cleverly done, and if it felt a little old-fashioned genre-wise in places that suited the material. I wasn’t so sure on the authorial interventions – or rather, the conceit which presented the narrative as told to the reader by Ishiguro, even though I’m a fan of breaking the fourth wall, as it felt unnecessary and added nothing to the story. Everything in a novel should be part of the story. I thought The Buried Giant, despite its longeurs, a better work than Never Let Me Go.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The Buried Giant sort of snuck up on me really. Several rainy days on a holiday led me to the warm embrace of a fine second-hand bookshop. I saw The Buried Giant, amongst a few other gems, and added it to my pile. Vaguely I remembered reading Ishiguro some other time: a check when I returned to my computer and had access to LibraryThing informed me that I had read When We Were Orphans, but rated it as somewhat mediocre, and certainly it left no impression on me after seven years. I simply could not recall reading it. The rain eased up, and The Buried Giant slipped my mind.Until some down time a few months later. So I reached for it, and it would not let me go. In fact it worked its own strange spell, as strange as that of the breath of she-dragon Querig, compelling and rewarding this reader yet without cause to have done so. The characters trudge along, make their way towards various self-discoveries that emerge from a mystical mist of amnesia, and leave me. And that’s it, really. I think the goat survives.Or does it? Does anyone? The sixth century is a strange lull in the history of the British Isles. At least according to the narrative Arthur’s peace has held, but can peace ever hold where xenophobia and perceived injustice lurk? Saxons loiter with intent, and only amnesia holds them at bay. Pilgrims meander, though amnesia tends to make them wonder why, whither and whence from time to time. Recollections of a life once lived form, and then prove to be chimeric, slipping away. Bad things, good things … things just happen. Amnesia is redemptive. Or does it condemn? One or the other. Amnesia makes it hard to know, really, for the coordinates, the reference points are lost, and why were we loving and hating and fighting and walking anyway?And eventually, one supposes, the Saxons will return, and blood will flow again. Comme ci comme ça. Yet I could not put this book down, and my life is that iota the richer for reading it. I think. What was it about, again?
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The Buried Giant is not the dragon that is slain by the valiant knight, but is hatred and violence that has been suppressed magically after King Arthur's triumphant battle against the Saxons in their struggle for control of England. The main characters thrived in their forgetfulness, and wonder toward the end, if their love for each other would be as strong if they had been forced to remember the difficulties of their early marriage. It is an interesting question. Is it better to remember injustice, or to forget it? There is relief in finally knowing the history of the characters, that for most of the time is at the edges of their recollection. That knowledge is sadness too, because of grief not truly resolved. For the world of England there is most certainly war ahead, as the Saxons recall the violence done to them by Arthur.

