Reviews with content warning for Infidelity - The Buried Giant

I am struggling to summarise my thoughts for this novel into a coherent review, but I think this deserved three stars because the intellectual ideas behind this novel were good, but they were not carried out in a way that was interesting or engaging with the reader?

The setting was so magical and was definitely what drew me in to begin with. It was told in a folklore-ish way and was set in an ancient, fantasy world which felt so cosy and mysterious. Axl and Beatrice were also lovely characters, and whilst I was not completely drawn to them all of the time, their bond and love for one another was inspiring and loveable. However, I felt the story was super slow. I listened to the audio alongside this, and I even felt it was difficult through that. I also felt the third-person narrative did not suit the other stylistic choices that Ishiguro had chosen to tell the story with.

However, I still really enjoyed the themes running through the book, such as the idea of collective identity and memory and the complexity of emotions. I think the ideas behind them were really clever, but I just wish the book had been engaged with in a better way.

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celloyouvegotabass's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Just incredible: ingenious setting and premise; fascinating characters; plot development is unexpected but still feels perfectly natural. Typical Ishiguro, there are some staggering plot twists that accelerate the pace towards a beautiful yet brutally sad and haunting ending. Simply an unforgettable story about living in a fog of forgotten memory, identity, and life purpose - and the heartbreaking consequences of lifting that fog.

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griffinthief's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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jwells's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective sad

Literary fantasy that packs a punch, if a reader is willing to meet it on its own terms. It doesn't follow fantasy genre rules for who a protagonist should be, what an action scene should be like, or even what the most important part of the story should be.

I cried more at the end than I did over Never Let Me Go. YMMV.

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