In Awe of Ishiguro's The Buried Giant

This week I completed Kazuo Ishiguro's The Buried Giant, yet another remarkable work by the worthy winner of the 2017 Nobel Prize for Literature. Once again I am wholly impressed by Ishiguro's skills in crafting original tales.

The novel takes place in England in that period after the passing of King Arthur. The central characters start to finish are an elderly married couple, Axl and Beatrice. For some reason they cannot remember their past, or rather, the memories they've lost touch with are hazy and dark.

The story begins with their seeming to recall that they once had a son, and they decide to leave their village to seek him. In a sense it is a classic road tale, a quest, in which they meet numerous unusual people and have remarkable adventures, see strange things and overcome all manner of obstacles including strange monsters, ogres and dragons. As the story moves along we unearth a multitude mysteries and over time the story of their past keeps unfolding.

Woven into the story we find history, mythology and poignancy. One reviewer called it "a beautiful, heartbreaking book about the duty to remember and the urge to forget."

Though the story stands alone in its originality, it bears resemblance to other original stories such as Lilith by George MacDonald, Beowulf, and even Pilgrim's Progress.

The story is truly remarkable in the manner in which it is told. One one level it is the story of Axl and Beatrice, a story that unfolds slowly but with greater clarity as it goes along. Even at the very end as they talk with the Boatman there are further revelations.

Drawing from when I was in high school.

But just as in every life, the lives of Axl and Beatrice have a historical context, and through their own quest to find their son the reader learns of the conflicts that took place between the Saxons and Britons in the years after the death of Arthur. So it is that Ishiguro is telling two stories, the painful personal one and the complex larger one whose characters include the Arthurian knight Sir Gawain and an old Saxon named Wistan.

A central theme in the story has to do with the forgetting what has taken place. The whole land is under this spell of not knowing or remembering its past. How this came to pass is slowly revealed. At one point someone asks, "Has God forgotten us?" It's a thought provoking story with many takeaways.

Here are a couple reviews from Amazon that also give the flavor of this tale.

alan216
I have never read anything quite like this ever before..The Buried Giant is part fable, part road-story, part exploration of character: when the point of the journey and the backstory becomes clear, it was as if a light came on. I can think of some people who'd find this writing infuriating: the whole way in which it's handled makes it hard to work out whether what's being described is the world as it is or the world as it's being seen by the characters. Once I'd decided simply to allow the author's approach to work itself out, I loved it: but, as I say, it's a really strange book, a really strange way of writing. Once I'd finished it, I thought it brilliant!

Leitir
There is an allegorical depth to this tale that will take some time for me to more fully understand and appreciate it. It is a tale that touches on what it means to love--in spite of hurt and pain. Of how people try and deal with grief both personal and tribal. It has clear echoes of resonance with what is happening today. How do we choose to remember and celebrate? What do we choose to remember and celebrate? And why? And when all is said and done and commemorated, what do we do then? Where do we go? This novel gives much for the soul and heart to ponder. Thank you.

For myself, the story served once again remind to me that there is power in stories, that Ishiguro is an exceptional writer who continues to amaze.

Related Links
A 3-Day Ride with Ryder: Ishiguro’s The Unconsoled Is an Achievement of the First Order
Kazuo Ishiguro’s ‘The Buried Giant’ (New York Times review)