The Buried Giant by Kazuo IshiguroAuthor Website Amazon (UK) Amazon.com Faber & Faber Fiction (ebook), 2015
353 Pages
WHAT IT'S ABOUT
An extraordinary new novel from the author of Never Let Me Go and the Booker Prize winning The Remains of the Day.
'You've long set your heart against it, Axl, I know. But it's time now to think on it anew. There's a journey we must go on, and no more delay...'
The Buried Giant begins as a couple set off across a troubled land of mist and rain in the hope of finding a son they have not seen in years.
Sometimes savage, often intensely moving, Kazuo Ishiguro's first novel in a decade is about lost memories, love, revenge and war.
OPENING PARAGRAPH
You would have searched a long time for the sort of winding lane or tranquil meadow for which England later became celebrated. There were instead miles of desolate, uncultivated land; here and there rough-hewn paths over craggy hills or bleak moorland. Most of the roads left by the Romans would then have become broken or overgrown, often fading into wilderness. Icy fogs hung over rivers and marshes, serving all too well the ogres that were then still native to this land. The people who lived nearby - one wonders what desperation led them to settle in such gloomy spots - might well have feared these creatures, whose panting breaths could be heard long before their deformed figures emerged from the mist. But such monsters were not cause for astonishment. People then would have regarded them as everyday hazards, and in those days there was so much else to worry about. How to get food out of the hard ground; how not to run out of firewood; how to stop the sickness that could kill a dozen pigs in a single day and produce green rashes on the cheeks of children.
WHAT I THOUGHT
The Buried Giant is my first Ishiguro novel.
I thought The Buried Giant was fantastic. I had a great time reading it. I wasn't sure what to expect because there have been so many mixed reviews. Some people love it and class it as a fantasy and others hate it for the same reason. I'm not fussed what genre a novel fits into as long as the author tell a good story. Ishiguro tells a great story with The Buried Giant. I had a really good time with this book. I loved all of the myth and Arthurian legends interwoven into the novel including King Arthur and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Ishiguro makes this work really well. He knows how to weave a tale. The writing in The Buried Giant is very rich and detailed. The characters are well-written and I enjoyed the time I spent with them. The Buried Giant is packed with drama and tension.
I'd recommend The Buried Giant for anyone who liked mythology and a really good story.
