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The Unconsoled
 
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The Unconsoled (Paperback)

by Kazuo Ishiguro (Author)
3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
RRP: £8.99
Price: £5.39 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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The Unconsoled + A Pale View of Hills + An Artist of the Floating World
Price For All Three: £15.77

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Product details

  • Paperback: 544 pages
  • Publisher: Faber and Faber; New edition edition (3 Mar 2005)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 057122539X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0571225392
  • Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.6 x 3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 36,069 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #6 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > I > Ishiguro, Kazuo

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Product Description

Product Description
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.

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Unconsoled
57% buy the item featured on this page:
The Unconsoled 3.5 out of 5 stars (47)
£5.39
Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall
20% buy
Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall 3.8 out of 5 stars (11)
£7.49
A Pale View of Hills
8% buy
A Pale View of Hills 4.0 out of 5 stars (15)
£4.79
An Artist of the Floating World
8% buy
An Artist of the Floating World 4.4 out of 5 stars (16)
£5.59
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Customer Reviews

47 Reviews
5 star:
 (22)
4 star:
 (5)
3 star:
 (4)
2 star:
 (7)
1 star:
 (9)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.5 out of 5 stars (47 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Ishiguro is a modern Kafka., 14 Jan 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: The Unconsoled (Paperback)
This brilliant masterpiece is an utterly unique novel - unlike anything I have read among books written in the past fifty years. The story - of a concert pianist arriving in Central Europe only to find himself constantly walking into various unresolved emotional aspects of his life - brings us into contact with great seriousness and sadness, wonderful farce and is unremittingly strange and bizarre. Ishiguro writes brilliantly, and conveys the alienation and dissociation from the world brilliantly in his prose and his unique dialogue.

Oh, and the scene with the broom cupboard is one of the funnisest things I've read in years.

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30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars In my dreams, 31 Jan 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: The Unconsoled (Paperback)
Number 9...number 9...number 9...A surreal labyrinth of a novel, car journeys that take hours and then you return to where you began simply by walking through a door...strangers who you suddenly realise you have known for years...and no sleep, never the chance to sleep...This book will haunt your dreams and make you wander about with a vacant expression muttering under your breath and cause you distress and unease but if you're anything like me you won't be able to leave it alone and when you've finished you'll want to read it again. Like all of Ishiguro's work it contains incomparable insights into the complexities and sadness of human nature. The characters ramble on and on explaining in a pedantic way every fine detail of the subjects that prey on their minds day and night but it is endlessly fascinating and Ishiguro is such a kind writer, you feel nothing but tenderness towards this large cast of lonely and obsessed people.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping, insightful, beautifully written, utterly original, 15 Aug 2001
This review is from: The Unconsoled (Paperback)
One of the most original books I've ever read. Unexpected events and insights at every turn. Wonderful writing, as I suppose I have come to expect from Ishiguro. Draws you into unforeseen situations, and later, upon reflection, there is much, much more to each interaction than is apparent at first read. While not a hollywood-style neat, happy ending, it was a wonderful reading experience.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Let's all write like Ishiguro...
Would you like to write like Ishiguro? It's simple, fun, and financially rewarding! Here's a brief guide:

Plot - oh no, don't have a plot. Read more
Published 8 days ago by bloodsimple

3.0 out of 5 stars The Unresolved...is Ishiguro trying to screw with our minds?
Having read 'Never Let Me Go' and then 'Remains of the Day', by now I can truly say I am a fan of Ishiguro's writing style. Read more
Published 1 month ago by BlestMiss T

1.0 out of 5 stars The Unreadable
This novel proceeds so slowly, and so confusingly, that you wonder if the lead character is comatose and having a very slow (and very confusing) dream. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Malcolm Black

1.0 out of 5 stars Why does everyone seem to rave about 'The Unconsoled'?
I bought this book in a cheap bookshop, pleased that I had a bargain. I began to read it with great anticipation. Read more
Published 10 months ago by T. Garrett

1.0 out of 5 stars Frustration as art
The most annoying book I've ever read, like Kafka writing a soap opera with all of the good bits taken out. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Omri S. Suleiman

2.0 out of 5 stars somewhat puerile postmodernist lit - not my preference
A previous reviewer who likens experiencing the shifting, distorted context for this novel to that often depicted by Dali fails to take into account the fundamental difference... Read more
Published 11 months ago by V. ATKINSON

1.0 out of 5 stars I felt unconsoled...
Meandering...confusing...depressing...Not a patch on "The Remains of the Day".

This book wanders around in slow, dull manner. Read more
Published 13 months ago by bookbee

1.0 out of 5 stars Just a bit odd...
I LOVED never let me go, but just couldn't get to grips with this one, and gave up half way through. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Tiger

4.0 out of 5 stars Weird and quite brilliant
Completely surreal, at times funny and pure Kafkaesque, this is a truly original novel and the most original literature I have read since Kafka. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Flibertigibbit

2.0 out of 5 stars Going Nowhere
This may be a "worthy piece of literature" but is it enjoyable? No. I tried very hard to care about Ryder and his friends but to simply take us from one situation to another,... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Biz

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