Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
When We Were Orphans
When We Were Orphans | Kazuo Ishiguro
Sent to live in England after the disappearance of his parents, Christopher Banks returns to Shanghai, the city of his birth, more than twenty years later to uncover the truth about the tragedy that transformed his childhood.
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
review
Deblovestoread
post image
Bailedbailed

I like the writing but am finding it boring. When I‘m thinking of bailing I look at Litsy reviews to make sure I shouldn‘t try a little harder to finish. There isn‘t anything there to spur me on to the finish line. Bailing at 25%

#AuthorAMonth @Soubhiville

Deblovestoread Yes! #hailthebail 🙌🏼 5mo
42 likes2 comments
review
BekaReid
When We Were Orphans | Kazuo Ishiguro
post image
Pickpick

While often described as one of his weakest works, I've always enjoyed Kazuo Ishiguro's writing, and I found this novel satisfying in the end. Initially the first several sections felt slow but really helped set the more interesting latter portion where things ultimately came together. This story is a reflection of what one remembers and what one forgets; it's an exploration of memory and how it can be used to shield oneself from reality.

blurb
BekaReid
When We Were Orphans | Kazuo Ishiguro
post image

Nothing like some morning reading paired with a perfect croissant and coffee

review
Gracelovesreading
post image
Mehso-so

Undecided. Found the plot a little confusing at times. Enjoyed the protagonist Mr Bank's narration. The character of Sarah was the draw of the book for me.

review
JackOBotts
When We Were Orphans | Kazuo Ishiguro
Mehso-so

2.5 ⭐️ I probably would have enjoyed this more if it moved a tad quicker. Memory is a central player in Ishiguro‘s tale of a detective‘s lifelong quest to get to the bottom of his parents‘ disappearance. March #doublespin - Accomplished.

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 3y
28 likes1 comment
review
Minervasbutler
When We Were Orphans | Kazuo Ishiguro
post image
Pickpick

Ishiguro explores memory, unreliable narration and missed opportunity in this strange, perplexing novel which flits around from 1930s England to early twentieth-century Shanghai and back again. Beautifully written and unsettling.

JackOBotts Ooh - I just started reading this this morning! One chapter in and I‘m enjoying it so far. 3y
59 likes2 stack adds1 comment
blurb
JenDR
post image

#2 I am excited for this one. I loved Never Let Me Go, The Remains of the Day and The Unconsoled. This is also the second book of my crazy reading challenge. Can I read 500 books in 18 months? I gave myself this challenge not to actually hit the target-it is outrageously difficult I know. I have been super lazy with reading this year and want to get out of the slump. If I have a goal in mind I tend to be more motivated.

review
writerlibrarian
post image
Pickpick

Kazuo Ishiguro was as good as I expected it to be. Stylish prose, characters obsessed with getting things done their way. A dream like quality to the narration and an ending all in tones of grey. I loved it.
#anglophileapril #sofaraway

@Cinfhen @Reviewsbylola @Mdargusch @emilyhaldi

Mdargusch Beautiful! 5y
Reviewsbylola Great review! 5y
Cinfhen Agreeing with my lovely co-hosts!!!! 🖕🏻 5y
emilyhaldi Lovely review ❣️ 5y
writerlibrarian @emilyhaldi 🙏 i tried to express the atmosphere of the book and not the story. 5y
38 likes5 comments
review
silviape
Pickpick

I loved this book and cannot understand how people found it boring. To me, it was as enjoying a glass of wine on a calm evening. Enjoyable, unhurried, smart.

quote
GatheringBooks
When We Were Orphans | Kazuo Ishiguro
post image

#QuotsyOct18 Day 18: The day when #conflict ends because people have changed is a day I long for. 🧚🏼‍♀️

review
Gdsjenny
post image
Pickpick

I read this book in roughly 8 hours. There were parts where I wasn‘t sure the narrator was reliable. I like books that make me think. I have only read this one book by Ishiguro, but I think he deserved his Nobel Prize in Literature.

14 likes1 stack add
review
Janiceteoo
Mehso-so

:-)

review
BiblioNyan
When We Were Orphans | Kazuo Ishiguro
Bailedbailed

DNF @ 26%

This is a very boring book to me. I understand the prose style is crafted to fit the setting and time period, which I didn‘t mind too much, however. Everything else about it is relatively flat and uninteresting, from the characters to the interactions to the unbelievably mundane details of the most inconsequential of actions. I couldn‘t get into it at all.

Since it‘s an early DNF, no rating.