    The slow pace, and precise but vague dialogue required me to slow down and take the novel as it came, rather than guessing ahead. This was hard, and even a little ponderous. It is a puzzle just to find out who these characters are, what they have done with their lives and what kind of world they live in. The end unfolds with enough information to be satisfying, even great. Although I couldn't wait to finish the book, I now want to read it again.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The writing here is wonderful, and I very much liked the atmospheric of 6th century Britain. I wasn't quite convinced about the fantasy aspects of this novel - there was something uncomfortable, as if the story was dipping its toes in the water but not sure how far to wade into the rich river of the fantastic. I love Arthurian romance and Beowulf, and I didn't feel that this story completely engaged with either - almost as if Axl and Beatrice (if anyone calls me 'princess' in the near future, I won't be responsible for my actions!) were watching it. The memory confusion was the most interesting, I think.
    I'm very glad I read this novel, and some of the phrases and ideas will continue to resonate with me.
    I confess that I wanted to live this novel, but remained somewhat detached. I think that perhaps it was not quite the right time for me, although it was pretty suitable reading for a hot Melbourne autumn, sitting on a shady verandah. Perhaps it needs revisitng in winter...
    Very much worth trying, because you may just adore it.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Meh. I wish I could say anything more than that. I disliked this book and made myself finish it. Just Meh.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I really enjoyed this book, but I'd have to warn any Ishiguro fans: if you're looking for Remains of the Day, this books is not for you. However, if you are looking for a fairytale with ogres, dragons, and pixies, then start reading and have fun! I think that if the reader is armed with the knowledge that this book is different than others by this author, then he/she will enjoy it just fine :)
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A fairy tale. A dragon story. An old couple's. A lost son. So beautiful!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This one was weird. I liked some elements of it, but overall I found it just odd and not all that interesting. Just not quite my cup of tea, I guess.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Not at all the story I was expecting from the blurb. The blend of history, legend, myth, fantasy made this book a frustrating read for me. I don't mind any of those elements when I'm expecting them but this book defied expectations in not always pleasant ways. Having said that I would recommend this book for book clubs as there is a great deal to discuss: the themes, narrative style, use of mythology and so much more. Even though I really didn't like it I want someone I know to read it so I can talk about it.
    The one point I found very jarring was the beginning of chapter 3 "...a tall fence of tethered timber poles, their points sharpened like giant pencils,.." this is the only point in the descriptions Ishiguro references something so clearly modern and it stuck in my brain like a splinter. A really annoying splinter.
    The other thing I was confused about was initially I thought this story was about a journey through ancient Britain and set in reality (concluded from blurb)so when things like orgres and dragons were mentioned at first I thought the characters were responding to an unknown threat by making up a mystery beast to explain things they didn't understand.
    Overall not a bad book but just not what I was expecting and not my thing. It is sure to appeal to people who go for opaque stories and frustrating conclusions.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    A strange book with elements of Beowulf, Don Quixote and Dante's Divine Comedy. The plot revolves around the effects of a mist that robs people of their memories. However in order to try and get the plot to work the effect is selective amnesia which is never explained.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Liked the idea and some of the writing was beautiful, but 375 pages written in the style of a medieval romance was trying sometimes. The characters were more metaphor and allegory than actual people, and that made it hard to connect to the story through them. Almost feel that it would have made a better short story. I loved Never Let Me Go and Remains Of The Day, but this was disappointing.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Very inventive. Most enjoyed learning the early history of Britons and Saxons and immersion into that long ago time.. HOWEVER, ultimately found the fable format tiresome and a yawn: this symbolizes that, and that symbolizes this, ok got it. Not so fond of the sparse prose style either that used plot and action exclusively rather than description or metaphors (excepting that the whole story was a metaphor of the couple's journey to death).
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Writing skills -A
    Story and Subject Matter -D

    Somehow I came up with a three star rating, but maybe it should really be a two?

    I know he was trying to be all folk tale-like and mythical but it wasn't imaginative enough to fit in those categories, so it really was just plain dull. His writing style carried me through to the end, but just barely.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    It was a different Ishiguro novel. He is unpredictable, never doing anything again, always changing and never constant. I love how he keeps on changing things up. I've got mixed feelings about "The Buried Giant". I liked it but nothing really stood out, no one I really liked. It was okay. It was weird for an Ishiguro novel, that one I'm sure of. One thing I loved about with was its unexpectedness. I really have no idea what's going to happen next. Ishiguro is a great writer in that aspect. He is just full of ideas, I don't know how and where he gets them.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The Buried Giant - Great theme, diminished by poor presentationGeorge Santayana said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Kazuo Ishiguro explores that notion in his novel The Buried Giant, set medieval Britain.Axl and Beatrice are an elderly couple who decide, quite inexplicably, to visit their son who lives in a village a short, but dangerous journey away - they think. The problem is everyone, the entire population, is suffering from loss of memory. They can hardly remember what transpired even a few weeks ago. Axl and Beatrice don't remember why their son left, exactly where the village he lives in is, or if they'll be welcomed when they arrive? On their way they take up with a wandering Saxon warrior, Wistan, and also come across Sir Gawain, an aging knight who served King Arthur.Glimpses of the past intrigue and befuddle all the characters. Have their paths crossed before? Were they friend or foe? And what has caused this loss of memory?The story is sprinkled with myth and legend and a good thing because this reader had to apply magic to make sense of Ishiguro's plot. At some point Beatrice becomes convinced that the pervasive memory loss is caused by the breath of the legendary dragon, Querig, who lives high in the mountains. And wouldn't you know it, Wistan is on a mission to kill that very same dragon.Beatrice now decides her goal is to help dispatch the dragon first. Just how an aged woman in failing health can help is never explained. Once everyone's memory is restored she and Axl will then proceed to visit their son. Sir Gawain also joins in the quest to kill the dragon or so the reader is led to believe.Ironically, most of the partial memories that continue to be evoked are far from pleasant - turmoil in relationships and war and slaughter of innocent women and children. Axl's worries what the future will hold if memories are restored. Though the theme of the story is compelling this reader had to wonder why Ishiguro chose such a odd narrative vehicle to present it. The significance of whether knowing history, personal or societal, helps us avoid the same mistakes or encourages us to double-down on them was lost because the story was set in the distant past, muddled in myth and supernatural creatures, and burdened by the archaic dialogue style the author created.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I appreciated this novel as an emotional commentary of what loss of memory - on both a national and personal level - can do to us as humans, both individually and in our relationships. What can love mean if we can't remember it? Does the lack of memory make a relationship stronger (because you can forget old wounds) or weaker (because you can't remember anything)?

