“The Buried Giant” by Kazuo Ishiguro – Reawakening the Spirit

Very few civilizations out there have had such a far-reaching impact as the Romans, creating one of the vastest and longest-enduring empires in human history.

Nevertheless, the giant fell just like all the ones before and after it, leaving many countries in a dire state of ruin and abandon, and such was the case with Britain.

In The Buried Giant, Kazuo Ishiguro returns after a ten-year hiatus and uses that backdrop to tell a moving story that begins with an elderly couple of Britons, Axl and Beatrice, decide to go in search of their long lost son, someone whose face they can barely remember.

Following a quick review of all the dangers and uncertainty that lies ahead of them, the couple plunges without regrets into a journey that will allow them to rediscover their love for each other, a life full of memories, and some curious companions who, just like them, are lost souls in this world, searching inexorably for some peace of mind.

And so after leaving the world of literature for over ten years, Ishiguro returns with a kind of sprawling novel that is hard to categorize with the help of one word. It really oozes of Ishiguro's style, with a beautiful and nearly-poetic prose that delves into the thoughts, feelings, emotions and inner workings of the entire world we are presented with.

This really is the kind of book that needs to be read more than once in order to be appreciated to its fullest potential; virtually every phrase holds some important idea that is worth thinking about.

As you can guess, this book doesn't suffer from a lack of depth in any way, and even if you are only interested in the story itself you won't be able to help but agitate your gray cells a bit.

Speaking of the story itself, the whole journey really feels like a very long pilgrimage, one where the road traveled becomes more important than the destination itself... that doesn't mean we lose interest in it though. The main cast of characters is very unique in its own right, with them having distinct personalities and being fleshed-out down to the last details.

They are always evolving in some way, and perhaps it would even be fair to say that on some level, the book is a character study that focuses on how different types of people react to the idea of breaking free from the past in spite of its alluring comfort.

The novel's pace and tone vary from one part to the next, sometimes taking on an air of suspense and mystery, moving on to poignant violence and savagery and then transferring to some light pondering about life.

No matter what part of the book you're at though, Ishiguro's work remains enthralling in different ways, sucking the reader into an unknown and seemingly mystical world where being a lost soul is only the norm.

In the end, The Buried Giant is what you'd expect from Ishiguro's triumphant return, offering a dreamlike, vague and almost magical experience that really showcases his genius.

Though it may not exactly be everyone's cup of tea, those who enjoy slower-paced stories with a lot to ponder will most certainly take well to this book.

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Kazuo Ishiguro Kazuo Ishiguro is a British novelist born in Japan. He has a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Kent, as well as a Master’s from the University of East Anglia in creative writing. He is a widely-celebrated author, having been nominated for the Man Booker Prize four times, and having earned the award in 1989 for The Remains of the Day.