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mmmergz 's review for:
When We Were Orphans
by Kazuo Ishiguro
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Had to do some Reddit scouring after finishing this to find a good analysis, and this review sums everything up perfectly: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/156503324?book_show_action=true&from_review_page=1
I’m glad I decided to stop doing Ishiguro audiobooks because the whole unreliable narrator thing doesn’t work as well that way. The pacing of this book is a little off for me. It’s quite a slow build until the last fifty pages or so which are…. Pretty nuts! Found myself muttering “what is he doing” to myself a lot. Kind of brilliant character exploration? But I think the first half could have been tightened up quite a bit.
Really interesting to read what others’ Ishiguro rankings are, because a lot of people had this one last but I liked this more than ROTD and APVOH. But maybe I need to give those two a physical reread!
Ishiguro Ranking:
1. Never Let Me Go
2. Klara and the Sun
3. When We Were Orphans
4. A Pale View of Hills
5. Remains of the Day
I’m glad I decided to stop doing Ishiguro audiobooks because the whole unreliable narrator thing doesn’t work as well that way. The pacing of this book is a little off for me. It’s quite a slow build until the last fifty pages or so which are…. Pretty nuts! Found myself muttering “what is he doing” to myself a lot. Kind of brilliant character exploration? But I think the first half could have been tightened up quite a bit.
Really interesting to read what others’ Ishiguro rankings are, because a lot of people had this one last but I liked this more than ROTD and APVOH. But maybe I need to give those two a physical reread!
Ishiguro Ranking:
1. Never Let Me Go
2. Klara and the Sun
3. When We Were Orphans
4. A Pale View of Hills
5. Remains of the Day