Shanghai Surprise (When We Were Orphans - Kazuo Ishiguro)

Member Name: kirstymack80

Product:	When We Were Orphans - Kazuo Ishiguro
Date:	28/08/05 (193 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: beautiful writing, touching

Disadvantages: a few ends left unsatisfactorily hanging

Having read 'Never Let Her Go' very recently by this author, I really wanted to try to find some of his other works. Kazuo Ishiguro's 'When We Were Orphans' was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2000 and KM, whilst on her usual browse of the charity shops because she's a mean so and so, managed to find this little beauty for a paltry 60p. Yes folks, this was cheap as chips and not as fattening.

* The story *

Christopher Banks is our storyteller in 1930s London. We learn that he is one of the country's most renowned detectives. He moves in all the right circles among London's society, along the way meeting the mysterious Miss Hemmings, a pushy, intimidating woman that he can't quite fathom out. We get the impression Banks is quite taken with Sarah Hemmings, but her aloofness towards him enables Christopher to keep her at a distance. Yet they know the same people and 'accidental' meetings, usually instigated by her, are a little too convenient.

Banks' life itself is shrouded in mystery. As a young boy he travelled to London as an ‘orphan’ after his parents mysteriously disappeared in Old Shanghai. This unsolved crime has always haunted him and 20 years later, he goes back to try and discover their whereabouts.

* What I liked *

Banks' character takes us slowly back to his life in Shanghai as a young boy and particularly his friendship with Akira, a Japanese neighbour who is learning English. Christopher believes himself to be his friend's 'intellectual superior' as arguments arise over Akira’s insistence on calling Christopher 'old chip' rather than 'old chap' believing his English is correct. Theirs is, on the whole, a balanced friendship - Christopher also thinks that his friend is far more worldly, despite being just a month his senior.

When Akira's parents arrange for him to stay with relatives in Nagasaki over the school holidays, Christopher is left at a loose end. Uncle Philip who 'was not a real uncle' is a permanent household guest and arguments and secrets between Christopher's parents are a mystery to their young son who sees them as 'curious little episodes'. Christopher's friendship with Akira means so much to him that when his father disappears, he is torn between staying with his mother or carrying out a promise he'd made to his friend.

The descriptive writing is top notch - one really gets the feel for old London and, as a contrast, life in a now war torn Shanghai. The author keeps the reader guessing as, throughout the book we're either dealing in the present, when the parents have been out of Banks' life for some time, or with the past, when they are still very much a part of it. What happens in between remains the mystery and is guaranteed to keep the pages turning.

The second half of the book deals with Banks' return to Shanghai - to search for his childhood friend, and more importantly, his parents. He enters a war zone, a Shanghai very different from the one he left. His status ensures he receives help from the highest authorities, including policemen and soldiers.

'I did not know how to continue, and besides, I realised I had been sobbing for some time, and that this was making a poor impression on the captain. I wiped my face and continued: “I came here to find my parents”’.

I found the latter part of the book very moving as Christopher goes back to his roots, old memories resurfacing and his need to find out the truth achingly real. The book is written in old fashioned English, with plenty of 'Look here, old man' and 'you'll be fit as a fiddle' type sentences dotted about. Some readers may find the writing rather stilted but I found it helped set the scene. Christopher can be an annoying character, believing he is above the law and coming across as more than a little pompous when dealing with the higher authorities in Shanghai.

The book does have its faults – many won’t like the style of writing. Christopher speaks almost *too* precisely and in his mission to find his parents is outspoken and a little rude, expecting a personal escort to a very dangerous area of the city. The second half of the book is also a little confusing, but perhaps it is meant to be as we realise Christopher’s desperate attempts to find his past are somehow blurring with reality so at times everything seems surreal.

“I’m beginning to see now, many things aren’t as I supposed”.

This isn't so much a book about war - I am most certainly not a fan of that type of genre but this book is full of intrigue, of mysterious characters and a 'hero' who has never forgotten his past. I do recommend this powerful book and, of course, award it the full five stars.

* Details *

ISBN 0-571-20516-X
RRP £7.99 (£5.99 delivered on play.com)
313 pages (paperback)

* About the author *

Kazuo Ishiguro was born in Nagasaki, Japan in 1954 and travelled to Britain at the age of five. His works have been translated into twenty-eight languages. His international bestseller 'The Remains of the Day' sold over a million copies in the English language alone and was made into an award-winning film starring Emma Thompson and Sir Anthony Hopkins.

In 1995 Ishiguro received an OBE for Services in Literature.

* Other books by Kazuo Ishiguro *

A Pale View of Hills
An Artist of the Floating World
The Remains of the Day
The Unconsoled

Never Let Her Go (hardback)

Thanks for reading.

Summary: One man's need to return to his past.