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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
adventurous
slow-paced
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Buried Giant is a post-Arthurian legend filled with unlikely protagonists and subdued action. The book advances with a sense of measured patience and poise at times, while at others it isolates its characters from one another and conversations fragment and offer splintered insight into the conflicting interests of each. A dark allegorical landscape of remorse and innocence lost emerges from the pastoral locales and chivalrous attitudes Ishiguro calls forth.
Ishiguro's novel evokes a classical Greek dramatic model. One must consider: at what points are the story's protagonists conversing not with another person, but an abstract idea? Beatrice converses with the traveler in the ragged cloak and the result is the birth of the idea for the characters' great journey, an awakening of her deeper motives. Such interactions are often intertwined with the sub-Roman Britain lore of magic and superstition and define the novel's compelling factors. Axl and Beatrice navigate a world in which dragons and pixies are very real and dangerous things, but in distinctly allegorical ways. Much ado is made about boatmen in the story and their inquisitive ways. In the end there is always a journey to an island to complete, and it should be the ardent hope of every loving and dedicated couple that they should roam those shores arm in arm. But in the end, the boatmen insist that the crossing must be made alone.
The Buried Giant is a remarkable novel not because of its polish and finesse, for indeed its evokes the same simple and utilitarian aesthetic it assigns to its setting. It has an artful patina of age and wear that feels well-suited and comfortable to the ideas it not so much draws forth but illuminates by the tale's conclusion.
Ishiguro's novel evokes a classical Greek dramatic model. One must consider: at what points are the story's protagonists conversing not with another person, but an abstract idea? Beatrice converses with the traveler in the ragged cloak and the result is the birth of the idea for the characters' great journey, an awakening of her deeper motives. Such interactions are often intertwined with the sub-Roman Britain lore of magic and superstition and define the novel's compelling factors. Axl and Beatrice navigate a world in which dragons and pixies are very real and dangerous things, but in distinctly allegorical ways. Much ado is made about boatmen in the story and their inquisitive ways. In the end there is always a journey to an island to complete, and it should be the ardent hope of every loving and dedicated couple that they should roam those shores arm in arm. But in the end, the boatmen insist that the crossing must be made alone.
The Buried Giant is a remarkable novel not because of its polish and finesse, for indeed its evokes the same simple and utilitarian aesthetic it assigns to its setting. It has an artful patina of age and wear that feels well-suited and comfortable to the ideas it not so much draws forth but illuminates by the tale's conclusion.
A nice parable about the beauty and pitfalls of memory. I think I would have liked a novella-length version better.
Probably not for every reader, but unquestionably the work of a genius writer. This book is NOT a great book for a plane trip or sunny beach vacation, but it's still a great novel. Ishiguro's imagery, metaphor, and layers of meaning are utterly fascinating here — there's just so much to unpack, it's the kind of novel if you read 15 times, you'd discover something new each time. On the surface, it's a story about a couple, Axl and Beatrice, in medieval England who set off on a quest to find their son. There are dragons, and Sir Gawain, and a mysterious mist that robs people of memory. This novel's an allegory of the highest order — with intimations to our own time about war and its effects (especially on children). It took me awhile to talk myself into reading this, but I'm really I glad I did. Ishiguro is a master.
A tender fairy tale, written in elegant, thoughtful prose.
With lovely black-gilded pages and spacious font type, this edition of The Buried Giant is a pleasure to hold and the ethereal and dreamy fable ends in a beautiful and stirring exchange between two of the main characters. But the journey through the text is often tedious and confusing. Axl and Beatrice are two elderly Britons with failing memories - not due to age, however. All of the region's inhabitants suffer from the same affliction - an inability to recall the past except in brief, easily forgotten, snatches of vague memory. The couple remembers enough to set off on a journey to see their adult son, though it's unclear if they remember where he lives or even whether they will recognize him. They encounter many strange events along the way and eventually team up with a Saxon warrior, a wounded boy, and an old knight of King Arthur on a mission to end the mist that clouds their recollections.
Ishiguro starts new sections by jumping forward in time, only to reverse and reveal the events leading up to the present - a technique that takes some getting used to. The characters' muddled dialogue never truly becomes comfortable, however. Presumably he reaches his goal but I couldn't help wishing he had written this tale as a novella instead. Recommended only for intrepid readers who enjoy unconventional literary fiction.
Ishiguro starts new sections by jumping forward in time, only to reverse and reveal the events leading up to the present - a technique that takes some getting used to. The characters' muddled dialogue never truly becomes comfortable, however. Presumably he reaches his goal but I couldn't help wishing he had written this tale as a novella instead. Recommended only for intrepid readers who enjoy unconventional literary fiction.
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
'Curse you,' Axl muttered under his breath, as he pushed
himself forward. I'll never, never give her up.'
God I'm crying