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booksjessreads's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
I found this book to be a lot harder to get into than Ishiguro's other books and it wasn't until around the 70% mark when things really started to pick up for me. Usually, I would DNF a book that I was not interested in, but I did desperately want to finish my Ishiguro collection and so I did power through. The last 30% is where it got a bit more tense and I felt as though the story was going somewhere. Although, one overall disappointment that I had was that I felt as though the theme of 'orphans' was not explored as well as it could have been.
The first half of the book becomes a mixture of Banks' history and his present, as he is recollecting memories from when his parents disappeared amongst his mundane life, as well as whilst he is travelling back to Shanghai. I know memory works in this way normally, where things are not reminisced upon as clear cut and segmented as book chapters, but I felt the blending of these made it difficult on audio to gather where we were in the story. Although, having said this, when Banks is thinking back to his time with Akira, I enjoyed these periods of friendship.
I would say the last 30% was quite tense as you feel like the chase is on to find Banks' parents. The audio certainly heightened that tension for me and made me feel more engaged with the story. The ending was also quite moving and was bittersweet, in it's typical Ishiguro fashion.
I think I would need to re-read this again to fully appreciate it more, but it is also one I don't feel attached to or immediately drawn to. I think that it has got the classic Ishiguro elements: themes of memory and identity and unreliable narrators. I just think it wasn't carried off as well as his other works.
The first half of the book becomes a mixture of Banks' history and his present, as he is recollecting memories from when his parents disappeared amongst his mundane life, as well as whilst he is travelling back to Shanghai. I know memory works in this way normally, where things are not reminisced upon as clear cut and segmented as book chapters, but I felt the blending of these made it difficult on audio to gather where we were in the story. Although, having said this, when Banks is thinking back to his time with Akira, I enjoyed these periods of friendship.
I would say the last 30% was quite tense as you feel like the chase is on to find Banks' parents. The audio certainly heightened that tension for me and made me feel more engaged with the story. The ending was also quite moving and was bittersweet, in it's typical Ishiguro fashion.
I think I would need to re-read this again to fully appreciate it more, but it is also one I don't feel attached to or immediately drawn to. I think that it has got the classic Ishiguro elements: themes of memory and identity and unreliable narrators. I just think it wasn't carried off as well as his other works.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence and War
Moderate: Rape, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent
mangopassion555's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Infidelity, Drug abuse, Xenophobia, and Mental illness
Minor: Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, and Abandonment
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