When We Were Orphans - Kazuo Ishiguro

I must say this book was not as satisfying as Never Let Me Go. I realised that I never did get down to write about Never Let Me Go completely. Oh well....

The central character is Christopher Banks. The plot is secondary, as is with Never Let Me Go. But briefly, Mr Banks grew up in a compound within Shanghai, sharing the splendour with many other foreign families including French, Japanese etc... He had forged a firm friendship with the Japanese boy, Akira, next door and he dreamt of becoming an investigator. His father was kidnapped and shortly after he too was separated from his mother. He then left Shanghai to live with his aunt in England. He grew up, became an investigator and returned to Shanghai, all the while believing that his parents were still alive. Along the way, he came to know a certain Ms Sarah Hemmings who, being the socialite she was, could not fit true love into her life, opting to pursue her materialistic interests instead.


It's really fine to know the plot of the story. Some books attract the reader with a finely woven plot, extensive and intricate. Other books lure the reader into a fictional world using brilliant wordmanship and allow a simple plot to transcend its simplicity. And there are books that do both. This is not one of them.

Just because it appears that two people are meant for each other doesn't mean that they will be together.

The above statement is an apt description of Christopher Banks and Sarah Hemmings. Although this was not the main theme of the story but it came across pretty strongly. Probably because the reader (me, specifically) is drawn to believe that had either of them been less English and more American (generalising) in their expressions of feelings for each other, braving the nasty possible consequences of regret, rejection and disappointment. They should have, dare I say, to freely express, unconditionally. And love - explicitly, in abundance of, and without any care.


The story details unconditional love of another kind. That which exists between a parent and her child.

What I mean is, I realised she'd never ceased to love me, not through any of it. All she'd ever wanted was for me to have a good life. And all the rest of it, all my trying to find her, trying to save the world from ruin, that wouldn't have made any difference either way. Her feelings for me, they were always just there, they didn't depend on anything. I suppose that might not seem so very surprising. But it took me all that time to realise it.

- When We Were Orphans - Kazuo Ishiguro Pg 306

Pure.


There is a bit where Christopher was talking to a Japanese soldier he took for Akira (I suspect this was a case of mistaken identity because Christopher was so obsessed with his quest to recover his past that he was not quite sane. Akira loved calling him "old chap" but this Japanese soldier never once uttered that word. But between these two, the theme of loyalty and friendship came across, a little meekly though.) and the Japanese soldier said a Japanese word Christopher thought might have meant "nostalgic". Could the word have been "wabi-sabi"?

I put up a couple of random pics just to break the monotony of this long post.....