When We Were Orphans: A Novel
by Kazuo Ishiguro
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Book Reviews of When We Were Orphans: A Novel
Book Review: Not very good
Summary: 2 Stars
The writer here writes well - albeit rather too formally in places (is English his second language, I wondered, reading the book?) - but the plot in this book was very poor and the book was fragmented, uninteresting and dissatisfying and, I felt, a waste of the reader's time. Not a book worth reading, in my opinion.
Why did the protagonist believe his parents were held hostage at a certain house? That appeared to be irrational and based on insufficient information, but it takes up a large chunk of the book.
Why did the protagonist, looking for his parents, suddenly decide to rush off to Hong Kong with a woman instead, and then, equally suddenly, change his mind and go back to looking for his parents?
Why did the protagonist not choose to speak up for his old friend to his superior officers?
The book exemplified, for me, the importance of the writer having something worth writing about before he works on his idea and eventually turns the idea into a book. No matter how good the style of writing, if the book has an unintesting plot or subject matter, good writing alone probably won't save it. (The "you can't polish a turd" principle.)
This book seemed to be the sort of book where the writer put down a lot of thoughts and ideas on paper, eventually found he had 300 pages worth, so he bundled the lot up and sent them off to his publisher. It was a disappointing read.
Book Review: The unreliable narrator
Summary: 2 Stars
The "unreliable narrator" is a venerable device, with its roots in Poe and Dostoevsky. In English lit it was first fully exploited in 1915 by Ford Maddox Ford in "The Good Soldier". The reader has to figure out just how much of the narrative is "true" and how much of it is just what the narrator wants to believe is true - or wants US to believe is true. In its time, the technique was revolutionary -- it added a whole new level of psychological complexity and irony to the novel. But this book takes the device to absurd extremes. The only way to make sense of any of it is to conclude that almost everything the protagonist reports is part of his delusional fantasy, except (possibly) his childhood memories and the somber ending. But even this doesn't help much, since almost all the other characters are apparently suffering in one way or another from their own delusions. So what we're left with is a kind of anti-detective story, where *none* of the clues are meant to add up in the end.
I suppose one could take it as an allegory -- after all, the title is "when WE were orphans" -- we're all orphaned from the innocence of our childhoods and try valiantly to put our lost world back together again into some coherent psychological whole, but no matter how we try, the pieces won't fit...
If so, it's an intriguing and ambitious idea, but it ends as a confusing and frustrating mishmash. A big disappointment.
Book Review: Only the memory remains
Summary: 4 Stars
I have picked this book in a library looking for something to read, and blurb kinda assured me (and which blurb doesn't) that this book is going to be a masterpiece. Trough the early stages of the book indeed it seemed as one, but as I have progressed with reading I suddenly beacme aware of poor writing skills of this particular author. After reading this book only thing that remained inside my memory is a vague memory of early 20th century shangai, that, and a indistinguishable feeling that i have lost something, somwhere. Troubled by the disapperance of his parents, young detective Christopher Banks, tries to discovers their fate, assuring himself that the finding will change the world. It is quite obvious that Banks is loosing his touch with the reality, and this absence is presented in relatively harsh stile of writing by Ishiguro. I mean it is to obvious. There are no diferent levels of reading in this book, as some try to assure you, it's a straight story from page one to page trhee hundred and fifty two. I give this book for stars only becouse story is indeed good, and captures some feeling inside you that you have thought long gone, for that, and for the love that will rise toward Shangai, and hatred which you'll feel towards the corupted politicians and opium sellers. But if you don't fall to such things skip this book. This book, is in fact a school example to average writing.Book Review: A detective's biggest case.
Summary: 3 Stars
In WHEN WE WERE ORPHANS Kazuo Ishiguro introduces the reader to 1930's England and the life of Christopher Banks, a celebrated British detective. While Christopher finds success rather easy there is one case that has remained baffling, the kidnapping of his parents in Shanghai, China. Alternating between his adult life in England and his childhood in Shanghai, Christopher travels back to China to settle the mystery that has been plaguing him for decades. What follows is a tale of false assumptions and important clues that leads him to the truth of his parent's disappearance. During the dawn of the Second World War Christopher is a witness of the fighting between the Japanese and Chinese while reuniting with his childhood friend, Akira.I found the sections regarding Christopher's childhood in Shanghai to be the most captivating. I wanted to learn more about the International Settlement and those individuals living inside. Unfortunately, I found the remainder of this book to be slow and lacking conviction. Towards the end I lost sympathy for the characters and was rightfully disturbed by several obvious plot holes (not to be discussed here in fear of giving away the plot). While the premise of WHEN WE WERE ORPHANS is good, Ishiguro demonstrated poor execution that ultimately distracted from the quality of this novel. I really wanted to like this book but I felt let down.
Book Review: Traveling With Christopher
Summary: 5 Stars
Christopher Banks is our rigidly controlled narrator in "When We Were Orphans." He assures us he is at all times factual. But Christopher's "facts" are strangely skewed. He tells us he is not only a "famous" detective, but has international renown, is celebrated in all the newspapers (front page) for his sleuthing abilities, and has become fabulously wealthy at his trade. The reader gradually realizes what a multi-layered story this is. We first see Christopher as he sees himself, then as others see him, and lastly and most importantly; how we see him.The narrative depicts Christopher's vividly recalled childhood in Shanghai, his parents kidnapping when he was nine, his adolescence in England and his quest to find out what happened to his parents.
His return to war-torn Shanghai is a brilliant piece of writing. Christopher becomes almost hallucinogenic, and his experiences become increasingly surreal and bizarre. As a reader, I was exhilarated reading the fantastic experiences while, at the same time, trying to make factual sense of them. At a certain point, I became one with Christopher and lived the story with him. The climax is exquisitely satisfactory.
Mr. Ishiguro is a master of prose; there is a rightness and fluidity in his writing style that makes the reading experience transcendently pleasurable. Highly recommended.