Reviews - The Unconsoled | The StoryGraph

617 reviews for:

The Unconsoled

Kazuo Ishiguro

3.54 AVERAGE

sbkelly's review against another edition

0.5

challenging slow-paced

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

suburbanfoxes's review against another edition

3.25

challenging

The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro is one of the strangest books I have ever read. This is my first Ishiguro novel, and I read it because I am a classical pianist and I wanted to read a story about someone within my field. The story follows a famous concert pianist named Mr. Ryder, who has just arrived in a small Central European town where he is set to perform an upcoming recital. Upon his arrival, Mr. Ryder is unable to remember his itinerary or his recital program. From here, the novel follows his bizarre interactions with quirky town locals leading up to his performance.

While reading the book, I was disappointed to discover that the story isn’t really about music. Music operates more as a vessel for Ishiguro to explore his themes. I will be honest and say that I am not exactly sure what this book is trying to say. This is likely the type of novel that must be read several times, and by peeling back its many layers during that process, a deeper understanding of the text can be uncovered.

With that said, I am not much of a re-reader. My personal takeaways, from what will probably be my only read-through, are that the novel seems focussed on communication and familial relationships. Many characters in the novel struggle to communicate effectively, and many characters have complicated relationships with their family, be it their spouse, their children, or their parents. The most extreme example of this is through a character named Gustav, who maintains a relationship with his daughter; however, the two intentionally never speak to each other — they interact but do not share words.

There is another character — who happens to be my favorite — named Stephan. Stephan is a young man, currently in his twenties, who was a promising pianist in his childhood; however, he spent two years not practicing and not taking the instrument seriously. After those two years, once he decided to resume his dedication to the piano, he found that his technique and playing were deeply impacted, and any dream he had of becoming a successful pianist had been squandered. This revelation comes much to the severe disappointment of his parents. In many ways, it appears this ruined his parents' lives, at least to some extent.

Aspects like this in the novel are darkly humorous. It feels as if Ishiguro is parodying the idea of child prodigies and classical music’s ageist favoritism of young artists, while also commenting on parent-child relationships and the unfair expectations that parents can place upon their children. I was certainly never a budding child prodigy, but I related to Stephan’s struggles. He is truly the only character I was able to relate to in the novel; furthermore, he is probably the most normal and grounded character out of the whole oddball cast.

“I never believed I was just this…nobody. Maybe with my head, yes, I accepted what they said. But in my heart, no, I never believed it. Not for a minute, in all these years. I could always hear it, I could always hear the music.” (p. 363)

The Unconsoled is notable for how it uses dream logic in a compelling manner. For example, characters will travel long distances only to end up near where their journey began. Another example is that Mr. Ryder sometimes inherently understands character backstories and motivations, even though it would be impossible for him to know such information. It’s just like how in a dream we might understand something to be true within a given scenario. This all could become messy and confusing if it weren’t for the fact that the general plot beats of the story are relatively easy to follow.

This dreaminess creates several memorable scenes, like when Mr. Ryder stumbles upon a funeral, only for the mourners to shift their attention away from the deceased onto himself. The mourners crowd around Mr. Ryder, and through the dream logic, he understands that the crowd resents and despises him. It’s a slightly nightmarish scene that would fit well in a David Lynch film.

With that said, the dreaminess also works to the detriment of the novel. The strange character interactions become repetitive over the 535-page span of the story. Furthermore, the dreaminess can make climactic events feel inconsequential, thus lessening their emotional impact. Even the stressful fact that Mr. Ryder does not know what he is supposed to perform is severely downplayed. I have had many nightmares of that exact scenario — I’m sure all classical musicians can relate — and I wish the novel would have leaned more into those elements of the story.

Overall, I wish the novel was more straightforward. I hate to wish for a creator to be more direct with their art, but I did not get what I wanted out of this book. I likely set myself up for failure by thinking this was going to focus on piano more, unaware that this is an offbeat and lesser-loved novel by its famed author. Later down the line, I’m unsure if I will remember much of the story itself, but I will certainly remember the unique experience of reading it.

The Unconsoled is a cold, emotionally detached, and strange novel. I don’t think I like it, but I definitely respect it.

“‘The point I’m making is that everything will be fine tonight.’”
“‘It’s all very well for you to say that. You’re just like all the others. You just take it for granted. You think all I have to do is turn up and everything else will just follow…”
(p. 445)

bc1969's review against another edition

4.0

challenging lighthearted mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

heyheyheyhey's review against another edition

challenging funny mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

alex8's review against another edition

4.25

challenging reflective slow-paced

sittingwishingreading's review against another edition

3.75

mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

beccads's review against another edition

3.5

challenging mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This novel was a challenge for me. Over 500 pages of a stress dream left me feeling impatient at times. The imagery was satisfyingly labyrinthine at times and other times I wish it leaned into dream-like more.