
The Buried Giant
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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David Horovitch
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By:
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Kazuo Ishiguro
An extraordinary new novel from the author of Never Let Me Go and the Booker Prize-winning The Remains of the Day.
"You've long set your heart against it, Axl, I know. But it's time now to think on it anew. There's a journey we must go on, and no more delay..."
The Buried Giant begins as a couple set off across a troubled land of mist and rain in the hope of finding a son they have not seen in years.
Sometimes savage, often intensely moving, Kazuo Ishiguro's first novel in nearly a decade is about lost memories, love, revenge, and war.
©2015 Kazuo Ishiguro (P)2014 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...




















Editorial reviews
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Editor's Pick
The mists of memory
"Buried Giant is a languid, masterful study of characterization, language, and memory. There’s lots of walking and talking in this listen, but I never found myself bored because the characters—oh, my word, the characters—resound with personality, desires, and mysterious motivations. The listening experience feels like a chess match being played in the fog, where the board itself has hills and valleys which may or may not conceal a slumbering monster from another age. This is patient, literary fiction at its finest."
—Sean T., Audible Editor
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Would you listen to The Buried Giant again? Why?
Definitely. Partly to revisit the characters and get some of the nuance of the story that I'm sure I missed the first go around - mostly for Horovitch.What did you like best about this story?
It's constant pace. It's doesn't have to hit you in the face. Axl and Beatrice are on a journey, the subtext of the journey is delivered subtly and on the way. It's not flight butressed by essays, but a nice walk; a full and satisfying walk.What about David Horovitch’s performance did you like?
He's a master. If you want to learn about yourself if you're the kind of person who'd like audiobooks, start with this; If you don't, you won't. It doesn't get better than this. The character changes are effortless and real. I've started to search for books to try not by author, but by clicking on this narrator.Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
Every ounce of dialog from Axl. Start to finish.Fiercely sublime
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Heartfelt and enchanting.
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So much of the book is in dialogue, and there is so much repetition, that although events are happening to the characters, it feels as though nothing is happening. The fantastic elements have little weight and are almost beside the point. The book's truth could have been discovered as well if it had concerned an elderly couple living today, experiencing the memory loss that frequently comes with advanced age.
The author asks good questions: is the love between two people still valid if they can't remember their past? Is peace between peoples desirable or meaningful if it is based on their inability to remember their arguments and their wars? They are excellent questions, but this is a long, labored, roundabout way of exploring them.
The narration is excellent.
Not particularly successful
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I missed the meaning of the ending.
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sad but beautiful story.
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A sad, evocative and faulty work, at the same time an endearing and sentimental journey. A road trip that's in some ways reminiscent of the Canterbury Tales.
Chaucerian allegory to summon in the Saxon Age
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The buried love…
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Hohum ending, again!
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All a bit average, in writing and narration.
Didn't like the end.
An average fairy tale
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Spoiler free story review: The problem with writing a story about folks who have lost their memory is that it is very difficult to craft a narrative wherein those people have anything to say. Our main characters are an elderly couple struggling in a nation where everyone is affected by some bizarre memory loss. The plot meanders (since all the characters are suffering from some degree of memory loss), words and phrases are repeated, and much of the book is spent with the characters explaining things to other characters. A lot of the time, these things are things the reader already understands - unless he or she also suffers from magical memory loss.
It makes for a dreary story that feels stilted, unsettled, and, well, unfinished. There is a beginning, a middle, and an end to this story and, for that, I will give it two stars. But, I found myself checking for how much was left of this book quite a bit.
Last point: Does anyone have a count of how many times Axl says "Princess"? I get that we have pet names for our loved ones, but, this felt over the top.
Good narration, OK story.
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