Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Unconsoled: unanswered questions

With a dreamlike lack of obvious logic, this is not an easy read, but its enigmas are absorbingly difficult – and funny, writes Sam Jordison

• Join a Guardian Live interview with Ishiguro on March 8

The Unconsoled is a difficult, perplexing and uniquely challenging book. I’m struggling. Not because I don’t admire or enjoy it; perhaps by the end I may even agree with those who think it’s a masterpiece. There are scenes relating to the narrator Ryder’s small family (if indeed they are his family) that I’ve found almost unbearably poignant. There are also moments of exquisite comedy. To give an early example, I adored the deadpan way in which Ryder complains about a Miss Stratmann failing to give him a copy of his mysterious schedule (“the fault was hers”) and then, just a few lines later, without passing comment, starts talking of his recent plane journey in which he was “making careful study” of that same schedule.

Impressive as these moments are, this book is also so demanding that I haven’t made much headway. I can almost agree with the Reading group contributor who declared “this was a chore” – so long as I can also slip in the goody-two-shoes proviso that some chores are rather enjoyable.

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