From the author of Never Let Me Go and the Booker Prize-winning The Remains of the Day The Romans have long since departed and Britain is steadily declining into ruin. But, at least, the wars that once ravaged the country have ceased. Axl and Beatrice, a couple of elderly Britons, decide that now is the time, finally, for them to set off across this troubled land of mist and rain to find the son … son they have not seen for years, the son they can scarcely remember. They know they will face many hazards—some strange and otherworldly—but they cannot foresee how their journey will reveal to them the dark and forgotten corners of their love for each other. Nor can they foresee that they will be joined on their journey by a Saxon warrior, his orphan charge, and a knight—each of them, like Axl and Beatrice, lost in some way to his own past, but drawn inexorably toward the comfort, and the burden, of the fullness of a life’s memories. Sometimes savage, sometimes mysterious, always intensely moving, Kazuo Ishiguro’s first novel in a decade tells a luminous story about the act of forgetting and the power of memory, a resonant tale of love, vengeance, and war. From the Hardcover edition.
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Ishiguro’s, The Buried Giant blends sparse prose and cryptic characterization on a hero’s journey like none I’ve ever read before. Mist engulfs the reader much as it does the characters as we follow an old couple on a journey of revelation, remembrance, and forgiveness.
The final chapter delivers a haunting finale that I feel will stay with me …
I love the theme of this book, but wish I’d figured it out earlier–the ending is worth the read.
Enjoyable take on the King Arthur myths, but the progressive disclosure of key information didn’t seem to drive the characters to any new understandings. The result was still a good read but failed to drive home the theme of racial hatred, partly because of the inherent anachronism of introducing the Law of Innocents two centuries before it was …
Ishiguro has become a science fiction writer. So disappointing, as his earlier stuff was stunning. This was just confusing.
An unusual book. Didn’t really gel for me overall as it had a number of intertwining threads around different characters and it was not at all clear where things ended up. Interesting characters and somewhat strange adventures shared by them. Some intriguing elements like a dragon that caused the whole country to lose memory of the past. It seemed …
Well-deserved the Nobel Prize he received. Extraordinary narrative.
A surprising book that really is a very simple story. Great life lessons.
This is an interesting book that I read a few years ago but still mull over. It seems allegorical. Nothing is clear, so one must read closely.
I wanted to love this, but it just went on and on and on for such a long time without moving the story forward. I liked the overall story, but it took way too long to get through it.
Very unusual, I loved the language and the characters’ voices. It very much drew me in, and I was sorry when I finished it.
A bit slow to read and definitely not a “happy” read.
Sad but beautiful historical fantasy that will make you search your ow mind. If your memory was gone, but so was the memory of everyone else, would you want it back? Would there be risks? I love the elderly protagonists.
Not one of his books I would recommend. A very slow droll story with odd characters and events which are difficult to relate to and make sense of on the whole.
Timeless
I found it disappointing and a bit dull.
Like all of Ishiguro’s novels, this one too is magical.
Such a beautiful, gentle story. Ishiguro leads the reader through a misty, magical journey of love, loyalty and determination. It is rare to see such depth and beauty in the portrayal of an elderly couple. This is not a quick read. It is a tender, thought-provoking tale. The feeling it leaves you with will make you want to read it again.
this is an odd book and it grips you after about two chapters and then you can’t put it down. long after you’ve finished reading you find that you are reflecting on its meanings and symbolism.
I loved this book. While I was reading it, and it is pleasant to read, I kept wondering where it would end. Then it hit me right between the eyes. It still haunts me.