When We Were Orphans: A Novel

Wow. What a wonderful read. This is the first book I have read by this author and I was blown away by this book on so many levels. The story begins by detailing the early life of a British expat family living in Shanghai in the early pre-ww 2 years. The relationship between the young Christopher Banks (the son) and his best friend and neighbour, Akira, who is Japanese, is beautifully told. When Christopher is 10, he is left orphaned as first his father and then his mother disappears. After returning to the UK and growing up he returns to Shanghai to discover what happened to his parents. I will not reveal more details as it will spoil the story. Suffice it to say, this book may well be one of the best I have read or will read for a few reasons. First, the prose is elegant and beautiful and secondly, the story whilst sad in many respects has so many life lessons in hope for the future. The emotional depth of the characters and their world-view amidst war and suffering is moving. The deeper motifs of the role of colonialism, greed, cultural differences are wonderfully and sensitively handled and thought-provoking. Definitely 5 stars

This is my third read from Kazuo Ishiguro (the other two being Never Let Me Go and The Remains of the Day, both of which I enjoyed very much) and one common trait from all three books is the level of sophistication and introspection. This often comes in the form of how thoughts, memories, and time (from the narrator’s point of view) play a key role and mechanism in how events and themes are presented and/or manipulated. Alongside this, there’s often a question of how much is NOT said from the narrator’s perspective, and this is important because there is at times heavy lifting required from the reader. I think this is fine, however, because there are definitely some holes to fill in or “under the surface” moments that we need to interpret. In short, I appreciate the fact that we have to put some pieces of the puzzle together to form our own perspective. When We Were Orphans is such a novel that gives the reader quite a bit to sift through and unpack. In its barest form, the book involves narrator Christopher Banks’ quest to find his mother and father, who went missing when he was younger. He is now a prominent detective who has made a name for himself, and will eventually revisit Shanghai to finally try to solve the mystery of this disappearance. However, along this journey, Banks is preoccupied with so many recollections of the past, tragedies and momentous events that still haunt him till this day. This is quite a difficult book to write about in detail without a potential spoiler, but suffice to say, there is a distant, non-linear aspect to aspect to Banks’ narration and reflections that might have us question what is real and what is perhaps exaggeration. I felt like this was a novel of many novels, given the several different threads and subplots are opened up and recur throughout. We move back and forth through different moments in Christopher’s life, from his childhood memories with his parents and Uncle Phillips, his friend Akira, his encounters with Sarah Hemmings, and his adopted daughter Jennifer and try to put this fragmented puzzle together. There is quite a bit to reflect upon after finishing, and I think the title takes on a deeper level of significance looking back. I like the level of ambiguity that the author utilizes to have us fill in some of the missing pieces in this one. Very introspective read, and I look forward to my next read from this author.

Kazuo Ishiguro is definitely a talented writer. I enjoyed the backdrop of a growing opium trade in Shanghai and other countries in the Orient, along with the growing political interference of other nations. Ishiguro fashioned an interesting novel, rich with imagery and choice words, truly evoking the romanticism of the 1920s and 1930s. His character development was deep and made for three dimensional characters which evoked emotional reactions from this reader. I also appreciated Ishiguro's sense of the passing of time, accomplished through the maturation of the main characters, establishment of relationships and the aging of cities. Lastly, I enjoyed how each character found themselves in the situation of being an orphan, and how powerfully that essence of loneliness was woven throughout the text. While enjoying these elements of the author's craft, I was bored by the book and found the plot to be quite predictable. Once Uncle Phillip was introduced and became so enmeshed with the family, I predicted he would have some involvement in the disappearance of Christopher's parents. Also easily predictable was Sarah and her "grand" entrances into the text, as was the development of a "relationship" between Sarah and Christopher. While it was a long shot, I suspected Christopher would find his parents, or at least his mother, which he did. However, I was really saddened by the outcome of her "survival" under the abusive slavery of Wang Ku and the fact that she didn't know Christopher when finally seeing him. Christopher was such a flat character, that I don't know how others found him so appealing. He was a workaholic who was only part of the "in crowd", due to his prowess as a detective. Otherwise, he came across a socially inept and unaware of how to begin and sustain a relationship with a woman. His obsession with Akira was unnatural, especially since there was some antagonism between the two boys during their childhood. The fact that any Japanese man looked like Akira, was a bit amusing to me. I completely hated Sarah. She was an absolute nuisance and utterly lacking in any personal depth of character. The only times Sarah was remotely human and spurred my compassion was when she and Christopher rode the bus through London, with Sarah reminiscing about her mother. The other time I felt sorry for Sarah was when Sir Cecil slapped her around in the casino - no woman deserves abuse. However, Sarah's desperation to be connected with someone socially acceptable put her into the situation. Christopher's mother seemed the only sense of morality throughout the text. She was steadfast in her determination to get her husband to admit his actions against the people of the Orient, as well as his extramarital affair. Her fierce love and protection of Christopher was evident, as she'd give him the eye when she was involved in business, but come outside to sing and play with him, once her work was completed. It almost makes me ill thinking about all she endured to protect the son she loved so much. Lastly, I found it interesting, but almost understandable that Christopher would adopt Jennifer. Here too, the orphan rears its head and is granted a home. While not playing a significant role, Jennifer's actual presence in Christophe's life, seemed to give him a sense of purpose and meaning.

