Well I’m not sure what to make of the book and really unsure what score to give it. I haven’t read anything by Ishiguro before and avoided reviews or opinions about the book so really went into it blindfolded.
At first I found the book enjoyable and was very surprised when reference to ogres and dragons popped up. These are not words that historically have gone down well with our book club (read the review on The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett) so it was with interest I read on wondering how many of the group would fall away by chapter 5 and who would hate it on the spot as soon as the word pixie appeared on a page.
I found it very Tolkein-esque – the two main characters although human live underground in warren like rooms connected by passages. They set off on a long journey and end up embroiled in destroying a mysterious mist threatening all mankind.
The storey in itself was quite simplistic but I as a reader felt the whole time there was a hidden meaning, the characters merely symbolic to portray some higher message which although I couldn’t work out what it was, would become clear by the end of the book. The boatman was totally going to reappear.
I liked how the book illustrated how one persons version of events or memory of an event differs to anothers and how memory isn’t always accurate. It was also an interesting point to develop – how memory makes us what we are and what happens when those memories disappear.
So here I was enjoying the book. The characters were a little annoying – Beatrice with her repetitive pleas to Axl not to leave her and Axl with his repetitive referring to Beatrice as his Princess and overall the book was a little slow but I went with it and as I say enjoyed it. Until I realised I had finished the book and still didn’t have a clue about what the hidden meaning/analogy/allegory/metaphor/whatever the hell it was that I was supposed to have got by now but hadn’t was. I had read it all (and checked for an epilogue) but still felt like I had missed the whole point of the book.
So I googled (I swear those guys should give me shares considering the amount of googling I do) and it seems like I was not alone in the ‘ok so what was it all about then?’ category.
I found reference to Gawain and the Green Knight, a poem about the nephew of King Arthur who was undertaking a mysterious quest. I found some vague notion about how it was vague and shadowy deliberately to reflect the knowledge we have around the time the book was set – the Dark Ages where myth and legend are whispered and we have only scraps to rely upon. I found some half interesting discussion about whether it is best to remember and learn from our mistakes ‘those who forget the past are bound to repeat it’ (George Santayana) or whether it’s better to forget and move on untainted by our mistakes but equally unpunished. I learnt that Axl is Scandinavian for ‘father of peace’ which he seemed to be in his earlier years and that Beatrice was Dante’s great love who embodied all that is best in the world (I just found her annoying) but I didn’t find THE explanation. The one that made me go ‘ah I get it now’ the one that made me think ‘wow that’s such a clever book’. I remember reading Animal Farm by George Orwell at face value and then having it taught to me by my Theatre Studies teacher and being astounded that a book could on the face of it be a childs farmyard story yet actually represent the Russian Revolution. I remember I was totally blown away and have looked for hidden meanings in books ever since. I was desperate to find such a thing here but just couldn’t.
I started to think what if Ishiguro really wasn’t that clever and there wasn’t really any hidden meaning? You would then be left with a simplistic, slightly slow, fantasy tale that was just ok?
Some have argued that it is deliberately ambiguous so you can give your own interpretation, I think that is perhaps people being kind. So my question of the month is this - If you have read it how do you interpret it? What’s it all about? What is the buried giant, is it memory? Who does Edwin and the Warrior and Gawain and Axl and Beatrice and the dragon and hell even the giant represent? What happened at the end? Give me your thoughts so I can have my ‘ah I get it now’ moment otherwise for me I’m afraid I can only say it was a nice tale but I am small and its depth went totally over my head.
I give it a flexible 6 – I’m willing to upgrade should the ‘ah’ moment occur. The group gave it a 5.5
Next book is A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman
At first I found the book enjoyable and was very surprised when reference to ogres and dragons popped up. These are not words that historically have gone down well with our book club (read the review on The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett) so it was with interest I read on wondering how many of the group would fall away by chapter 5 and who would hate it on the spot as soon as the word pixie appeared on a page.
I found it very Tolkein-esque – the two main characters although human live underground in warren like rooms connected by passages. They set off on a long journey and end up embroiled in destroying a mysterious mist threatening all mankind.
The storey in itself was quite simplistic but I as a reader felt the whole time there was a hidden meaning, the characters merely symbolic to portray some higher message which although I couldn’t work out what it was, would become clear by the end of the book. The boatman was totally going to reappear.
I liked how the book illustrated how one persons version of events or memory of an event differs to anothers and how memory isn’t always accurate. It was also an interesting point to develop – how memory makes us what we are and what happens when those memories disappear.
So here I was enjoying the book. The characters were a little annoying – Beatrice with her repetitive pleas to Axl not to leave her and Axl with his repetitive referring to Beatrice as his Princess and overall the book was a little slow but I went with it and as I say enjoyed it. Until I realised I had finished the book and still didn’t have a clue about what the hidden meaning/analogy/allegory/metaphor/whatever the hell it was that I was supposed to have got by now but hadn’t was. I had read it all (and checked for an epilogue) but still felt like I had missed the whole point of the book.
So I googled (I swear those guys should give me shares considering the amount of googling I do) and it seems like I was not alone in the ‘ok so what was it all about then?’ category.
I found reference to Gawain and the Green Knight, a poem about the nephew of King Arthur who was undertaking a mysterious quest. I found some vague notion about how it was vague and shadowy deliberately to reflect the knowledge we have around the time the book was set – the Dark Ages where myth and legend are whispered and we have only scraps to rely upon. I found some half interesting discussion about whether it is best to remember and learn from our mistakes ‘those who forget the past are bound to repeat it’ (George Santayana) or whether it’s better to forget and move on untainted by our mistakes but equally unpunished. I learnt that Axl is Scandinavian for ‘father of peace’ which he seemed to be in his earlier years and that Beatrice was Dante’s great love who embodied all that is best in the world (I just found her annoying) but I didn’t find THE explanation. The one that made me go ‘ah I get it now’ the one that made me think ‘wow that’s such a clever book’. I remember reading Animal Farm by George Orwell at face value and then having it taught to me by my Theatre Studies teacher and being astounded that a book could on the face of it be a childs farmyard story yet actually represent the Russian Revolution. I remember I was totally blown away and have looked for hidden meanings in books ever since. I was desperate to find such a thing here but just couldn’t.
I started to think what if Ishiguro really wasn’t that clever and there wasn’t really any hidden meaning? You would then be left with a simplistic, slightly slow, fantasy tale that was just ok?
Some have argued that it is deliberately ambiguous so you can give your own interpretation, I think that is perhaps people being kind. So my question of the month is this - If you have read it how do you interpret it? What’s it all about? What is the buried giant, is it memory? Who does Edwin and the Warrior and Gawain and Axl and Beatrice and the dragon and hell even the giant represent? What happened at the end? Give me your thoughts so I can have my ‘ah I get it now’ moment otherwise for me I’m afraid I can only say it was a nice tale but I am small and its depth went totally over my head.
I give it a flexible 6 – I’m willing to upgrade should the ‘ah’ moment occur. The group gave it a 5.5
Next book is A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman
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