The Filipino Group discussion

Hello, friends! This is the buddy read thread for one of Kazuo Ishiguro's earlier works, When We Were Orphans.



Participants: Mommy Louize, Lynai, Maria, and Monique (the mommies!)

Reading Plan:
The book has 7 parts but since the chapters are continuous, let's divide it by the chapters.

Week 1 (April 1-7) - Chapters 1-5
Week 2 (April 8-14) - Chapters 6-11
Week 3 (April 15-21) - Chapters 12-17
Week 4 (April 22-29) - Chapters 18-23

(view spoiler)[My copy has 313 pages, so based on this reading plan, that would be around 78 or so pages of reading per week. Easy does it. :) (hide spoiler)]

If you're reading ahead, don't forget to use spoiler tags! Happy reading! :)

The mommies! :D
(view spoiler)[ Commenting for notifications. (hide spoiler)]

I like how this is narrated, very engaging. I can vividly picture Christopher. (view spoiler)[ Have you met Sarah Hemmings already? Very interesting lady. (hide spoiler)] :)

Latecomer checking in! (view spoiler)[ampota, I forgot na! (hide spoiler)]

Checking in! :D

Week 1 - Chapters 1-5

(view spoiler)[I started reading this only yesterday (the 7th day for the first part of the assigned reading plan!) and before I realized it, I was already done with Chapter 5. It's been a long time since I last read an Ishiguro and I missed his melancholic narrative.

I've met Christopher Banks, our protagonist detective. I couldn't help but picture him a la Sherlock Holmes. I've also met Sarah Hemmings, our little social climber. That little incident at a high society dinner in honor of Sir Cecil was funny and justified - I completely agreed with Christopher that Sarah did not deserve to be his companion to the dinner after she snubbed him years before. I felt very indignant for Christopher! Serves Sarah right.

Christopher's recollections of his early years in Shanghai and how he recalled them one by one are reminiscent of The Sense of an Ending. The themes, after all, are the same: the infallibility of memory. There are parts when Christopher tries to conjure up certain memories and then thinks only now, years later, how much of it was true.

I'm wary of this Uncle Philip person. I think he has something to do with Christopher's parents' "disappearance." (hide spoiler)]

Hi, ladies!

Week 1: Chapters 1-5

(view spoiler)[
From the first chapter alone, I realized that we will rely heavily on Christopher's memory. Although he tried his best to narrate everything with vividness, accuracy remains questionable, since it doesn't take him long to correct some recollection.

I see Sarah as an opportunist, whether it was for a higher purpose remains to be seen. I agree with Christopher for declining Sarah's plea to come with him to the dinner party. I do wonder what role will Sarah play in Christopher's life Or is it the other way around?

Ishiguro scattered hints of things to come, and the mystery excites me to finish this soon.
(hide spoiler)]

Done reading until Chapter 7 last night.

(view spoiler)[Will Christopher prove to be a reliable narrator? Parang the same question din ito sa Sense of an Ending where the whole story relies heavily on the narrator's memory.

Also, I thought Chris's parents went missing at the same time. Hindi pala. Nauna pala ang tatay nya. I am so eager to get into the heart of the matter...err, the mystery.

But what about this Sarah lady? Will she have a major role in the story? What about Akira? These are the things/questions that make the story exciting for me (hide spoiler)]

Hi. Enjoying it so far?

Week 2: Chapters 6-11

(view spoiler)[
Reading through Christopher's childhood memories, I can't help compare Akira and him. Culture-wise, of course they are different. It is evident that Akira is more assertive than Christopher. Childish, but Akira have the grasp of pros and cons, and the deeper concept of consequence.

Meanwhile, Christopher sees nothing but good in everyone. Which is not bad, considering. Although, it was curious that day when Uncle Philip took him to buy a piano accordion and abandon him. It was that easy to lure him, like the first time he was lured to the race track, despite the pleading look from his father. I guess, he was not that intuitive as a child. Curious too that he became a detective.

On another note, I think taking Jennifer in is good for Christopher. She is such an optimistic child. I wonder what she will think of Sarah.
(hide spoiler)]

Week 2 - Chapters 6-11

There are two things that stayed with me in these chapters:

(view spoiler)[One is the friendship between Christopher and Akira, which I think was so fragile that even when they both knew that their stories about the helper Ling Tien have already become just that - mere stories - neither of them wanted to acknowledge it. They were too old for the hands-turned-into-spiders stories, but they continued with the charade; no one wanted to say it out loud, that they have overgrown such stories already.

I think they both needed each other, needed the companionship because neither one wanted to rock the boat. At such a young age, I cannot blame them.

The other thing is that niggling feeling that Christopher's mother might still be alive, and is only living somewhere with Uncle Philip. Yes, both of his parents have both disappeared but the narrative supplies the idea that after their separate disappearances, they are together. What if they're not together? What if only Christopher's dad was legitimately kidnapped, and the mother hied off into the sunset with Uncle Philip? Why are we already assuming that the parents are together when they were separately kidnapped anyway? (hide spoiler)]

MOMMY L: I'm thinking that (view spoiler)[Christopher became a detective because of his parents' disappearance, not really because of any innate talent or nose for solving mysteries. (hide spoiler)]

Hi, ladies!
I'm done reading. Sorry. It was very engaging and a breezy read, I can't help myself. I solemnly promise to keep my comments in line with the assigned reading pace. :)

Week 3 - Chapters 12-17

The suspense is killing me!

(view spoiler)[The meat of the mystery/suspense is in these chapters. So Christopher finally makes it to Shanghai and he is counted upon by a lot of people to solve "the case." At first it confused me: which "case" was it? The death of three people in a boat, which then required a dialogue with the Yellow Snake, or the disappearance of his parents? And then yeah, it looks like it's all tied up. It took me a while to figure it out.

