21st Century Literature discussion

Hey all, who is planning to read When We Were Orphans with the group this month? If you're planning to join, what do you think of Ishiguro in general? Have you read other books by him?

For my part, I was quite pleased when he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2017. I've read five of his books so far, and he hasn't disappointed me once yet!

But . . . I haven't read the particular book When We Were Orphans before, and I'll be reading it for the first time along with the group. I generally tend to enjoy reading books slowly and carefully, but I'll try not to take too long in this case so we can keep the spoilers conversation going. If others race past me, hopefully other Ishiguro fans can pick up the slack?

Anyway, I'm excited to read another of his books, and I just started today.

I'll add the spoilers thread in a couple days.

Thanks for starting the discussion, I was wondering how that worked in this group. I did read the book. It's the 3rd Ishiguro I've read, I really liked The Remains of the Day. I read Never Let Me Go when it first came out with interest in the concept, but am not really a fan of that book. I'll hold my thoughts on this one till we get to the spoilers conversation.

I'm up to part 2 and just trying to figure things out. I've heard very polarizing things about the book , good and bad. I really like this author's style of writing. I loved The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go. There always seems to be a lot going on under the surface in the books where the reader has to put some pieces togehter. Anyhow, will see how things go from here.

Thanks for leading, Greg. I plan to join, but hoping to start maybe next week. I am a big fan of the two Ishiguro books I've read--the same as Rose and Franky. I've also heard good and bad about this one, but I have the feeling that this is an author I will like no matter what. We'll see!

Hooray! The Goodreads tech crew got things going again! Any hint why things were jammed for 4 days?

On to the book: this was strongly evoking memories of a movie. I clearly remembered scenes, but not the title. After some searching, I turned it up: The White Countess, with Ralph Fiennes and the Redgrave clan. Then I learned that it was written by Ishiguro. Oh. Also Empire of the Sun (both book and movie): strong nostalgia and an edge of horror.

This one's an easy "read."

I love Ishiguro. I read this on 11 years ago, and I don't think I'll make a reread, but I'll at least be lurking along with your discussion.

Hi. I’ve been lurking in this group for a little while. I’d like to chime in on this Ishiguro. :) One of my reading goals for 2024 is to read all of his work; some are rereads for me some not. I loved When We Were Orphans when I read it years ago. I also love the movie The White Countess written by Ishiguro. They both take place in Shanghai in the 1930s. It’s always interesting to me to read books that reveal the outcomes of British colonialism, the clash of cultures, the way we can sometimes learn from other cultures if we’re open to it. Thanks in advance for letting me join you!!

This is one I have not read. I am catching up other books right now but should be in the thick by the weekend.

I'm planning to join this group read. The only other Ishiguro I've read is Never Let Me Go, which I really liked.

I read it a few years ago. Can't really say what I thought of it without spoilers. Not sure I'll find time to reread but will follow the discussion.

Never Let Me Go is an all time fave for me, and I want all of Ishiguro's books to be as tremendous in my mind as this. Ishiguro's capacity for deceptive narrative is somewhere between brilliant and crazy, but a good kind of crazy. Remains of the Day comes close to NLMG as well. A friend says Klara and the Sun is also great, on my TBR list. So expectations are high. I have read When We Were Orphans recently, so will be following the discussion closely.

Like Whitney, I read this a long time ago so I don't think I'll be doing a reread but am definitely interested in following the conversation.

Mark wrote: "Hooray! The Goodreads tech crew got things going again! Any hint why things were jammed for 4 days?

On to the book: this was strongly evoking memories of a movie. I clearly remembered scenes, but..."

Interesting. I will have to check out The White Countess. I remember seeing Empire of the Sun playing on TCM last year, but I will check that one out as well. I agree that this novel definitely feels like a movie being played out.

I think I'll be reading along too. The only Ishiguro I've read is Klara and the Sun, which was a total disappointment. Hoping that his other work will be more my speed.

I'm glad that so many will be reading along and that others who have read before and don't want to re-read will be lurking! I'm on chapter 4 and very much liking it so far. I'll open up the spoilers thread either after I finish work tonight or tomorrow morning after I recover from work. I'm working from the office all of January (groan!); so I have a couple hours of extra commute every day to enjoy.

Mark and Bryn, thanks for mentioning the movie White Countess. How interesting! I had never heard of it before, but I'm eager to see it now! Somehow Ishiguro gets fantastic film adaptions of his work. The film adaption of Remains of the Day is gorgeously done, and although I haven't seen it yet, several friends have told me that the film version of Never Let me Go is also beautiful.

