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Mele’s Musings: Nothing like a little blood, sweat and tears

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A teammate who can relate

<p>Several days after completing &#8220;The Buried Giant,&#8221; Kazuo Ishiguro&#8217;s latest novel, I still can&#8217;t articulate whether I liked the book. I&#8217;m not a die hard Ishiguro fan. I loved &#8220;Never Let Me Go&#8221; and saw the film version of &#8220;The Remains of the Day,&#8221; but beyond that, I haven&#8217;t read his other books.</p><p>Still, the synopsis of &#8220;The Buried Giant&#8221; appealed to me. Set in post-Arthurian England, seemingly in what could be classified as the Dark Ages, an elderly couple sets out from their village to visit their son.</p><p>At first, the plot seems like a travelogue of sorts. The couple, Axl and Beatrice, were separated from their son for years and wish for a visit and perhaps a reconciliation. They cannot seem to remember why he was no longer with them, but they imagine he eagerly awaits their reunion.</p><p>Being elderly, the couple struggles to recall details of their past. As they travel, it becomes clear that everyone they encounter also has trouble with their memories. A mist covers the land, one that steals remembrances of the past from young and old.</p><p>Axl and Beatrice are Britons, ancient Celtic people who lived in Great Britain. Historically, the Britons were invaded by the Anglo-Saxons, a collection of Germanic people who by some accounts migrated to Great Britain (as opposed to invading militaristically). In any case, Britons and Saxons did engage in war. Most Britons fled to the west of England, while the Saxons controlled the East.</p><p>In &#8220;The Buried Giant,&#8221; Britons and Saxons are neighbors. Axl and Beatrice are aware they are Britons, but mostly the two groups &#8212; though wary of each other &#8212; get along.</p><p>In a nearby village the couple meets Wistan, a Saxon warrior, who has rescued a young boy named Edwin from ogres. Ishiguro inserts touches of mythological figures into his novel: ogres, dragons and pixies appear, adding to the book&#8217;s dreamlike quality. Edwin was bitten by one of the ogres, which makes his superstitious village want to kill him. To protect the boy, Wistan decides to take him from his home and the two join Axl and Beatrice on their journey.</p><p>Wistan recognizes Axl, but the elderly man thinks it&#8217;s impossible. But something about the warrior stirs fragments of Axl&#8217;s memories.</p><p>Beatrice suffers from pains and seeks out help from a monastery in the hills. On the way, the group encounters Gawain, nephew of the late King Arthur, and knight of the round table. He has a mission that he has been attending to for years, one which might conflict with a secret quest that Wistan is on.</p><p>Gawain finds Axl familiar, bringing more vague memories to the surface.</p><p>Throughout their journey, Beatrice and Axl&#8217;s love for one another shines. They need each other, care for each other deeply and want to reunite with their son.</p><p>They fear losing their memories, but also fear regaining the ones they have lost. What if there is pain buried so deeply in their past that they could never recover from it?</p><p>They are caught in the middle of Wistan and Gawain&#8217;s conflicting quests, which comes to a head at the lair of the she-dragon, Querig, high in the mountains. They discover the source of the mists that robs their memories and piece together the truth about their backgrounds.</p><p>The ending of the book is incredibly ambiguous, although it fits with the dreamlike writing. However, it&#8217;s a frustrating end. Will the loss of the mist destroy Axl and Beatrice&#8217;s marriage? How will England itself be impacted? Would it have been better if their memories remained clouded forever? Even Axl at one point muses, &#8220;Could it be our love would never have grown so strong down the years had the mist not robbed us the way it did?&#8221;</p><p>These questions remain unanswered and leave the reader wondering, &#8220;what did I just read?&#8221; There is certainly magic in the language and characters of the book, but it&#8217;s hard to decipher what it means.</p><p>Is it a meditation on loss? An allegory for something I didn&#8217;t quite pick up?</p><p>I&#8217;m not sure.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Dorothy Sasso</p><p>On the Books</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p>&#8220;The Buried Giant&#8221;</p><p>Author: Kazuo Ishiguro</p><p>Page Count: 317</p><p>Publisher: Knopf</p><p>Rating: &#9830;&#9830;&#9830;</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Dorothy Sasso is a former Soap Opera Digest writer and a private school teacher. She is busy reading books and raising her daughter.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

On the Books: Kazuo Ishiguro “The Buried Giant” is magically written but leaves many unanswered questions