ReviewSimon Vance brings Nobel Prize-winner Kazuo Ishiguro’s perplexing novel The Unconsoled to life
Plus, Ed Belgey Jnr joins Al Gore to promote a rather timely green agenda
by Kazuo Ishiguro (read by Simon Vance)
Faber & Faber
4.5/5 stars
Simon Vance is one of the finest narrators in the audiobook world. His credits range from popular fiction (Frank “Dune” Herbert, Anne Rice) via established classics (Conan Doyle, Geoffrey Chaucer) to contemporary masterpieces such as Hilary Mantel’s Bringing Up the Bodies and, er, Rod Stewart’s autobiography. He is, in other words, the perfect choice for The Unconsoled by 2017’s Nobel Prize winner, Kazuo Ishiguro, who is no stranger to mixing high and low forms.
First published in 1995, The Unconsoled provoked admiration, but also bafflement and even dislike. Posterity has been kinder to the tale of Ryder, a pianist who arrives in a European city both to give a concert and discuss culture with its dispirited citizens. Vance’s voice is light and clear, perfect to convey the grace of Ishiguro’s prose and also handle the jolts his narrative delivers. James Kidd
by Al Gore (read by Ed Begley Jnr and Al Gore)
Phoenix Books