Finished: The Buried Giant (Ishiguro) The "buried giant" being long put away vengeance and discord, this book grabbed me and moved me, but in a subtle, "aha" way. The story of Beatrice and Axl, an elderly "Briton" couple just a few decades removed from King Arthur's reign, takes us on their journey to leave their home and visit their son in a distant village. What we find is that neither can seem to remember much about their lives together....as if a mist hangs in the air and takes away their memories. They don't really remember the good times or the bad times, just that they exist day to day. They don't even really have a clear memory of their son. What's more, this mist seems to affect all the people around them. As Beatrice and Axl make their journey, it's clear they have been married a long, long time and are devoted to one another. They come across a Saxon warrior on their way, Wistan, who has been sent by his king to slay the she-dragon, Querig. Wistan has taken Edwin under his wing, an orphan boy of twelve who had been kidnapped by ogres and bitten before he was rescued by Wistan. The superstitious town he lived in wanted to kill him, because they believed him being bitten by the ogres would turn him into one. Wistan fights the town down and rescues the boy, teaching him along the way his warrior ways. Edwin had been bitten though, but not by an ogre...by a baby dragon! Wistan recognizes the mark and one of his motivations for taking Edwin under his wing is that he knows that once bitten by a dragon, Edwin will feel the pull of the dragon and lead him right to her. Even though on opposite sides of the horrible wars from King Arthur's days, Axl, a Briton, and Wistan, a Saxon, develop a mutual respect. With the aid of an old monk, they realize that the dragon is responsible for the mist of the memory forgetting. Beatrice and Axl would like for Wistan to slay the dragon so they can get all their memories back, good and bad. Meanwhile, Beatrice is not in good health and it becomes clear that her journey may be towards death and the great beyond more so than towards her son. As they meet a boatman who takes people one at a time over to an island where you can "live out the rest of your days", they also meet some very upset widows who have been promised by the "deceitful" boatman that they would be ferried over right after their spouses, but have spent years waiting. Beatrice and Axl are told by the boatman that most people who make it over to the island wander the rest of their time alone, not knowing the other souls who are there with them...but that on rare occasion, if a couple is truly devoted to one another and loves each other no matter what, that the couple can spend the time together, not alone. This makes it more imperative to them that they recover all their memories so they can answer all the boatman's questions honestly when they come back. Meanwhile, as they travel on, they come across Sir Gawain, an old, old knight and nephew of King Arthur. He was charged years ago by Arthur with slaying Querig, but has been unsuccessful. He has traversed the forests and mountains for years in his quest. Gawain immediately recognizes Axl as another of King Arthur's knights....one who brokered a huge peace treaty between the Britons and the Saxons during the war...but Axl has no memory of the war, only a faint tugging at his memory. When Saxon women and children had been slaughtered during the war, breaking King Arthur's promise to not kill innocents, Axl had apparently berated Arthur and quit the knighthood. So...as the unlikely quintet of Axl, Beatrice, Wistan, Edwin and Sir Gawain continue on, sometimes running into each other on the same path, and sometimes splitting off...it becomes clear that they are all headed to the same place....Querig's lair. Sir Gawain is insulted and can't believe that Wistan wants to slay the dragon rather than let him do it. Axl and Beatrice side with Wistan, though, and Gawain finally, reluctantly gives in. It suddenly dawns on Axl that Gawain has actually been Querig's protector all these years and not his persecutor. He admits that truth and explains why. Right after King Arthur's Britons defeated the Saxons, Arthur had Merlin put a spell on the dragon which would remain in place as long as the dragon was alive. The spell caused the dragon's breath to create the memory loss mist that enveloped the land. Arthur never again wanted the people to remember why there had been a war, or to live with vengeance in their hearts, and wanted the Britons and Saxons to live together as friends and neighbors. For some reason, Wistan was impervious to the mist and this is why he was chosen by his Saxon king to slay Querig...not to kill a monster...but to break the spell. The Saxon king WANTED his people to remember the slaughter and devastation instead of living in the hazy peace. The Saxon king was going to start a new war and ravage the Britons as soon as people began to get their memories back. Wistan somewhat wistfully shares his beliefs, though he hates the thought of people being thrown back into the chaos of vengeance and the perpetuated duty to hate one another. However, Wistan does his duty and slays the dragon. He must first go through Sir Gawain, though, who has protected the dragon, and thus the peace, all these years. It's a very respectful fight, but the younger, stronger Wistan does win out and kills Gawain. After the dragon is slain, Axl and Beatrice begin to make their way on towards their son and they both remember that while Axl was away at war, Beatrice had been briefly unfaithful to him, and their teenage son had been privy to their fight when Axl returned. Angered at both his parents, he had left home vowing never to return, only to be killed by the plague that ravaged the town he moved to. Remembering this together, Axl and Beatrice don't hold any animosities towards one another, but both share the blame and their love holds strong. They realize, as Beatrice gets weaker, that their son in on the island that the boatman will cross them to. At the end, they meet a very compassionate boatman who realizes instantly that they'll be a couple who stays together on the island. However, he insists to Axl that he must take Beatrice first and come back for him next. Beatrice convinces Axl that she trusts the boatman, and that is how we are left...with the very weak Beatrice crossing over and Axl still back on the other shore. :-( A very nicely written book. It's hard to explain how it sucks you in and makes you think and care. I've read Ishiguro's great book Never Let Me Go...and now I think I might go back and read his Remains of the Day!