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mundinova 's review for:
The Unconsoled
by Kazuo Ishiguro
Ishiguro does Kafka.
Ishiguro can write in many different genres.
[b:Never Let Me Go|6334|Never Let Me Go|Kazuo Ishiguro|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1353048590l/6334._SY75_.jpg|1499998] and [b:Klara and the Sun|54120408|Klara and the Sun|Kazuo Ishiguro|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1603206535l/54120408._SY75_.jpg|84460796] are sci-fi.
[b:The Buried Giant|23210067|The Buried Giant|Kazuo Ishiguro|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1415296888l/23210067._SX50_.jpg|41115424] is fantasy.
[b:When We Were Orphans|44417610|When We Were Orphans|Kazuo Ishiguro|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1552422269l/44417610._SY75_.jpg|3333606] (a seriously underrated book) is detective fiction.
[b:An Artist of the Floating World|28922|An Artist of the Floating World|Kazuo Ishiguro|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327786035l/28922._SY75_.jpg|2464610] and [b:The Remains of the Day|17666627|The Remains of the Day|Kazuo Ishiguro|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1363891174l/17666627._SY75_.jpg|3333111] are historical fiction.
And [b:A Pale View of Hills|28920|A Pale View of Hills|Kazuo Ishiguro|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348339374l/28920._SY75_.jpg|1676317] is ... well, just his first book. Doesn't really fit into any category beyond literature.
But The Unconsoled is very different. A 400-page dream where people and locations change and morph into something more familiar and strange at the same time. There are ideas of memory and journeys Ishiguro plays around with in this book that he then masters in The Buried Giant. Dream logic and absurdist encounters. There were so many scenes where the protagonist has his family within reach, but then loses them. Like a frustrating dream where you'll lose more the harder you try to control your situation.
I'm such an Ishiguro fangirl that it pains me to give this book only three stars. But I'm being honest. Kafka is powerful because he gets to the point, quickly. This book doesn't do that. It goes on too long and takes forever to get to the point.
There was one passage that will circulate in my mind for years to come, I'm sure, and it was about an artist searching for this one perfect moment or time in their life when it wasn't just practice or a good performance, but a transcendent performance. That day that the artist will look back on and say, "Yes, that was it. That was the moment I was perfect." It's a fool's errand. Something that may never come, but the artist's life is sacrificed to this endeavor. The entire city echos this ideal, that they are cultured and everyone must strive to be better. They have standards to uphold.
Someday, I will be perfect and have a family and my parents will witness my perfect day and be proud. But we all know how that plays out in our dreams.
Story: 2 stars
Character Development: 3 stars
Writing: 5 stars
Ishiguro can write in many different genres.
[b:Never Let Me Go|6334|Never Let Me Go|Kazuo Ishiguro|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1353048590l/6334._SY75_.jpg|1499998] and [b:Klara and the Sun|54120408|Klara and the Sun|Kazuo Ishiguro|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1603206535l/54120408._SY75_.jpg|84460796] are sci-fi.
[b:The Buried Giant|23210067|The Buried Giant|Kazuo Ishiguro|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1415296888l/23210067._SX50_.jpg|41115424] is fantasy.
[b:When We Were Orphans|44417610|When We Were Orphans|Kazuo Ishiguro|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1552422269l/44417610._SY75_.jpg|3333606] (a seriously underrated book) is detective fiction.
[b:An Artist of the Floating World|28922|An Artist of the Floating World|Kazuo Ishiguro|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327786035l/28922._SY75_.jpg|2464610] and [b:The Remains of the Day|17666627|The Remains of the Day|Kazuo Ishiguro|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1363891174l/17666627._SY75_.jpg|3333111] are historical fiction.
And [b:A Pale View of Hills|28920|A Pale View of Hills|Kazuo Ishiguro|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348339374l/28920._SY75_.jpg|1676317] is ... well, just his first book. Doesn't really fit into any category beyond literature.
But The Unconsoled is very different. A 400-page dream where people and locations change and morph into something more familiar and strange at the same time. There are ideas of memory and journeys Ishiguro plays around with in this book that he then masters in The Buried Giant. Dream logic and absurdist encounters. There were so many scenes where the protagonist has his family within reach, but then loses them. Like a frustrating dream where you'll lose more the harder you try to control your situation.
I'm such an Ishiguro fangirl that it pains me to give this book only three stars. But I'm being honest. Kafka is powerful because he gets to the point, quickly. This book doesn't do that. It goes on too long and takes forever to get to the point.
There was one passage that will circulate in my mind for years to come, I'm sure, and it was about an artist searching for this one perfect moment or time in their life when it wasn't just practice or a good performance, but a transcendent performance. That day that the artist will look back on and say, "Yes, that was it. That was the moment I was perfect." It's a fool's errand. Something that may never come, but the artist's life is sacrificed to this endeavor. The entire city echos this ideal, that they are cultured and everyone must strive to be better. They have standards to uphold.
Someday, I will be perfect and have a family and my parents will witness my perfect day and be proud. But we all know how that plays out in our dreams.
Story: 2 stars
Character Development: 3 stars
Writing: 5 stars