Reviews

this book was pretty magical. a fable, a romance, a quest for memory. I thought ishiguro’s writing worked so well in this melancholy fantasy. cried hard at the end. even outside of the writing and the characters, what an interesting exploration of trauma and the act of remembering. ishiguro always manages to ask big, terrifying questions, and while not give answers to those questions, he still presents to the reader people and situations and stories with such empathy and humanity, that I’m always left with some confusion but overall a deep appreciation for people and the complexity of life. I don’t know if any of that made sense. I loved the book, that’s the takeaway.

grumpkin's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

mitskacir's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

Ishiguro's slow, stream-of-consciousness writing style is perfectly suited to reflective books like Never Let Me Go (one of my favorites) but was rather boring for The Buried Giant, a fantasy story about an elderly couple who live in medieval England. The juxtaposition of Ishiguro's style, where nothing really happens, with an epic quest story, where I expect a lot of things to happen, just left me disappointed - whenever my curiosity was piqued about a new mystery or adventure, I had to await the resolution for ages before getting a lack luster answer. I honestly wished the book was "weirder" or darker, along the lines of Coraline.

hillaryreadseverything's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

neonskylite's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

Definitely the weakest of Ishiguro's novels which I think the lack of a strong narrator and switching between perspectives is mainly to blame - Ishiguro shines when he is entirely in one character's mind and gets to unwrap the layers. Without it, I feel like I barely even know these characters. Perhaps this is a point about how without memory you cannot cultivate a rich inner mind most Ishiguro protagonists have, like if Axl and Beatrice had to write an essay without knowing any words. I don't think this was the intention though.

Yes I know the boatman is the narrator but he doesn't count except for some authorial intrusions and clearly speaking as narrator only at the final chapter

Only really started enjoying this in Part III - Gawain's First Reverie was literally so beautiful to me despite how dark the subject matter is (which, yet again, I think is because Ishiguro remembers that he's meant to be a first person writer and shows how Gawain is grappling with his sins on a depth that none of the other four in the main party receive) to the point that I looped it to fall asleep to for two nights

aidenalex's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

Kazuo I love you but this was not for me.

warmrats's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

More...