Mary Hammonds

Every time I read this book something new pops out at me. The themes are familiar to those who have read other stories by Ishiguro - memory, love, trust, age - but what gives this book an edge, for me as an average English reader, is the way it tugs at the reader's own memory. King Arthur, Sir Gawain, Britons, Saxons, Beowulf, Grendel, the Roman Empire... perhaps it would be different for a professor of the history or literature of the time, but for me it's passing references to tales I only sketchily remember, and of which I seem to recall several slightly different versions. This blend of familiarity and uncertainty is then mirrored back in the conversations and recollections of Axl, Beatrice, and the people they meet during their journey. You really *feel* along with them that sense of memory and understanding being only just beyond reach.