Der begrabene Riese | 
pickThis novel is slow-paced and the characters unreliable, but I found the story very moving and I expect it will stay with me for a long time.
#HolidayBookDragons #WinterGames2024 @LiseWorks
#gottacatchemall (Escalavier: Arthurian) @PuddleJumper
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bailedWell this is the second Ishiguro book I can't finish. I really liked Never Let Me Go but this one and The Unconsoled are just too abstract for me I guess. Gave up at page 150.
#Top23of23
It worked out that I had 22 5-star reads this year (I was tempted to bump one of the ratings up 🤓). Here they are in rough order of enthusiasm and broken down by fiction and nonfiction (+1 poetry).
-The Buried Giant wins for my favorite of the year, as I knew it would immediately after finishing it.
-Strangest Read: Stranger to the Moon
-Best Essay Collection: Pulphead
-Best Memoir: The Man Who Could Move Clouds
Happy reading in 2024!!
pickProfound storytelling at its most beautiful. On a casual level, a compelling story of a couple‘s pilgrimage, set in a fantastical, Arthurian time: A tale that‘s assured and confident in its ability to hide as much as it tells. On a deeper level it‘s about how enduring, yet troubled, relationships (not just marriage) can last because of, or despite, the hurt we can cause each other. Does memory/healing affect the “prize” at the end of the journey?
Of the Kazuo Ishiguro that I‘ve read, this one resonated with me the most. It was for me, poignant and bittersweet.
#AuthorAMonth
@Soubhiville
so-soBeatrice, who was so reluctant to be away from her husband, physically and mentally distances herself by the end, fianlly choosing her own opportunity to reunite with her son in death over a broken life with Axl. Axl who consistently tried to hold onto Beatrice throughout the book tries to help them get over his betrayal yet ends up moving on to a life of loneliness until the boatman (death) comes back for him as he said he would.
so-soI definitely felt dizzy and confused, as if I had been affected by the Mist myself; it felt like a fever-dream until the end, and I cannot remember spending this much time to try and finish a book. Shame as it was due to, for me, the writing style and too much descriptive detailing. The characters all exited the storyline in a very swift and meaningful way, and I would‘ve liked to have known more about them beyond the last 100 pages…
pickI'm not usually a fan of fantasy novels, and I don't usually cry from books, but this one broke both of those trends. I enjoy fantasy landscapes and themes, but I'm a poor visualizer of action sequences and prefer simpler world building. So Ishiguro's brand of fantasy that brings imagery to life through dialogue is perfect for me. The action is short and memorable, much of it being described through one character relaying a tale to another 👇
so-soFinished this #ebook on #hoopla just in time for #bookclub discussion on Saturday with @VioletCavalier @hkapusta @WonderingGypsy !!!
The narrative was wandering, but I‘ll chalk it up to the mist. And the ending is vague, who knows what the outcome exactly is for Beatrice and Axl.
I‘ll be looking forward to hearing what the group thinks of the book.
pickAxl & Beatrice and everyone in England are affected by a mist that induces memory loss. They embark on a journey to find their son, but they barely remember him nor know exactly where he is. They meet up w/ a Saxon warrior and a young boy who has a dragon bite. What will they uncover? This is, among other things, an exploration of the inevitable differences between age and youth. Are some things best left forgotten? My December #bookspin
pickI just finished this book and I‘m crying. I don‘t love most of the writing style and I have some of the symbolism left to sort through, but what a poignant and honest story about the end of life, growing old, and leaving life behind. The dragon‘s breath fills the land with fog. Is there any other fate for us?
pickAfter only a chapter or two, I fully expected a pretentious, whimsical, moralising parable.
What I got instead was a quietly enchanting story about a husband and wife travelling through the misty plains of the dark ages, meeting characters and creatures along the way.
Themes of memory, forgiveness, loyalty and revenge weave themselves through the simple story imbuing it with both meaning and ambiguity.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
@The_Penniless_Author #randyspiles
Cappuccino and Ishiguro!
@The_Penniless_Author
I again have to commend the author on his writing style. The story wasn‘t for me but his writing certainly is! At the beginning of this novel the characters mention a buried giant that is disguised as a hill and is to be avoided. One thinks that that is why the title is what it is. But then at the end of the book is this quote. Touching on the buried giant actually being the feud between the Britons and Saxons. And I just loved that!
so-soIshiguro I have to say has an extremely eloquent and persuasive way with his writing. As I started this novel I was very much pulled forward wanting to find out what was behind every mystery and lost memory of the characters. However I was underwhelmed by the story the more I neared the end. The absolute end of the story was perhaps my favorite part of the book but I felt like it took too long to get there with not much substance in the middle.