Whitney and Stacia, so glad to have you lurking! Whitney, I was excited to see your rating of the book. Like you I'm a big Ishiguro fan, but your rating made me even more eager for the read. Bryn, glad to hear you loved it when you read it years ago too!

Kathleen, such a pleasure to have you joining the read after years of reading books in various groups together! And Sam, wonderful to hear you'll be joining soon as well.

Rose, Franky, and Andrea, I'm not surprised all of you liked The Remains of the Day. It's such an exquisite character portrait and a cultural one as well. And the butler's predicament is heartbreaking; by cultural standards, he has done everything "right," but at such a personal cost. It's an odd comparison as they're so stylistically different, but the butler's shattering of world view has always reminded me a little of Death of a Salesman . . . that aching moment of the death of a dream and the horrible realization of one's own illusions. Most of my friends who love literature on occasion do love The Remains of the Day.

And Bill, Franky, Rose, and Andrea, although I loved Never Let Me Go just as much but in an entirely different way, my friends' experiences of the book are varied. So, I'm not too surprised that some of you loved it but others were not so keen. For my part, I was haunted by the book and found myself thinking of Tommy and the other characters even months after reading it. The book touched something in me deeply.

Abbi, I liked Klara and the Sun (not quite as much as the other two mentioned but still 5 stars from me). But already, after reading the first 4 chapters of Orphans, I can say that this book is very different than Klara. I hope you enjoy When We Were Orphans much more than you did Klara.

For me, many of Ishiguro's books are so different from each other, though I could identify them all as Ishiguro easily even if I just had typed, untitled manuscripts. In all of them, his sensibility is there, despite very different topics and approaches.

Mark, no idea why Goodreads was behaving so badly with creating new topics - my best guess is that a key engineer was on vacation and fixed the server issues when he or she got back? Several other mods I know had trouble creating topics in that time frame, and since some of them are overseas, it must have been a serious technical problem!

Thanks so much for your patience everyone, and so glad to be getting started!

Finished the book and am in awe of Ishiguro yet again. I am a huge fan with only one disappointment (The Buried Giant) which I believe this group encouraged others to try re-reading.

I came across this 2000 interview with Ishiguro on orphans unfortunately with Charlie Rose. No spoilers per se in the interview and he shares his motives for exploring this terrain. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1YSA...

I just started this book. Excited to read group observations

Diane wrote: "I just started this book. Excited to read group observations"

Glad to have you join us Diane!

Ellen wrote: "Finished the book and am in awe of Ishiguro yet again. I am a huge fan with only one disappointment (The Buried Giant) which I believe this group encouraged others to try re-reading.

I came acros..."

So glad to hear you liked it Ellen, and thanks also for the link - I will definitely watch it!

Just discovered this group lately and been lurking for a while. Good stuff happening here. Anyway, I've read this one before and now rereading it. There's only a few scenes I remember. So, it's nearly a new experience.
I have read more, not all, from Ishiguro and have generally found him to hold the reader at a distance, like he's not quite trusting them with all the facts just yet.

I've been waiting for the library to get the book for me, and now I have it. I've read several other Ishiguro books, and looking forward to starting it.

Catherine wrote: "I've been waiting for the library to get the book for me, and now I have it. I've read several other Ishiguro books, and looking forward to starting it."

Hope you enjoy it Catherine!

Gini wrote: "Just discovered this group lately and been lurking for a while. Good stuff happening here. Anyway, I've read this one before and now rereading it. There's only a few scenes I remember. So, it's nea..."

Looking forward to your thoughts Gini!

I'm a big fan of Ishiguro and I've actually read most of his novels, many of them more than once. My favorite of his is actually The Unconsoled (which has given rise to quite sharply divided reactions), followed by Remains of the Day. I'm actually going to give a go-ahead to myself on a reread of this one, because I wasn't particularly fond of it the first time I read it, and I think part of this might be because I read the last ⅓ of the book too quickly and had trouble tracking what was going on. Anyway, we'll see what happens this time through. Looking forward to the discussion, and to hearing others' responses to the book!

Jerry wrote: "I'm a big fan of Ishiguro and I've actually read most of his novels, many of them more than once. My favorite of his is actually The Unconsoled (which has given rise to quite sharply divided reacti..."

Hope you like it better this time Jerry. I'm an Ishiguro fan as well, but this is a weird one!