14 likes1 stack add
blurb
BiblioNyan
When We Were Orphans | Kazuo Ishiguro
post image

Starting this tonight! It‘ll be my first Ishiguro novel. I‘m hoping it will be a proper escapist experience as I desperately need the distraction. Had to deal w/ a sudden kitty illness that required surgery. Oh the stress has been strong around here.

It‘s about a dude whose parents disappear when he‘s a kid. He moves outta the country & returns after becoming a famous cop w/ hopes of solving the mystery surrounding the parents‘ disappearances.

kamoorephoto Nice bookrest 😹😹😹😹😽 6y
BiblioNyan @kamoorephoto Lol thank you! 😹😹 6y
20 likes2 comments
quote
GatheringBooks
When We Were Orphans | Kazuo Ishiguro
post image

#QuotsyJuly18 Day 16: The #Mission of Orphans.

sudi 6y
79 likes2 comments
review
No_ohlivia
When We Were Orphans | Kazuo Ishiguro
Panpan

Man, what a bummer. I absolutely adored the remains of the day & was so excited about this one. I struggled to get into the characters or their experiences, just seemed dull & one note to me. I finished it because I thought the premise was interesting & he does have a smart way of writing that gives little nibbles about the secret that keeps me reading. I feel like I‘m missing something, I‘m partway through buried giant & feeling similarly...

blurb
Updrifting
post image

I got new socks yesterday, so I'm doing a #socksunday photo today. Now you do one! #happyeaster

britt_brooke Love them! My favorite color. 💚 6y
Updrifting @britt_brooke It's time for a little spring around here, I say! 6y
erzascarletbookgasm Nice shade of green! 6y
britt_brooke @Updrifting Yes! 🌷🌷🌷 6y
25 likes1 stack add4 comments
review
eli620
When We Were Orphans | Kazuo Ishiguro
Panpan

This book is so boring, completely forgettable!

blurb
eli620
Cuando fuimos hurfanos | Kazuo Ishiguro

«Ahora quiero algo diferente, algo cálido y acogedor. Algo que esté ahí, siempre, como el cielo de mañana»

review
alisiakae
When We Were Orphans | Kazuo Ishiguro
post image
Bailedbailed

I gave it 3 tries over two days, and now I am giving up. This one is not for me, and I don‘t want to pass on a book to my #lmpbc group that I can‘t even finish!

Tamra I tried too. 😐 6y
alisiakae @Tamra I‘m so torn, because I like some of his other books, and he won the Nobel this year! But it was just not doing it for me. 6y
jpmcwisemorgan I chose a re-read for my group so I knew what I was getting into. I‘m sorry this one isn‘t working out for you. 6y
See All 8 Comments
[DELETED] 3803335244 That‘s frustrating 6y
Natasha.C.Barnes That sucks! Do you have time to pick a different one? 6y
suvata I haven‘t started my book either so I‘m sure you have time if you pick a different book. After all, this isn‘t supposed to be a chore. It‘s supposed to be FUN! 🎈 6y
alisiakae @suvata Yep, I picked a different book, one that I have read already! 6y
suvata @4thhouseontheleft Great 👍🏻 6y
70 likes8 comments
blurb
alisiakae
When We Were Orphans | Kazuo Ishiguro
post image

Hoping it is not a bad sign that the two times i have picked up this book so far, i fall asleep before page 10. 🙀

#catsoflitsy #lmpbc

review
ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled
When We Were Orphans | Kazuo Ishiguro
post image
Panpan

I thought I was going to like this one, but . . . no. I wanted to slap Christopher Banks pretty much the entire time.

Moray_Reads I definitely have a love-hate relationship with Ishiguro. This wasn't one I enjoyed 6y
48 likes1 comment
blurb
ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled
When We Were Orphans | Kazuo Ishiguro
post image

Starting this new-to-me Ishiguro. Loved Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go. His writing is beautiful.

Tamra I loved Remains! The movie is in my top ten. The acting is superlative! 7y
46 likes1 stack add1 comment
blurb
sofiaga
When We Were Orphans | Kazuo Ishiguro
post image

I keep getting distracted from reading books on my TBR pile by other books I have close by when I finish what I am reading. So trying to bring some structure to my life, I decided to place books that I have been meaning to read on the night stand next to my bed. We will see if it works.

