#the unconsoled

[quotespile]

I have this feeling, that all it will take will be one moment, even a tiny moment, provided it’s the correct one. Like a cord suddenly snapping and a thick curtain dropping to the floor to reveal a whole new world, a world full of sunlight and warmth.

Kazuo Ishiguro, The Unconsoled

[litsnaps]

[thepastisneverdead1966]

I read 22 books in 2025. Here’s my year in review!

Favourite book: The Rain Heron by Robbie Arnott

Least favorite book: The Riders by Tim Winton

A book I thought about a lot: Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer

Favourite character(s):

Yeva from Endling by Maria Reva

Iris Renshaw from Dusk by Robbie Arnott

Lieutenant Zoe Harker from The Rain Heron by Robbie Arnott

(I like complicated female characters can you tell?)

Least favourite character(s):

Angela Crossby and Martin Hallam from The Well of Loneliness by Radcylffe Hall

The sheriff from This Other Eden by Paul Harding

(And I fucking hate evil white people.)

A book that almost made me cry: When the Cranes Fly South by Lisa Ridzén

(Honourable mention: Dusk by Robbie Arnott! I ❤️ the Renshaw twins)

I was pleasantly surprised by: The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro

I was disappointed by: Authority by Jeff Vandermeer <- weakest book of the trilogy imo

Longest book I read: The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro (I think it’s this? I’m not sure)

Shortest book I read: I who have never known men by Jacqueline Harpman

A book I would recommend to people: Prophet Song by Paul Lynch

That’s it!!

[gillianthecat]

I don't know how I would answer this (and there's a couple of them I haven't read yet), but I'm curious about everyone else's thoughts:

Least Reliable Narrator from a Kazuo Ishiguro Novel:

Etsuko — A Pale View of Hills (1982)

Ono Masuji — An Artist of the Floating World (1986)

Mr. Stevens — The Remains of the Day (1989)

Ryder — The Unconsoled (1995)

Christopher Banks — When We Were Orphans (2000)

Kathy H — Never Let Me Go (2005)

Axl — The Buried Giant (2015)

Klara — Klara and the Sun (2021)

see results

Voting ended onJun 21, 2024

[900revolvingwheels]

the unconsoled, kazuo ishiguro

10/10

theres really no way to describe this book. its like if myhouse.wad and every single strange and kinda stressful dream youve had had a baby together. overall, its about a pianist who arrives at a town to give a performance. but actually its about finding and losing family and falling in and out of love and giving people hope just to disappoint them and marriage and divorce and growing up and getting old and dying and learning to live and hating someone even if you need them and loving someone even if they suck and being selfless but so self-centered etc etc

feels like a childhood memory of going out to eat with your parents and even though it started out so nice it ended in a big fight but youve forced yourself to forget the bad part because it makes you ache to think of your parents that way. feels like walking by someone you saw on the bus a couple days ago and you cant believe that you just happened to run into this stranger again and you wont ever know their name. feels like hearing a song you like coming from someone else's home so you stop outside their window to listen in and you hear yelling and it doesnt seem like such a nice house anymore.

the book goes between first person and third person all the time in really strange ways. its almost like first person omniscient. idk how to explain it. incredibly surreal but very entertaining. had to go for a walk after finishing it to think about it idkkk i like reallyy recommend it or wtv ig

[wearevillains]

here's a very, very random stack feat. the bookmarks my friend handmade for me :)

[infpisme]

[inajar]

“One should not, in any case, attempt to make a virtue out of one’s limitations.”

Mr Ryder, in Kazuo Ishiguro, "The Unconsoled" (pt. II, ch. 14)