I’m pleased to announce that Guardian readers have not heeded Tony Parsons’ pleas for Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Unconsoled to be burned, but have instead chosen it as the subject for the first Reading group of 2015.
Already, it is looking like a fascinating choice. Although more than half the voters declared it their favourite Ishiguro novel, it was also the book attracting the most negative comments. One person described it as reading “like the rough draft of a novel that should have remained in the writer’s bottom drawer”. Another said it was “maddening to read”. Another rated it “possibly the worst book I have ever read in my life”.
Lined up against them were many more people calling it a “masterpiece”, “an incredible book” and a healthy number keen to stick it to poor old Tony Parsons. There have also already been some intriguing insights into how the book will shape up. Reading group regulars will be pleased to note that the book has been described as having “a Kafkaesque quality where the main character … is floundering and lost in a world that is both familiar and utterly confusing to him”. I was also interested to hear that it is a “weird book, but oddly compelling”.
I’m yet to read it myself – but am now very keen to find out more and get reading. To help out others who also haven’t yet started on this fascinating, controversial book, we have 10 copies to give away to the first 10 readers in the UK to post “I want a copy please” – along with a nice, constructive comment relevant to the book – in the comments section below. If you’re lucky enough to to be one of the first 10 to comment, don’t forget to email Laura Kemp (laura.kemp@theguardian.com), as we can’t track you down ourselves. Be nice to her, too.
In the meantime, I’ll be glad to receive all comments, suggestions for potential topics for discussion and opinions on Kazuo Ishiguro, what makes this book so special and what makes it so divisive.
