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photogeezer's review against another edition
2.0
Like Never Let Me Go, this left me unsatisfied. I wonder if anyone else feels that the ambiguous ending to a book is a literary mind-fuck. I suppose I could be convinced that this response is a function of my personality. Also, I thought that it was written like YA fantasy fiction. I would have liked it batter as a teenager.
thesonnetsilence's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
4.0
First off, this one is a very slow read. The chapters are long and it can require a bit of pushing through some parts.
Also, the messages and ideas of this book can be a little hard to decipher at times, and the ending is pretty ambiguous.
With all that being said, I loved this one. It’s a very moody read, and very atmospheric. I did feel a tad uncomfortable with certain elements (steer clear if you’re sensitive to animal cruelty and death) however I was able to look past these and focus on the beauty (and darkness) of what the mist represents.
Overall, although I’m not usually a fan of such slow plots, this one had me crying and grateful for its message by the end.
Also, the messages and ideas of this book can be a little hard to decipher at times, and the ending is pretty ambiguous.
With all that being said, I loved this one. It’s a very moody read, and very atmospheric. I did feel a tad uncomfortable with certain elements (steer clear if you’re sensitive to animal cruelty and death) however I was able to look past these and focus on the beauty (and darkness) of what the mist represents.
Overall, although I’m not usually a fan of such slow plots, this one had me crying and grateful for its message by the end.
whiskeywizard's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
benny_g's review against another edition
5.0
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A beautiful moving portrait of the haziness of time forgotten. Perfectly encapsulates the faint murmurs and memories that come flooding back to us again and again though we may not see through the mists fully.
A beautiful moving portrait of the haziness of time forgotten. Perfectly encapsulates the faint murmurs and memories that come flooding back to us again and again though we may not see through the mists fully.
angus_mckeogh's review against another edition
1.0
What a massive let down. Sooooooo slow. Boring. Uneventful. This is the last Ishiguro book I'm going to try. Never Let Me Go was too predictable. And this one was just plain bad. Done.
hoffmann_fanatic's review against another edition
4.0
For a book that is a fantasy novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, the people who have recommended this book to me are invariably neither fantasy fans nor Ishiguro fans, which always struck me as a bit of a curiosity. But I now realize that this makes perfect sense. For fantasy fans, this metaphysical, allegorical novel must seem rambling and derivative - for people who have read a lot of Ishiguro before, there's nothing new here. The Unconsoled, while confusing and long, is considerably more lighthearted, funnier, and optimistic than The Buried Giant - and one of the most impressionable books I have ever read. The Buried Giant hits hard in the moment, but that is largely the responsibility of the last few chapters.
The Buried Giant was my fifth Ishiguro, and, like Klara and the Sun, I felt he has been running out of plot and character tricks for a while. The slow reveal of the memories behind the mist, the coincidences of characters meeting each other, mysterious figures appearing on roads, and the sunny-at-first relationship of Axl and Beatrice, came straight out of his previous two novels. It was not until the ending that I found myself surprised or unable to predict a plot point - maybe I've been reading too much epic fantasy, but I wanted more.
Thematically, this might be Ishiguro's strongest and most committed novel. The book employs a wholehearted assault on fundamental Christianity, nationalism, and civil war, while raising sincere questions about the seemingly inverse relationship between objectivity and the building of community. The exceptionally creative ending was quite possibly my favorite of Ishiguro's thus far, and unlike in many of his other books, kept me sustained until the very end.
I will start recommending this as a starting point for readers looking to discover Ishiguro. Its pastoral aesthetic, accelerating plot, and committed themes are particularly convincing to readers of my Gen Z and millenial generation. This is Ishiguro at his most transparent, active, and sincere, and I anticipate this would have easily been five stars had I not encountered many of his tropes beforehand.
The Buried Giant was my fifth Ishiguro, and, like Klara and the Sun, I felt he has been running out of plot and character tricks for a while. The slow reveal of the memories behind the mist, the coincidences of characters meeting each other, mysterious figures appearing on roads, and the sunny-at-first relationship of Axl and Beatrice, came straight out of his previous two novels. It was not until the ending that I found myself surprised or unable to predict a plot point - maybe I've been reading too much epic fantasy, but I wanted more.
Thematically, this might be Ishiguro's strongest and most committed novel. The book employs a wholehearted assault on fundamental Christianity, nationalism, and civil war, while raising sincere questions about the seemingly inverse relationship between objectivity and the building of community. The exceptionally creative ending was quite possibly my favorite of Ishiguro's thus far, and unlike in many of his other books, kept me sustained until the very end.
I will start recommending this as a starting point for readers looking to discover Ishiguro. Its pastoral aesthetic, accelerating plot, and committed themes are particularly convincing to readers of my Gen Z and millenial generation. This is Ishiguro at his most transparent, active, and sincere, and I anticipate this would have easily been five stars had I not encountered many of his tropes beforehand.
analogn's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-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
5.0
winterbee's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
I understand the whole story as a metaphor about love and loss. It‘s a strange mix of fantasy and myth with a lot of foreshadowing. I liked it but I also think you have to be in the right mood to read it because it‘s altogether quite melancholic.