But Ishiguro refuses to let Querig take the blame for society’s ills. Crossing species boundaries, medieval beasts symbolize disruption, and for that reason pose a threat to people who need the illusion of control. The anthropologist Mary Douglas explains better than anyone the particular power of anything, fantastic beasts included, that offends our sense of order. She has wings like a bird and eyes like a turtle’s. Her skin is reptilian in texture but fish-like in color. In the manner of medieval beasts, she is a composite creature with unmatched parts. She is no scapegoat, no externalized enemy without whom humankind flourishes. In her final days, all she wants is a little beauty to contemplate. The dragon, Querig, is old and feeble, hardly the fire-breathing enemy you might expect. But this is not a standard adventure novel. Kazuo Ishiguro’s latest novel, The Buried Giant, is about a couple’s quest to find their son and a warrior’s quest to slay a dragon. Review of THE BURIED GIANT, by Kazuo Ishiguro
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