The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro

　　The ending is moving after all the incidents that have happened to Axl and Beatrice. Axl “wades on” resolutely and sadly. He determines that he can’t live together with Beatrice on the island where their son sleeps. He departs his wife eternally. However, why does Axl wade on ignoring the boatman? Doesn’t he come to terms with him and wait for the boat to fetch him to join with his wife? Just a few moments ago, he so desperately wanted to go to the island with his wife. An unsatisfying ending.

Izhiguro dealt with the advantage and disadvantage of memory. The “mist” the she-dragon gives is good for some people like Axl, but for others like Beatrice bad. Human beings are well made. We forget bad, intolerable, and sad memories when time passes. This is good.

 

Disappointing points:

1. The she-dragon was so feeble and skinny. It was easy for Wistan to kill it.

2. Their son was not alive, but was dead and they intend to visit his grave. Nothing is mentioned about his grave till the end of the story. This is so tricky.

3. I thought the couple would finally meet their son or find him already dead.

4. The development of the story is so slow and too many incidents related to Wistan, Edwin, and Gawain take place. This is not a story where the old couple take painful troubles to meet their son, which every reader expects when they read the first pages. A kind of betrayal.