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The Unconsoled

(Vintage International)

By Kazuo Ishiguro

(37)

| Paperback | 9780679735878

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Book Description

The Unconsoled is at once a gripping psychological mystery, a wicked satire of the cult of art, and a poignant character study of a man whose public life has accelerated beyond his control. The setting is a nameless Central European city where Ryder, a renowned pianist, has come to give the mContinue

The Unconsoled is at once a gripping psychological mystery, a wicked satire of the cult of art, and a poignant character study of a man whose public life has accelerated beyond his control. The setting is a nameless Central European city where Ryder, a renowned pianist, has come to give the most important performance of his life. Instead, he finds himself diverted on a series of cryptic and infuriating errands that nevertheless provide him with vital clues to his own past. In The Unconsoled Ishiguro creates a work that is itself a virtuoso performance, strange, haunting, and resonant with humanity and wit.

"A work of great interest and originality.... Ishiguro has mapped out an aesthetic territory that is all his own...frankly fantastic [and] fiercer and funnier than before."--The New Yorker

Critics

  • Unlike Kafka

    The shame of being on the wrong side of history: this is what Kazuo Ishiguro’s first three novels have been about. It is not a condition that has been written about a great deal in English, because the English language, ever since ‘literature’ was cr ... (read full critics)

    lrb published on Sat, 4 Sep 2010

  • Sleepless Nights

    “They take so much for granted, all these people. What do they want me to do, on this night of all nights?” These words are from The Unconsoled but many of us have heard words like them in our heads. We hear the whine in our voice, but we can’t stop. ... (read full critics)

    nybooks published on Mon, 23 Aug 2010

5 Reviews

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  • I should have finished reading this book, but it was awful. The plot doesn't make sense - it seems like the narrator is either crazy or he's having a bad dream.

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    Enkato said on Aug 2, 2010 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

  • Infuriatingly addictive. Just like being stuck in a dream trying to get somewhere. Enjoyable.

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    D said on Jan 8, 2010 | Add your feedback

  • I'm still in the dark

    Surreal and weird are terms that come to mind when I attempt to review this book. Or to be even more accurate, very weird and extremely surreal :)

    The story revolves around a world famous pianist who travels to a city, in Europe somewhere but we’re never told where exactly, and then travels ar ... (continue)

    Surreal and weird are terms that come to mind when I attempt to review this book. Or to be even more accurate, very weird and extremely surreal :)

    The story revolves around a world famous pianist who travels to a city, in Europe somewhere but we’re never told where exactly, and then travels around meeting people and being late for other meetings with people. Ryder seems to be suffering from some sort of amnesia at first. We don’t really know anything about him, and he doesn’t really seem to know anything about himself either.

    As the novel, I hesitate to say progresses… As we read through the novel it becomes increasingly dreamlike; places that were one moment were miles apart can suddenly be reached through a turn-off or a mysterious doorway. And our narrator sometimes turns omniscient; knowing what is going on in the minds of others, sometimes knowing what has gone on when he was nowhere nearby. Perhaps it isn’t dreamlike, maybe it is more his insanity that makes him think he knows this. I don’t know.

    I pretty much have no clue what this novel was about. And yet I liked it. Yes, it was sometimes frustrating to be so totally in the dark about what was going on, but at the same time it is very well written. Ryder is an ass, no bones about it, but he is also extremely well-drawn and engaging. The writing is wonderful.

    I can’t really condense this book into a review. You’ll have to read it. If you find that you like it then good, if you don’t, you don’t. Personally I loved it. And hated parts of it at the same time.

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    Dee said on Jan 1, 2008 | Add your feedback

  • Fascinating narrative of a musician on tour. Ishiguru masterfully evokes the surrealism of sleep-deprivation, while never making this journey tedious or repetitious. As with all of his other works, his style is graceful and lovely, a delight to read.

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    guaddess said on Jul 29, 2007 | Add your feedback

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9780679735878 Paperback $15.95 $13.63 bn.com
$15.95 $10.49 The Book Depository
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