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Summary: Part Edgar Wallace, part Charles Dickens, but all Ishiguro
Review: 'When We Were Orphans' is part Kafka, part Edgar Wallace, part Durrenmatt, and all Ishiguro. As in his previous novels, the prose here is flawless. No one can paint a dream landscape quite as effectively as Ishiguro (Shanghai in the late 1930s is a fit counterpoint to the chaos of the narrator's mind), while at the same time peopling it with sympathetic, if disturbed, characters. One clue to understanding Christopher, the central charcter and first-person narrator of the book, is to think of him as an extension of his childhood reading, which would have included generous helpings of detective novels and thrillers, along with classics such as 'Great Expectations,' the name of whose hero, Pip, may have suggested Christopher's nickname, Puffin. There is certainly a Dickensian irony in the supposed resolution to the story, which has Christopher the unwitting recepient of a villainous benefactor's largesse. The best way to approach the book may be as Christopher's desperate attempt to make sense out of the tragedy of his childhood by casting himself as the Great Detective (a figure who does not exist outside of books) and his uncle (who was ultimately guilty of loving Puffin's mother from a not-too-discreet distance) as the arch-villain and architect of his unhappiness. The result is a difficult, but rewarding novel that blurs the lines between fantasy and fiction while exploring the question of obligation, both to family and to those we chose to love.
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Summary: A Clue to Understanding When We Were Orphans?
Review: Ishiguro's story, A Village After Dark, in the May 21st New Yorker magazine, expresses in a few pages the relationships and psychological states that Ishiguro deals with in The Unconsoled and When We Were Orphans. It is another variation on his theme and may renew interest in disenchanted readers. If, however, you want true insight, read The Unconsoled. Read without skipping or dashing through this long novel that preceded WWWO. Sure, it's like going into the desert. You will be disbelieving and pugnacious. You will be scared of being bored. Yet when you emerge from its pages, emotionally unshaven and dry of mouth, you will know something you didn't know before.
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Summary: Shanghaied by the Narrator
Review: Kazuo Ishiguro's novels seem to revolve around people who are idiot savants, people who are brilliant in an area requiring narrow, focused attention but not functional in more general aspects of their lives. In Remains of the Day he gave us a butler who was exceptional at his duties but oblivious to the fact that he was working for a Nazi. In When We Were Orphans the reader is presented with an apparently brilliant detective whose limitations are revealed as the story progresses. Since the novel is told in the first person, the protagonist's blind spots are not revealed directly but through inference. Ishiguro carefully conceals the narrator's inadequacies not only revealing what he doesn't know but also hiding what he does know.When We Were Orphans is structured as a detective novel with the detective reminiscing on his case. The case in question is the disappearance of his parents in Shanghai more than 20 years before. The solution of the mystery and the climax of the novel occur in Shanghai at the start of World War II. The resolution does take a twist but most of the clues were provided along the way. The reader can be confused not from an excess of irrelevant detail and red herrings but because the narrator keeps so much to himself. The novel can be read on a larger scale as a metaphor for and commentary on the fall of the British Empire. The great British Empire was never larger than it was just before World War II. However, its inability to recognize the dangers from both Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan combined with a value system that was not consistent with its behaviour led to its rapid demise. The narrator's attempts to solve the mystery of his parents' disappearances in war torn Shanghai highlight the worst magnificence of the British Empire. When We Were Orphans was nominated for the Booker and I can see why. It is well written and thought provoking although I am a little annoyed with the use of the unreliable narrator technique. Still it works as a whodunit and it has much more depth than a standard mystery novel. It's very difficult to write a novel that satirizes a genre and yet is a good example of the genre as well. I am not totally convinced that Ishiguro pulled it off but he came close.
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Summary: A Book to Please
Review: This is my first Ishiguro novel, and it certainly will not be my last. His clean and precise prose engaged me from the outset as did his skillful handling of the interwoven timelines and settings. The plot is intriguing, as are the characters, particularly the main character whom the story is centred on, Christopher Banks. Ishiguro truly is a master of re-creating the English gent of old. I found the disparaging reviews interesting. Although they voiced some well-deserved criticisms, Ishiguro's book is, in the main, well thought out and beautifully written. I know I will be reading "When We Were Orphans" again.
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Summary: Another masterpiece from Ishiguro
Review: This is another great book by the English novelist. It sets an intriguing story in the complexity of the Sino-Japanese War and Western colonial powers' presence in China. Well done!
