Title: The Buried Giant
Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
Date/year published: 2015
Genre: Fantasy, Literary, Historical
Format: E-pub, borrowed from local library using Libby app and read on Kindle.
Why did I choose to read it: The synopsis grabbed my attention, plus I enjoy the Arthurian Legend.
Synopsis: In a post-Arthurian world, a strange mist has caused people to forget their past. As the mist begins to lift, an elderly couple, Axl and Beatrice, decide to visit their grown son, whom they can’t quite remember. They’re joined by a warrior, his orphaned charge, and a knight as they journey across the land to find their son and slowly regain their memories.
Thoughts:
A. Very. Slow. Read. At least it was for me. Remember, though, slow doesn’t equal bad. After all, this book was nominated for, and won many awards. I’m just throwing this out there because sometimes readers are looking for something quick, sometimes they aren’t.
Also, I don’t know what I was expecting, but this wasn’t quite it. I expected more heraldry, I guess, and this was more muck and cave dwelling. I continually had to remind myself the group was traveling across Britain, too. It felt more arid, desert like, somehow. It also got a tad political – Saxons vs. Brits – and reading this mostly at night when I’m already tired, some of the political stuff was lost on me.
One thing I’ve noticed about the books I’ve read by Ishiguro is that he’s great at describing human emotions and the human condition. As the pair traveled and picked up traveling companions there was much reflection by everyone in the group – which explains the slow pacing. The interactions between the couple and the others were also realistic and believable.
Would I reread or recommend it?
Reread? Probably not.
Recommend? Hmm. It would depend on the reader’s tastes, but yes, to the right person, I would recommend it.
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