Reviews - When We Were Orphans

1.54k reviews for:

When We Were Orphans

Kazuo Ishiguro

3.47 AVERAGE

mishmeesh's review against another edition

2.0

mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I've previously read Never Let Me Go and Remains of the Day by Ishiguro and loved them, so wanted to explore more of his work. In those, I loved how he uses first person to highlight self-contradictions and subjectivity, and builds at a slow pace crescendo to an overwhelmingly emotional climax. But in Orphans, it feels overdone to its own detriment. It was like Ishiguro went "oh so you liked Remains? Well, how about THIS?!" and dramatically cranked the Unreliable Narrator Dial way too far.

I found the POV character to be frustrating and often unlikable, which made reading from his highly subjective memories a slog, combined with a Dickensian sort of prose that made me wonder if Ishiguro was being paid by the word. There were monster paragraphs of dialogue that was 90% "I dare say, old chap" and other polite language fillers and 10% actual information. I get it, they're English and they're old but oh my sweet god. And then working through all of that for a miserable payoff to the whole overarching mystery just left me feeling pretty sour about it.

It feels so weird to have such gripes about a work from an author who wrote one of my favourite books of all time (Never Let Me Go), but man. wtf was that

Content Warnings

st0bbit's review against another edition

3.75

mysterious 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: Complicated

reminded me of the great gatsby with this unreliable narrator. Hm I enjoyed this writing style because it felt really seamless and the recollection transitioned smoothly from one event to the next. could also pick up on the clues that he’s not a reliable narrator and that there’s sussy stuff happening, but I was still kinda confused with the reveal at the end and it felt anti climactic

aloe_flavor's review against another edition

4.25

dark mysterious reflective 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

In a way, When We Were Orphans bears nearly identical traits to the narratives seen in An Artist of the Floating World and The Remains of the Day: A main character, burdened by naivety and nostalgia, is faced with the notion that the past he holds so dearly may not have been as it appeared.

Despite the repeated use of the archetype, Ishiguro's writing is simply sublime enough to make the journey a joy to read through. And credit where credit is due: unlike his other works (at least the ones I have read), the protagonist does not have the luxury of simply dismissing his misremembrance. He is forced to reckon with the consequences of reality.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. Although it is quite a bit more dark and perhaps cynical than what readers may expect from Ishiguro, it's nonetheless a satisfying narrative, backed by a wonderful array of diverse characters.

Content Warnings