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Summary: Mixed Feelings - Might Need A Second Read
Review: I love Ishiguro's `The Remains Of the Day' and am fascinated by China and Chinese history, so this book should have been right up my alley. Unfortunately, I just couldn't seem to get into it. This might have been because of my own inability to empathise with Christopher, the central character. Having said that, as you would expect from Ishiguro, the book is beautifully written. The attitudes and expressions of characters come across as historically accurate (contrary to the current trend where historical characters always seem to possess 21st century values). Suspense is maintained throughout as Ishiguro cleverly keeps us from knowing any more than the narrator about what has happened to his parents. There were also interesting parallels in the latter half of the novel to Conrad's `Heart Of Darkness' as the search moves through the war-torn area of Shanghai and Christopher not only has to search physically but also grows in self-awareness. While it didn't grab me at first reading I'm not really surprised that others love it. I'm prepared to give it a second chance at a later date and may well change my rating.
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Summary: Can't Get It Off My Mind
Review: I read this book over two months ago, and I keep on returning to it in my mind. Does that make it a great book? Maybe not, but it's been the subject of many interesting discussions over the dinner table at my house. We've thrown around Freud and Kierkegaard, which sure beats our everyday conversation. Yeah, I guess that does make it a great book.
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Summary: Quite A Failed Attempt.
Review: Basically, the story of this book revolves about an English man obsessed by the disappearance of his parents in Hong Kong when he was a child. The result of this obsession is a journey into the confused memories of the protagonist, wherein lies the main interest of the story. Unfortunately, Kazuo Ishiguro doesn't have much of an idea how to make this book into the masterpiece it could have been. It begins slowly and continues in that vein for some time and when things finally start to get going, it becomes uninteresting. It's not a long book and doesn't seem thus, but that is part of the problem. He never manages to capture a sense of importance necessary for the reader to be truly involved with the storyline which makes you wish this experience would just end as soon as possible. The author manages to describes the scattered memories of the protagonist with a degree of skill but he fails on every count to make it an intensely literary experience. His attempts to give small clues as to the answer to the central riddle while not giving away a great deal begin to seem desperate after a while and this is annoying. Overall, the sequences where he remembers details from his past fail to achieve the coherence and smoothness it is apparent that the author and the reader would have desired. The author dwells for too long on the allegorical maze of the Hong Kong slums and it really isn't a very good way to climax a book anyway. The ending is uninspired and the answers provided seem disappointing given the sense of mystery and intrigue evoked throughout. If you want to read a Kazuo Ishiguro book, don't read this one. You'll come away from it with a feeling of having wasted your time. There are no rewards for the reader and it seems incomprehensible why this should have been nominated for a Booker Prize.
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Summary: Unexpected masterpiece
Review: I understand some readers might be disappointed. This is not a detective novel or a traditional narrative in any sense. From the beginning Ishiguro sets a tone that whatever is being said comprises only a veneer, the surface of life, the story we would like to hear. Over and over we are refused the easy way out, the complacency of thinking that everything is alright, the refuge in the fantasy of feeling good. Things are not alright, never will be although most of the time we try to deceive ourselves into believing so. Christopher Banks, the main character, learns nothing. He remains unaware his life makes no sense and towards the end he even insists in never growing up by embellishing his early retirement by telling us about himself getting old peacefully in a London of pidgeons and parks. It is us the readers who are left to ponder the horrible world Christopher had to contend with (and refuses to see, time and time again) and what are the injustices we choose every day not to see. Not a novel for those who want escapism, "a good read," or to feel good, but rather a thought piece for those who don't mind getting depressed and love to feel the grit and grime of true life.
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Summary: Misunderstood through our Sturm und Drang
Review: Much like Kubrik's misunderstood film, Barry Lyndon, which for many was too slow, too filled with uncompacted eventfulness--for such observers, help for the dying child did not come too late, but too slowly, which, however, was the case too often then--, and too languid, Ishiguro has served up a gentle yet sublime masterpiece that is intended to soothe and haunt our jaded expectations. Through his incredible use of language, he carefully weaves a tapistry, which provides clarity and understanding for others in another time and therefore for ourselves in our own. I am disappointed in the many reviews here criticizing the book's lack of plot twists and surprise. This is a book about life, the lives of many of us, and such is not filled with those every day. Rather we proceed through this existence uneventfully, for the most part; among other things, what Ishiguro wants to convey, I believe, is that the little details and observations, we all could make, are what would provide the depth and richness to a life lived well. Of course, he goes farther. The exploration of Christopher's inner depths, his reluctance to commit himself to Sarah, his out-of-stepfulness with his assigned society are carried through by Ishiguro. Meaning no offense to the author, but after reading his other works, I believe it is his own outsiderness that makes him qualified (not uniquely, for there are others, thankfully) to be such a careful observer of England and the English. I am thankful for this work and look forward to the next.
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