    While I found much of it understatedly and matter of factly emotional like other of his books, this one didn't feel as tight to me, which was a bummer because I've been looking forward to reading it for quite some time. There were some scenes where I had trouble following the narrative - either because I lost interest or because it was confusingly written (and not on purpose). It could be plodding at times, but the majority of the book made up for it. I'd be interested in rereading it down the road, perhaps .

  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    A departure in many ways, from the usual Ishiguro fare, with this being a story beginning as a quest of one type and ending as another in a world like our own, but seemingly different, with magical realism playing its part. Some elements of Ishiguro are here, like his detail, his seamless writing and his fascination with memory and reflection but this is twisted with a helpful magical plot device. Somehow, although the leads do engage, the supporting characters don't, and this weakens both the narrative and the drive. This isn't his best effort and in places, I, unusually, found myself getting bored. It's readable but not re-readable. If you're pressured for time. Then this probably isn't for you. For Ishiguro completists only.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Yes indeed there is magic and mystery in the distant past, and that's because the past itself is a story. Ishiguro creates a convincing early Britain every bit as cool as Middle Earth, and a tricky quest for his elderly heroes, and makes it all into a wonderful, thoughtful tale. How real is our world? what have we forgotten? Are we who we think we are? does our love last forever? Can a whole country continue to forget it's past? These are the questions 'The Buried Giant' ponders.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I listened to the audiobook version of this book. This was a decent enough book to keep me company over a few walks and commutes from Stillorgan to Dalkey. I'm not 100% sure where I fall on the line of "Ishiguro hates fantasy" vs. "Ishiguro does the genre justice," but, as a fantasy, it certainly pushed me up to my limits with what I can stomach, from a fantasy point of view.I could have done without Axl referring to his wife as Princess as many times as he did, but there are passages where Ishiguro shows off how well he can write that would make me want to pick up something else of his, even though I didn't necessarily love this one.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This was an amazing fairy tale about the end of love's journey, not just the frilly beginnings. We follow Axl and Beatrice on a quest to discover their past and why they, and everyone else, seems to have lost it.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Wonderful dark fantasy. Doesn’t go heavy on the magic aspect but enough to create a sense of wonder. Recommended to anyone who has played Dark Souls or Bloodborne and appreciate genuine love stories. The author connects narratives wonderfully with a touch of playful “Momento” style perspectives.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Several times, while reading this story of an elderly couple on a mythical journey to seek their son, it occurred to me that an examined life is a costly one, and that some are incapable of paying the price self-knowledge exacts. Some of us reject our pasts and simply stumble along for the remainder of our lives. Others pay attention to where we've been and assume ownership. Well written and thought provoking, this novel consistently avoids full disclosure - perhaps representative of our own internal defense systems that protect rather than inform?

    Eleanor Cowan, author of : A History of a Pedophile's Wife
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I think the magnitude of Ishiguro's genius is heightened by the seeming insipidity of his writing at the sentence, paragraph, or even chapter level. I don't have another favorite writer whose work is like this. His books are carefully constructed - the images build on themselves until, at some point, it dawns on the reader that he is holding a lot more in his hands than he thought. We are eventually surrounded by or confronted with a large and moving metaphor that touches our own life. The theme here is also found in some of his other novels; I won't discuss it here. It is better to read this without any preconception.