The Buried Giant

By: Kazuo Ishiguro

Narrated by: David Horovitch

The extraordinary novel from the Nobel Prize-winning author of Never Let Me Go and The Remains of the Day

The Romans have long since departed, and Britain is steadily declining into ruin. But at least the wars that once ravaged the country have ceased.

The Buried Giant begins as a couple, Axl and Beatrice, set off across a troubled land of mist and rain in the hope of finding a son they have not seen for years. They expect to face many hazards - some strange and other-worldly - but they cannot yet foresee how their journey will reveal to them dark and forgotten corners of their love for one another.

Sometimes savage, often intensely moving, Kazuo Ishiguro's first novel in a decade is about lost memories, love, revenge and war.

©2015 Kazuo Ishiguro (P)2015 Faber Audio

Critic reviews

"A deeply affecting portrait of marital love." (Guardian)

"A beautiful, heart-breaking book." (Observer)

One of the best ones

It is good to read this book knowing little or nothing about it. Just know that it is good and it will take you on a journey.
And let it take you.
It is character-centric, so maybe don't set your expectations on game-of-thrones-like journey.
But for me this is a good thing.

You will learn about characters through conversations and their actions and not by explicit character thought dump. This is great - I felt like I was learning about them as they were learning about themselves. Sometimes, while seeing more, maybe I understood more. About them and perhaps also about myself and the world.

I highly recommended this one.

A beautifully read allegory

Who was your favorite character and why?

The old couple Axl and Beatrice, because of their loving and respectful relationship.

Which scene was your favorite?

The scene by the lake when they speak to the old lady.

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed the narrator's voice and the soothing and not too performative way of telling this story.

Exceptional

This book was dreamy and magical, with a light, deliberate pace. I don't think I understood all of the story's elements and themes, but I enjoyed it very much. It's really a love story.

An interesting core story

I liked the underlying story, but the way it was told began to irritate me after a while. It feels like a stageplay in prose form, and the symbolism and allegory robbed the characters of a sense of reslness.

Disappointed

Ishiguro's creativity is fully alive here - but his imagined Dark Ages seem a bland place in this slow-paced, dreary tale.