"When We Were Orphans" is a very difficult book because it moves from the main character's past -- Banks', an English boy growing up in Shanghai in the early 1900s --, which is clear, vivid, and credible, to his adulthood and later return to Shanghai. The object of his return is twofold: (1) to explore and clarify the disappearance of his mother and father when he was nine; and (2) to save the world from evil, i.e., WWII. More and more, he becomes unable to see how childlike and overwrought he is to think that he can "save" the world; more frightening, he becomes absolutely convinced that his parents are still alive and just waiting to be rescued. This malaise of confusing the likely with the possible and with the probable or the improbable (or, really, the just about impossible) realities does not "stick" to him alone: the whole outside world crumbles; everything seems to submit to his fantasies. Shanghai under Japanese fire merges with the traps of his own psyche, making it impossible to tell what is real and what is projection. I, too, was hoping for a definite denouement that would expose him as loopy. This does not happen. What does happen is a series of "events," each of which the reader has to judge for their possible truth-content. A difficult book. Very like Kafka.

It was engrossing watching Christopher's childhood in colonial Hong Kong through his eyes at the distance of 20 years or so. This created a marvelous fog. Meanwhile, he's establishing himself as a detective, becoming famous, and trying to develop a relationship with Sarah. But Sarah is ambitious, wants to spend her time with famous, successful, creative people who are trying to save the world. Funny thing is, every man she takes up with mucks up, loses his creative juices; so she leaves him. Christopher watches, as he watches everything else, and continues to recount his life, including a long distance investigation of his parents' disappearance in Hong Kong when he was 7 or 8 years old. Then Sarah hones in on Christopher to get him to take her to a fancy dinner, where she plans to meet her next conquest, not that she knows who he'll be at that point. She meets an aging diplomat who marries her and takes her to Hong Kong on a mission to save the world from the impending WWII. Christopher decides at that point, finally, to return to Hong Kong to find his parents, who he seems to think are still alive and being held by the bad guys. Mind you, this is 20+ years after the kidnapping events occurred. What is there to make him think they are still alive and still being held? In Hong Kong the diplomat takes the by now predictable path; and Sarah turns to Christopher for help. All the other colonial Brits are pretending that the Japanese, who are invading China, won't touch them. And just as Christopher is about to end up with his Sarah, it seems that she's given up a bit of her ambition, he appears to go off the deep end, tells her he'll be right back, then proceeds to go off on a last minute search for Mom and Dad. Honestly, I haven't been able to determine what's being said in the last third of this book, the part in Hong Kong. That's why I'm writing this review, to talk myself through it. The best I've come up with so far is that Ishiguro is describing the fantasy land in which the colonial Brits lived, their attitude toward being in colony, the denial that they'd ever be kicked out or otherwise harmed by the Japanese, that only they could save the world.

This is a beautifully written novel about an insighful, yet idealistically naive male character, Christopher Banks, who lost his parents at a young age and spent his whole life trying to find them. I was struck by how much awareness Mr. Banks seems to have, how pschologically astute he appears, while also operating on "pie in the sky" assumptions. The plot is intricate and complex, keeping the reader interested, if not always believing. At the final page, I was left with a feeling of sadness and almost an aching loneliness for Christopher, who lived much of his life with illusions of a fairytale day when he would make everything all right again. His mixture of self-aggrandizing pomposity and seemingly young boy innocence is almost endearing and certainlly softening. In sum, this is an excellent story. The author has a sensitive acumen about human nature and an almost poetic style of writing.

I'm shocked reading some of these reviews. It is completely obvious that Banks is an unreliable narrator. He is locked in his childhood memories that now comprise his self definition. He cannot grow beyond his boyhood in Shanghai. His entire adult life is obsessively stuck at an early age when his parents disappeared and he was sent to London for schooling. It is a fantastic tale of compulsion and fixation. One scene makes the entire book worth reading - his descent into the Shanghai slums searching for his parents. The power of false memory is an Ishiguru theme - Remains of the Day.

Ishiguro is always challenging. What is he really saying, where is the story is really philosophically taking place, which of his characters' memories of the same event can we trust? Sometimes, as with The Giant, I'm too frustrated to carry on long enough to figure it out. Other times, as with Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go, I'm so mesmerized that I skip meals to finish it, and end up with a holistic watercolor understanding that is imperfect and still utterly satisfying. Ishiguro admitted that WWWO isn't his best book, possibly because it seems to have a bit of an identity crisis about what kind of a book it wants to be, with a side-tracked approach to a very cut and dry conclusion. It's still good. It's still Ishiguro. It's like if Beethoven said the 3rd Symphony wasn't his best symphony. Snort. Okay. WWWO summary: An English boy living in Shanghai in the early 1900s with his mother and father, who works for an import company, is suddenly orphaned. He spends his childhood in boarding school and vows at a young age to be a detective so that in adulthood he can finally discover what happened to his parents. Moving steadily upward in British society he indeed becomes a celebrated detective, returns to Shanghai intent on solving the case, and eventually does solve the mystery. Themes are idealism vs. disillusion, loyalty, and as always, memory, childhood, and self perception. Having started WWWO a year ago and given up on the opening's colorless British milieu, I have been rewarded by picking it up again and following it through the alleys of Shanghai, through the meaningless chaos of war, to a final, crystal clear conclusion. In the end Ishiguro put all of the cards on the table and wrapped things up nicely. I liked it. I agreed with it. I guess I prefer the more gutteral, confusing, urgent impact of his other work. It's like seeing Degas' ballet dancers and wanting Soutine's Carcass of Beef. The ballet dancers are nice. The Carcass forces you to stop and figure out what it is you're reacting to. In the end this isn't my favorite, but you can't say the ballet dancers aren't lovely.