We finished our last discussion on The Help last night in our book club and it was my turn to pick sooooo…. Here it is! Hopefully it‘s a good pick!☺️ They have beautiful covers for the book and the audio!
pickA good book, very different from his other novels. Takes you to a distant place shrouded in mystery but skilfully depicted. Worth a read.
pickAn atmospheric tale of knights, a dragon, and a strange mist which impairs memories. At times, this story felt bogged down while at other times the pace was frenetic. A tale of melancholy. I would have preferred a different ending.
I doubt the Saxons thought their fence looked like pencils.
#sundayfunday @ozma.of.oz
1. Arthurian for sure, but I was interested in most every type of mythology I could find.
2. Greece
3. A lot of candidates I could think of, but this one was probably my favorite.
pickInteresting commentary on relational forgiveness and memory.
bailedThis one is a slooooooooowwww read. The payoff wasn‘t there to finish it. It may be a good story, but I‘ll never know. 1/3 in and all I know is no one knows anything and Axl looks like somebody that somebody used to know. The author doesn‘t drop enough breadcrumbs to make this interesting enough to follow.
(I will say the art for the book on google makes it seem a lot more interesting than what I read...)
so-soI enjoyed the reading and I think most of you will too. It seems like the hole plot is spent on a cloud. It's metaphorical and beautiful. It was just not my usual type of book 😊
pickA married couple leave their post roman camp to find their son. On their journey they meet tribes of Britons + saxons, a mighty warrior as well as sir Gawain seeking a dragon who has created a mist making people forget, an oarsman to a mysterious island, ogres, and monks. An unusual but compelling story about memory and whether life is simpler if we can forget animosity, betrayals and loss. For my rdg grp this wk it shd be an interesting chat.
Ishiguro famously said that he tends to "write the same book over and over", but as skilled as he is and with a theme as rich for exploration as the caprices of memory, that's hardly a bad thing. It's tempting to say that #TheBuriedGiant is just Remains of the Day set in a fictionalized, Arthurian England, the story of a man and a society dealing with the trauma lurking beneath their foundational myths. Fair enough - it is, and it's totally great!
pick5⭐It's an intricate retelling of the Arthurian legend - with medieval setting, mythological creatures and the Britons against the Saxons conflict, though Arthur himself is long gone. It's also an insightful story about memory, asking important questions whether it's better to remember old sorrows and grudges, letting the vicious circle of hatred and grief spin further, or resort to oblivion and forget what you once have been...Beautiful writing 💜
1. Cats, without a doubt.
2. I‘m grateful that it‘s a short week this week, it having been a bank holiday on Monday.
#ThankfulThursday
@Cosmos_Moon
One reviewer summed up this novel perfectly: "It's a beautiful, heartbreaking book about the duty to remember and the urge to #forget." #FlyHighJuly
@Eggs
bailedI did not really like this book. Again, it had an encouraging premise. An elderly couple leave their town to try to find their son before the mist surrounding the area wipes out their memory of him. I really enjoy the fantasy genre and this book is within that realm. But it never panned out for me; it was just boring. I am planning on reading more by this author, though; apparently, this is not his usual fare. 🌟
pickI can‘t say I “enjoyed” reading this book - it‘s tale is haunting. While it‘s not a story I will say I loved, I know it will stick with me for a long time.
so-soSlowly... Slowly.... Slowly...
Full of fog. Fog in our minds, in our records, in our hearts....
#readingchallenge2020 #litsy #litsybook #book #bookly #goodreads #stayathome #lettura #bookworms #toread #iorestoacasa #ioleggoacasa #ioleggo #Iread #theburiedgiant #kazuoishiguro
so-soFinished this last week. I enjoyed reading this story about love & memories but the ending was a bit disappointing.
pickWhile I have some issue with the book towards the end, this is a haunting read that will stay with you after the end.
pickWell I have some issue with the book towards the end, this is a haunting read that will stay with you after the end.
Schon lange stand der begrabene Riese auf meiner Wunschliste und dann fand ich ihn neulich in einem Bücherschrank 😍
Bisher gefällt es mir auch echt gut.
Habt ihr bereits ein Buch von #kazuoishiguro gelesen? Welches hat euch am besten gefallen?
Habt einen gemütlichen Sonntag!
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Beautiful and melancholy about memories, and what they mean to us. What they do to us. How they shape us.
It would be the saddest thing to me, Princess. To walk separately from you, when the ground will let us go as we always did. Page 252
#CoverCrush #7Covers7Days
Would you like to show us some of your favorite book covers @pariisannja ? No explanation needed. Post a photo of that moving cover art and tag one Litten each day for the week. Can‘t wait to see what you got! Have fun!!💕
Day Four:
The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
Cover and Book Design by Peter Mendelsund
