The Unconsoled

The Unconsoled is an utterly original masterpiece by Kazuo Ishiguro - a novel that is at once a gripping psychological mystery, a wicked satire of the cult of art, and a poignant character study of a man whose public life has accelerated beyond his control. 

"[Ishiguro] is an original and remarkable genius… The Unconsoled is the most original and remarkable book he has so far produced."  -   The New York Times Book Review

Ryder, a renowned pianist, arrives in a Central European city he cannot identify to give the most important performance of his life he cannot remember agreeing to give... Instead, he finds himself diverted on a series of cryptic and infuriating errands that nevertheless provide him with vital clues to his own past. 

On first publication in 1995, The Unconsoled was met in some quarters with bewilderment and vilification, in others with the highest praise. One commentator asked, ‘Has Ishiguro gone for greatness or has he gone mad?’ Over the years, this uniquely strange and extraordinary novel about a man whose life has accelerated beyond his control has come to be seen by many as being the key work and a turning point in his career.

"A work of great interest and originality… Ishiguro has mapped out an aesthetic territory that is all his own… frankly fantastic [and] fiercer and funnier than before."  -  The New Yorker

In The Unconsoled Kazuo Ishiguro creates a work that is itself a virtuoso performance, strange, haunting, and resonant with humanity and wit.