Not knowing what really happened to his parents was unbearable. But I'm wondering why he is presuming that his parents are still alive, and that they are together, despite the fact that a lot of years have already passed and that they were taken separately. For a detective, who must be presumably sharp and all that, I can't comprehend this facet of Christopher's. Or perhaps it's the son, the child in him that's thinking that way and not the detective?

I don't like Sarah for him. She's no good for him. I think she's not truly in love with either Cecil or Christopher; she is self-centered and in love only with herself.

There is something quite surreal in the latter part of these chapters that I couldn't quite put my finger on. (hide spoiler)]

I'm done!

The second half of the book was so engaging I couldn't put it down. (And because I have spare time at the office today, yay!)

MONIQUE: Chapter 18 onwards will get even more thrilling. All those revelations!

(view spoiler)[ I was also wondering how Christopher became a detective when he couldn't seem to put together the events as sharply as he ought to. But he also was able to solve numerous cases in London, right? Maybe this particular case about his parents dulled his expertise because it was very personal to him. (hide spoiler)]

MOMMY LOUIZE: Since you're also done reading, (view spoiler)[ Do you think it was really Akira whom Christopher found?

I find it rather a pleasant coincidence that this book speaks about a mother's unconditional love to her child and we, mommies, are reading this together. :) (hide spoiler)]

5 stars, this book. :)

Monique wrote: (view spoiler)["But I'm wondering why he is presuming that his parents are still alive, and that they are together, despite the fact that a lot of years have already passed and that they were taken separately. For a detective, who must be presumably sharp and all that, I can't comprehend this facet of Christopher's."

That, exactly! (hide spoiler)]


Lynai, you beat me to it. Yan din sana ang tanong ko e.

(view spoiler)[
As far as the narration goes, since these are all from Christopher's memories, that was not Akira. Although, I commend that Japanese soldier for sticking with Christopher. In spite of his injury, he was more clear headed than Christopher.
(hide spoiler)]

MOMMY LOUIZE: (view spoiler)[ I also think that was not Akira. The soldier merely found a way to escape from the Chinese by playing along with Christopher's insistence that he was Akira. (hide spoiler)]

Ditto to Akira's non-identity.

(view spoiler)[What convinced me was the fact that the Japanese soldier was merely repeating everything that Christopher said.

For example:

Christopher: Do you remember, when we were children, we used to play detective?
Akira/Japanese soldier: Yes, yes, play detective.
Christopher: And remember that time when we snuck into Ling Tien's room?
Akira/Jap soldier: Yes, yes, Ling Tien.

Puro ganun lang. Of course it could be attributable to the fact that he was hurt and all that, but it was very telling that he didn't appear to know what Christopher was talking about. Also, he can talk properly when he was teaching Christopher how to say the Japanese word for "friend," so there was no reason for him to speak properly.

So this Japanese soldier, he just went along with Christopher's mistaken notion that he was Akira because, after all, Christopher saved him, right? He was safe with Christopher because Christopher was British, Akira/Jap soldier knew that he was neutral, that neither Japanese nor Chinese soldiers would harm him. Consequently, he knew he would also be safe.

That whole bit starting from the time Christopher was driven off by the young driver away from Sarah, up to the time the Japanese soldiers found them - that whole bit felt a little surreal to me. Like something that I'm watching from a meta movie. It feels odd that Christopher would be brought right into the fighting, that despite the obvious dangers brought about by war, he would still pursue his goal of reaching the house where he thinks his parents were being kept. Has he lost his mind completely? Was it muddled by his desire to see his parents despite all the signs that they were most likely not there at all? Has he been terribly deluded that he disregarded all danger to himself, and hurled himself into the middle of the war?

(view spoiler)[I'm sorry, this must be in my review but I couldn't help ranting, hahaha. (hide spoiler)]

So anyway. There's that. The book had its flaws for me but I love the relationship between Christopher and Jennifer, and the realization in the end that Christopher's mother loved him until the very end.
(hide spoiler)]

MONIQUE: (view spoiler)[ I had post-its on those parts where I thought Christopher to be a lunatic. He was even arguing (unreasonably) with the Chinese policeman to go right into the middle of the fighting just to look for this particular house. How can he even be sure that it was the exact house that holds his parents? He failed to think clearly and for me, it was odd for a well-known detective like him. (hide spoiler)]

Why do you think did Christopher acted the way he did in his stubborn insistence to go to this actor's house despite the danger? For me, the search for his parents was no longer a mere "case" for him to solve. It became a personal search for answers and probably, closure.

Another question, and this is something I want to clarify. (view spoiler)[How did Uncle Philip know that it was the exact day for Wang Ku to abduct Christopher's mother?

Also, the Welcome Ceremonies guy with MacDonald (forgot the name, sorry), who was he really?
(hide spoiler)]

Week 3-4

(view spoiler)[
I started doubting Christopher's judgement when he agreed to go away with Sarah. It spiraled downwards when he insisted to be accompanied by Lt. Chow into the Warren. His obsession was showing terribly. And I think he's out of his wits altogether when he started urging Akira (the Jap soldier) that they should enter together, just like the old days.

I think MacDonald is one of the consuls in-charge of protocols. But Mr. Grayson is the liaison officer in-charge of dealing with the other Powers in Shanghai, and that is why he knows the Yellow Snake, who is generally Uncle Philip.

Uncle Philip had a deal with Wang Ku, that he be allowed enough time to get Christopher out of harms way when he comes for Mrs. Banks. So, presumably, he knew when. It was sad, di ba? Bakit hindi na lang sila itinakas na mag-ina back to England?

Like I said before, I like Jennifer. She gave Christopher a new direction and purpose. :)
(hide spoiler)]