Paperback, 320 pages
Published March 3, 2005 by Faber and Faber.
'You seldom read a novel that so convinces you it is extending the possibilities of fiction.' Sunday TimesEngland, 1930s. Christopher Banks has become the country's most celebrated detective, his cases the talk of London society. Yet one unsolved crime has always haunted him: the mysterious disappearance of his parents, in old Shanghai, when he was a small boy. Moving between London and Shanghai of the inter-war years, When We Were Orphans is a remarkable story of memory, intrigue and the need to return.
I have read everything else Ishiguro wrote, but this one just does not interest me like the others. I’ll definitely keep reading whatever new books he comes out with!
I didn’t enjoy this. It’s surreal, and an unreliable narrator, but not in a way that interested me. It is beautifully written.
Fascinating read, beautifully written.
At times I grew impatient with the narrator, who seemed impossibly dense and unnaturally withholding while relating his story. I suspected the author of overusing the fog of memory and inaccuracies of self-image to build tension. By the end, though, I'd switched to being thankful for the exaggeration of these things. It forced me to contemplate them, and ultimately admit most people, including myself, are capable of absurd denials when it comes to the matters closest to us. To an orphan, one's parents would certainly represent a most difficult reality to grasp clearly. Letting go of dearly held conceptions to make room for something new does make for a good story that ultimately rings true.
