Title of Book: The Buried Giant
Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
Publisher and Year Published: Faber and Faber. March 2015
Genre: Fantasy
In no more than two paragraphs, briefly summarize the book in your own words.
The events of this novel take place after the death of King Arthur. The two communities of Saxons and Britons live in peace and harmony after the king's death. A Briton couple, Axl and Beatrice, however, notice that every person living in Briton seems to be suffering from amnesia and decide to travel to a faraway village, several days away, to see their son whom they hardly remember because he has been gone for so long. During their first night of the travel, they spend the night at a Saxon village where they discover that two ogres had attacked the village and kidnapped a boy. A visiting warrior, however, manages to kill the ogres and rescue the boy, Edwin, who is later discovered to have an ogre bite, prompting the villagers to want to kill him owing to superstition. However, the warrior rescues Edwin again and joins Axl and Beatrice on their journey, wanting to leave Edwin at the son's village.
Owing to the complicated nature of the relationship that had hitherto existed between the Saxons and Bretons, these four travelers are faced with a lot of challenges, including being thrown in a tunnel with a dog-like monster. During each of these predicaments, Winstan, the soldier, manages to rescue the small group. Sir Gawain, the central figure behind all these predicaments and feuds, is finally killed by Winstan in a challenged duel. His death causes the amnesia to dissipate, and memories to return. Out of this memory recovery, Axl and Beatrice remember that their son had died during a plague. They decide to go back home but are separated during a boat ferrying out of the island they had wandered into.
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To what does the author's work respond?
The setting of the book and the scenes respond to the post-Iron Age England. The Iron Age lasted between 800 BC to AD 100. During this period, people across Europe, and other parts of the world made tools and weapons from iron and steel, and as such wars and battles were quite frequent. People believed in settling scores through combat.
How does the author's work fit in with the themes and/or issues of the course?
According to Alfred Nobel's mandate for earning a Nobel Prize, the work of literature must be outstanding in an ideal direction. To this end, Ishiguro's novel builds on memory as the most significant theme. The book stresses the fact that the mind is what makes us human, but at the same time inhuman. It deepens our relations with others while also breeding regret and resentment. The book focuses so much on the interactions we have with fellow human beings.
Explain why you chose this particular work to read.
Compared to a lot of fantasy books that would dig deep into fairy tales, this novel focuses on human relationships and how such trivial matters such as memory could greatly determine the said interactions. I love the book because I get to learn the value of good communications and how to maintain them. Again it stresses the benefits of brotherhood and unity as being chief factors for collective development.
Select three quotations that inspired you.
"When it was too late for rescue, it was still early enough for revenge" (Ishiguro, 2015). This quote can be deciphered in two ways. Of forgiveness as part of healing, sometimes letting go is the only way to recover from the losses we go through. This builds on love as one of the teachings this week.
"How can old wounds heal while maggots linger so richly?" (Ishiguro, 2015). Still on healing and letting go, the only way to heal from incidents and hurtful experiences is to forgive, and let go; or else, no healing progress will be realized.
"How is it possible to hate so deeply for deeds not yet done?" (Ishiguro, 2015). Love is the only way to be free, and content, and happy. Otherwise, people will continue carrying the baggage of hate and suspicion that will forever taint their interaction with others.
References
Ishiguro, K. (2015). The Buried Giant: A Novel . Vintage.
