Quand nous etions orphelins

The fifth novel "When We Were Orphans" by the Japanese Nobel Prize-winning British writer Kazuo Ishiguro throws the harsh reality of Shanghai occupied by Japanese forces on the eve of World War II. Shanghai is also the childhood city of Christopher Banks, where both of his parents have disappeared: a mother who openly criticized the devastating British opium business in China, and a father who worked for a large opium business. In 1937, the detective returns to Shanghai to begin the search for missing parents. As is often the case with Ishiguro, the reader soon notices that Banks is not a very reliable narrator - the boundaries between the chaos in his inner world and the confusion around him tend to blur. The protagonist arrives at a painful end in Shanghai's burning poor quarters, which are more like a nightmare. One of the pervasive themes of Ishiguro's work is the secrets cut out of life or buried deep in life, brought to light by accidental yet inevitable contact with the pain points of another life. From an aerial point of view, the novel is reminiscent of a safe classic crime novel, while at the same time suggesting the irony and bitterness lurking beneath the surface.