The Buried Giant in Around the World in 80 Books

Jan 11, 2016 Steve rated it liked it

Shelves: sci-fi-and-fantasy, fiction, folklore

Kazuo Ishiguro's novel, The Buried Giant, is on surface a quest tale, but beneath the surface it's more a meditation on the corrosive effects of vengeance, and its cousin, jealousy. That said, it's an awfully cluttered meditation. At the heart of the story is an elderly couple, Axl and Beatrice, who leave their village, somewhat suddenly, to search for their missing son, who apparently lives in a neighboring village. Beatrice has not been feeling well, so there is a sense of urgency about this j Kazuo Ishiguro's novel, The Buried Giant, is on surface a quest tale, but beneath the surface it's more a meditation on the corrosive effects of vengeance, and its cousin, jealousy. That said, it's an awfully cluttered meditation. At the heart of the story is an elderly couple, Axl and Beatrice, who leave their village, somewhat suddenly, to search for their missing son, who apparently lives in a neighboring village. Beatrice has not been feeling well, so there is a sense of urgency about this journey. But all of this is kind of murky, since everyone's memory is patchy at best. The entire land is plagued by a mist that robs memories, leaving people confused and uncertain over what happened from one moment to the next. (If you've seen the movie Excalibur, you know where this mist is coming from.)

On their way, Axl and Beatrice encounter a boatman in a ruined Roman villa. He is trying to rest from his ferrying labors, but is being plagued by an old crone and former client. This scene is prophetic, and beautifully rendered. The author is also peeling away the layers of British history, while preserving the myths. I though this portion of the story could have stood alone as a short story.

A short time later, at a frightened Anglo Saxon village, where Beatrice has been hoping to get some medicine or cure, they encounter Wistan, a Saxon warrior and something of a Beowulf type. I was a bit dismayed by this development, and groaned when Wistan would later toss the arm and shoulder of a human-like beastie before a gathering of villagers. The Grendel hat tip seemed to me too much. Also, it's noted that whatever Wistan killed, was not an ogre. Nothing is done with this information (tease), and the reader is left hanging. It's not the only time that this happens in the novel.

At this point Ishiguro populates the tale with various elements of early English Lit. Gawain, channeling Don Quixote, shows up, King Arthur is often referred to, Merlin, there's a dragon, a monster in a cave, pixies, etc. By novel's end, a lot of this stuff struck me as unnecessary scaffolding, damaging the arc Axl and Beatrice's tale and journey, which is resolved, via another boatman, in the last 20 or so magnificent pages. The ending, heartbreaking as it is, is why I read literature. In this case however, as moved as I was, I was puzzled by the need for much of what preceded that ending. In the hands of Tolkien, these literary elements would have been integrated much better. There would have been no name dropping. (Then again, I doubt Tolkien could have pulled off Axl and Beatrice's tale.) Calvino certainly would have stripped this one down to its essentials. Or Chaucer.

This was my first Ishiguro novel. He writes beautifully, but I think he misfired here. Still, I would love to read some more of his work. ...more

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Dec 26, 2016 Antonio Gallo rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: autore, narrativa, identità, scrittura, in-inglese, problemi, edizione-kindle

"Un mondo in cui tutto può accadere è un mondo in cui nulla è importante". Una frase questa tratta da questo ultimo libro dello scrittore Kazuo Ishiguro, scrittore giapponese, naturalizzato inglese. Dal 1960 in Inghilterra, e' diventato cittadino britannico nel 1982. Famoso il suo libro e film "Quel che resta del giorno". Il titolo del suo ultimo libro dal quale è tratta la frase si chiama "The Buried Giant", è diventato un bestseller in uscita in Inghilterra. Kazuo Ishiguro sembrava essere scom ...more

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May 28, 2016 Micha rated it really liked it

Not what I was expecting, but it still haunts me a year after I first read it. Ishiguro's work has a way of doing that. His words must be covered in ghosts. ...more

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Feb 01, 2022 Kemlo rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, scifi-and-fantasy

I read this for a book group and was bored out of my mind. I forced myself to finish, hoping the ending would make up for the rest, but I was left with the feeling that the story had been pointless. Perhaps if I was a huge King Arthur fan and scholar, I would have gotten more out of this “meditation”?

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