You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This novel, with its narrator Christopher, who is (and I think this is the correct term?) a deluded narrator, examines how what happens in the past can affect a person's future. In it, Ishiguro has completely captured the feel of the 1950s, and especially the 1930s. I believe there has been talk of a television adaptation of this in the past, and I think it would definitely lend itself to that.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
Ishiguro's books have a tendency to continue on in one's mind for a while after finishing reading them. There are enough mysteries, doubts, hints, and suggestions to keep one figuring things out for a while after being given all the parts. When We Were Orphans is a funny one though, it invites the same retrospection but I find myself unwilling to go it over in my mind. I read the book more or less in two sittings. The first half was slow and didn't reveal where things were going at all, while the second half seemed almost reminiscent of a Hollywood film or perhaps more fittingly, the ending of a detective novel when everything established in slow fragments is suddenly pierced together in one turn after the next. It is this second half that left me feeling strange about this book, it felt out of place and somewhat "cheap". The story at its core, the child orphaned in youth struggling to piece together an identity with so much of its past gone missing alongside the parents, but the recurring female figure and many other elements seem... not unnecessary, but they seem as if they were to serve a purpose in the development or lack of development of our protagonist.
When I read A Pale View of Hills I hated it. I couldn't get ahold of its content at all and did not enjoy reading it. But once finished, my mind kept going back to it again and again and with every time I came to appreciate it more, to a point where I now think of it very fondly. This book however failed to entice a similar feeling of dislike while also not really working its way into my favours as The Remains of the Day and his other books have. Instead I find myself somewhat disinterested, perhaps between the naive and detached protagonist of the first half, and the rather shocking experiences and revelations he goes through in the second half... I failed to resonate with the characters or the plot very much.
There is one short moment of reflection, in the last chapter, on living as orphans that was perhaps my favourite part, unfortunately the rest rather failed to resonate with me.
When I read A Pale View of Hills I hated it. I couldn't get ahold of its content at all and did not enjoy reading it. But once finished, my mind kept going back to it again and again and with every time I came to appreciate it more, to a point where I now think of it very fondly. This book however failed to entice a similar feeling of dislike while also not really working its way into my favours as The Remains of the Day and his other books have. Instead I find myself somewhat disinterested, perhaps between the naive and detached protagonist of the first half, and the rather shocking experiences and revelations he goes through in the second half... I failed to resonate with the characters or the plot very much.
There is one short moment of reflection, in the last chapter, on living as orphans that was perhaps my favourite part, unfortunately the rest rather failed to resonate with me.
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ishiguro writes with such fluidity. The writing so immaculate, the story pulls you in, it is a detective novel, but there is no heart thumping moments, just a rhythm, and you are pulled into it, beating and moving along with the notes.
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
How could Kazuo write such an infuriating book? I adore his books but this one didn’t do it for me.
This is an unusual case where I read the good reviews on here and go "right on!" and then I read the bad reviews and go "right on!"
I think I might need to reflect on this book for a bit, and maybe come back at a later date with a more substantial review. For the moment I will say this essay is a wonderful examination of this book's themes.
I think I might need to reflect on this book for a bit, and maybe come back at a later date with a more substantial review. For the moment I will say this essay is a wonderful examination of this book's themes.
no one does a story about memory quite like Ishiguro, he has that down. while this is definitely the least I've liked an Ishiguro book it's still a good read. I love the stuff about Britain's complacency, oppressive empire and general lack of regard for the life of Chinese people. Ishiguro is so good at writing people who at home with the British status quo and using their own perspectives to show them up.
*spoilers*
I thought the mystery was wrapped up in a satisfying way 💙
*spoilers*
I thought the mystery was wrapped up in a satisfying way 💙