The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
Axl and his wife Beatrice are
elderly Britons leaving their home to journey to visit their son. They aren’t quite sure why their son is no
longer living near them, that part is hazy, as are all memories for all people
and it has been that way for some time.
Regardless of the fog overlying their recollections they head off to be
reunited with their boy while they can still travel.
That is the crux of the book: the
journey of Axl and Beatrice physically and mentally as the fog of their minds
is broken down and eventually lifted.
Along the way they meet a knight, a soldier, and a curious boy all of
whom journey with them for they all have similar goals relating to the memory
issues everyone in the land suffers.
This book has received some harsh
reviews and while I understand why that is so, I personally liked the
book. I majored in Medieval and
Renaissance Literature in college and had to read the Canterbury Tales and
L’Morte d’Arthur (in Middle English no less) and this reminded me of those old
works. It was repetitious and the
cadence was of an oral tradition being set to paper. What I found familiar and nostalgic I can see
others seeing as repetitious and weird. The overlying problem of the novel, the fog,
is magical in nature, another element that may frustrate readers.
So if you like the REALLY old
classics you may enjoy this. If not, you
may want to read something else…
