jamaretto 's review for:

The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro

2.0

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Ishiguro is becoming a long-standing auto-buy author for me; I greatly enjoyed Never Let Me Go and Klara and the Sun and was hoping this next read would follow suit. I saw reviews speaking of The Unconsoled being weird and wonderful and bordering on the Kafkaesque and this only intrigued me more. Upon reading however, I found this book to be readable but not particularly exciting. The mood is indeed surreal but the messages seem too buried in absurdity to properly unearth. I enjoyed some of the conceptual themes about the unconsole villagers Ryder meets but overall just felt immense frustration at the constant back-and-forth with little resolution. None of the characters are likeable (nor do I think they are meant to be) and I found no great satisfaction in reaching the end. I suppose I can understand why some readers reveal in this bizarre journey but I was not one of them. Definitely one of Ishiguro's more divisive books!