Notafraidofwords I do it and it works!! 7y
10 likes1 comment
review
Hestapleton
When We Were Orphans | Kazuo Ishiguro
post image
Mehso-so

Read this one for a paper I'm writing in a few weeks. While I don't normally count books I read for school, I had been planning to read more Ishiguro anyway. It's not my favorite work of his, but the ending made the whole thing worth it. 3/5

26 likes1 stack add
review
bekakins
When We Were Orphans | Kazuo Ishiguro
post image
Pickpick

I enjoyed this, but it's always quite unsettling to read a book by a completely unreliable narrator, and to not really have a clue of the true version of events. Some of the passages when Christopher returned to Shanghai were very reminiscent of 'The Unconsoled', with settings melting each other, and secondary characters seeming to know more about the narrators goals than he did. A good read, not as great as some of Ishiguro's better known works.

review
alohabetty
When We Were Orphans | Kazuo Ishiguro
Mehso-so

Meh. Readable, but nothing really hooked me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ On to something I hope will be the first book I actually like in 2017.

blurb
alohabetty
When We Were Orphans | Kazuo Ishiguro
This post contains spoilers
show me

My protagonist is an uppity Brit, who apparently thinks a WAR should not get in the way of his objectives of finding his mommy and daddy. Like seriously, he's grabbed a soldier to escort him through a war zone, and is getting pissy that the soldier is like, "It's too dangerous here. We need to wait."
The writing has been okay so far, but I don't like one single character in this story, and I don't much care what happens to any of them. ?

blurb
alohabetty
When We Were Orphans | Kazuo Ishiguro
post image
blurb
sofiaga
When We Were Orphans | Kazuo Ishiguro
post image

This one has been on hold for a while. Believe it or not is my book with bad reviews challenge.

eli620 Hola Sofía! También soy de CR y acabo de encontrarte mientras daba un vistazo a los comentarios de este libro... hoy lo empiezo y luego de lo que he visto x acá, creo que no pinta muy bien :-( 6y
sofiaga @eli620 Hola, Eli. No. Yo lo había conseguido en una compraventa. Pero lo volví a dejar botado. Never Let Me Go sí es muy bueno 6y
eli620 Nunca me abandones es maravilloso! De mis favoritos, por eso mi esposo me compró este también. Ya te contaré cómo me va! 6y
sofiaga Por si te interesa, tenemos en Facebook un grupo de gente en Costa Rica para compartir información sobre libros y lectura. Se llama El Reto de Lectura 6y
eli620 De hecho te sigo por ahí también Sofía :-) 6y
11 likes5 comments
blurb
quirkyreader
When We Were Orphans | Kazuo Ishiguro
post image

Saturday library run.

38 likes1 stack add
blurb
Eyelit
When We Were Orphans | Kazuo Ishiguro
post image

#bookssetinasia in my #tbr pile. Looking forward to all of these. #somethingforsept #septphotochallenge

rubyslippersreads I Am a Cat looks intriguing. 😺 8y
Sarahr875 Khaled hosseini is one of my favorite authors 😍 8y
writerlibrarian Loved, loved When We Were Orphans so much. Great choices. 8y
Yellowpigeon I Am A Cat is great but the ending... Unexpected 8y
Eyelit Now I'm intrigued even more @Yellowpiegon 8y
67 likes1 stack add5 comments
blurb
Litlady
When We Were Orphans | Kazuo Ishiguro
post image

Enjoying everyone's stacks today so thought I would share my latest #bargainbookhaul. Thanks to B&N, Half Price Books, Amazon and Goodwill for providing hours of satisfying book parusement!! 📚❤️🐕🐠🤓

shawnmooney Harriet Doerr!! Alice Munro!! ♥️💓💛👍👍 8y
Bookworm83 Ove ❤️❤️ 8y
Litlady @shawnmooney @Bookworm83 Alice Monro - Queen of the short story and A Man Called Ove are next in line. Must read Dame Shirley Jackson first, though. 😊 📚 💙 Thanks for your positive comments! ❤️ 8y
KarouBlue Hmmm what's Midwinterblood about?? It's certainly an excellent title! 8y
Litlady @thecomfykitchen I actually found this in a thrift store and the cover was gorgeous! Still on my TBR list but consists of 7 stories involving a painter, airman, ghost, vampire and a Viking! 😳 🤔 The two reviews on Litsy were mixed but I hope to dive into it soon and give it a chance. 😊 8y
35 likes1 stack add5 comments
blurb
KateTheBookworm
When We Were Orphans | Kazuo Ishiguro
post image

There's a typhoon today so all my students are home from school. Time for me to kick back with some Ishiguro backlist. 🌧☔️📚

45 likes1 stack add
review
ScriboGero
When We Were Orphans | Kazuo Ishiguro
Mehso-so

Most of my book club enjoyed it but not my favorite. Overall an easy read with good description and interesting characters.