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The Unconsoled

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The Unconsoled

By: Kazuo Ishiguro
Narrated by: Simon Vance
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About this listen

Ryder, a renowned pianist, arrives in a Central European city he cannot identify for a concert he cannot remember agreeing to give. But then as he traverses a landscape by turns eerie and comical - and always strangely malleable, as a dream might be - he comes steadily to realise he is facing the most crucial performance of his life.

Ishiguro's extraordinary study of a man whose life has accelerated beyond his control was met on publication by consternation, vilification - and the highest praise.

©2018 Faber & Faber (P)2018 Faber & Faber Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Metaphysical & Visionary Psychological Mind-bending

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Critic reviews

"The Unconsoled is a masterpiece...it is above all a book devoted to the human heart, and as such Ishiguro's greatest gift to us yet." (The Times)

"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)

"He is an original and remarkable genius….The Unconsoled is the most original and remarkable book he has so far produced." (New York Times Book Review)
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I thought this was excellent, but I understand people's difficulty with it. The dream logic is unexpected and unusual. The array of bizarre characters with their hangups and illogicality could be hard for someone expecting a cleaner narrative. But I was swept along, and absolutely loved it.

Dreamlike, frustrating and affecting

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Strangely gripping and I suspect easier to listen to than to read Narration excellent too.

A dream sequence.

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Hard to know where to begin, it’s a dreamlike walk through the life/memory of Ryder, its protagonist. Just the construction of the novel is clever in the extreme but its content covers all of Ryders emotions with great sensitivity. It’s probably one of the best books I’ve ever heard. I don’t think if I was reading it I would have enjoyed it as much as listening to it. It’s a particularly good narration.

Masterpiece of a story

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Disappointing. Nothing really happens. The main character seems to have amnesia one minute, then reveals that he knows exactly what's going on the next minute. Fortunately the narrator is good and I'm not one to give up. I wouldn't recommend it though.

A strange, meandering story

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The reading of this book is one of the best performances I have ever heard. It is a strange multilayered story, and at times it seems as though the voices and word motifs of the different characters are playing out the various parts of an orchestra in performing a symphony. At other times, it seems that this must be how it feels to be inside the mind of a person with dementia. The past and present, and time itself, interweaving and becoming distorted and confused and causing stress and anxiety to the central character who, nonetheless, continues to try to deal with everything in what he feels to be a considerate and ‘logical’ way. Extraordinary!

I don’t know what the writer’s intentions were, this is simply my reaction to the work.

I think this would have been a difficult book to read were it not for the extraordinary and wonderful performance of the reader, Simon Vance.

Excellent reading

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