Infinite Books

I’ll start this review like a fairy tale: once, in the land of far away, lived an elderly couple, Axl and Beatrice, who decided to go on a quest to reunite with their son. On their way, they met ogres, pixies, and a she-dragon. They walked with a great warrior, Wistan, and a young boy Edwin called by his mother’s voice – or was it the voice of she-dragon? They met an elderly nephew of King Arthur, Sir Gawain, and came across some sinister monks and more than one strange older woman.

The novel’s setting is imaginary England in the sixth century after the war between Britons and Saxons ended, and the former enemies lived in relative peace. Much has been forgotten: the she-dragon breath created a mist that caused all memories to fade – bad ones together with the good ones. Now Wistan is to slay the dragon following his king’s order. But what will happen when old memories return? As Gawain says: “Without this she-dragon’s breath, would peace ever have come?”

“The Buried Giant” might be fantasy fiction, but it’s, first of all, a novel about memory. Kazuo Ishiguro asks – what is our memory? What is collective memory? Is it a blessing to remember everything, or perhaps we’ll be much happier living unaware of what happened to us two, five, ten, or twenty years ago?

This is also a love story. Ishiguro’s prose beautifully shows tenderness and trust between the elderly couple. Beatrice is older, more careful, and emphatic – she always finds a way to talk friendly to others and tries to understand them, while Axl, who used to be a wise warrior, now fulfills the role of his wife’s protector. The loss of memories made them forget their relationship’s past troubles. Now they both hope to stay together till the end. Will this be possible when the mist lifts and their journey ends?

It’s a slow-flowing story that displays a melancholy mood, even with the couple’s adventures and challenges. One should read it – or listen to it as I did – unhurriedly, not expecting answers from the author. The book puts one under its spell – if a reader is in the mindset for it. And perhaps, in the end, following Beatrice and Axl’s journey, we will reflect on our journey.

THE BURIED GIANT by Kazuo Ishiguro, Random House, 2015