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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
I normally like Ishiguro, but must admit I found it a struggle to push through this. 535 pages of increasingly ire-inducing inanity. I couldn’t bring myself to care about the characters or the plot.
Not poorly written or anything so I did give it that second star, but definitely not my cup of tea and we’ll leave it at that.
Not poorly written or anything so I did give it that second star, but definitely not my cup of tea and we’ll leave it at that.
It was just more of the same over and over. Although I was really enjoying it for the first 1/4 it just never really materialized into anything else.
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have given this book 200 pages, hoping that it would lead me somewhere, but shortly before halfway I understood that this just is the "identity" of this book: that it is leading nowhere, and also at the end, would "end" nowhere. Nevertheless, this was sometimes very pleasant reading: the mysterious atmosphere, the kafka-esk dreamlike strangeness, the surreal dialogues and sequences, the stylistic beautifully crafted scenes ... it all bore the stamp of great literature. But when for the 20th time our celebrated pianist Mr. Ryder was accosted by a character and he just (without considering) rushed to the next, absurd scene, it was enough for me. I fear that I -despite my age-still expect to detect a Great Message in a book (social, aesthetic, existential), and that I did not detect it in this one. If ever I find myself having very, very much time, I promise I'll take this one in hand again, just for the reading pleasure.
This is a 535 pages-long novel written entirely in dream logic. In other word, it was written with a language dictated by the grammar of dreams.
For one thing, I've never read any novel like this one, but it is not a compliment this time.
As in dreams, events and things simply don't make sense.
Sequences don't follow logically, and time-distortion is ample.
This unique trope throughout the entirely novel is simply not working, mainly because of its length.
If the novel was, say, about 200 pages long, I think it would have been a lot stronger.
At times, it is admittedly hypnotic, and I was sucked into the narrative, but the merciless repetition of this trope throughout the entire narrative just didn't work for me.
If it weren't Ishiguro, no publication would have published this novel.
Even after my disappointment at this novel, I still consider this author a genius. I will definitely go back to reading this two masterpieces, The Remains of Day, and Never Let Me Go, in the near future.
For one thing, I've never read any novel like this one, but it is not a compliment this time.
As in dreams, events and things simply don't make sense.
Sequences don't follow logically, and time-distortion is ample.
This unique trope throughout the entirely novel is simply not working, mainly because of its length.
If the novel was, say, about 200 pages long, I think it would have been a lot stronger.
At times, it is admittedly hypnotic, and I was sucked into the narrative, but the merciless repetition of this trope throughout the entire narrative just didn't work for me.
If it weren't Ishiguro, no publication would have published this novel.
Even after my disappointment at this novel, I still consider this author a genius. I will definitely go back to reading this two masterpieces, The Remains of Day, and Never Let Me Go, in the near future.
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ishiguro has a wonderful way of imbuing emotion into simplicity. I’ve seen people criticize his books for this — romanticizing and rambling on about ‘nothing’ — but I love the way he elevates the mundane in a poetic and dreamlike fashion. And “The Unconsoled” is the epitome of a jumbled, fugue-like narrative.
The narrator, Mr. Ryder, exists in a distorted, bizarre, anything-is-possible and nothing-is-consequential dream state where two strangers he’s first meeting are also his wife and child, and the tram outside the café leads him into the countryside where he passes through a cupboard and ends up back in the café. You get the picture. The plot progress exceptionally slowly; at times, single paragraphs of dialogue or description span across multiple pages. All the characters feel like a single product, with the same formal, proper speech and rambling, run-on sentences, as Mr. Ryder is constantly getting lost, postponed, or sidetracked on his way.
This book is often tedious and frustrating to push through, but that feels like the sole intent. While the reading experience is quite slow, I was impressed by the way Ishiguro harnesses the nonsensical, projecting the narrator’s confusions onto the reader with how subjective and non-lucid the journey is.
What an accurate depiction of the self-preoccupied people who wants everybody listen and understand them, yet failing to do so themselves. What a relief to finish the book. On my humble opinion, this is far from Ishiguro’s best works.
A rare Ishiguro miss, for me anyway. I was intrigued for a while by the mysterious conceit and eager to see where it led but had to give up around p220 when it all just sort of drifted into sheer incoherence (which, from a quick skim ahead appeared to go on for the remaining 300 pages).
ik weet niet of ik m alleen maar nice vind omdat ik gwn best wel lang ermee bezig ben geweest en omdat ie lang is of omdat ie actually goed is dus moet nog even nadenken over een rating