When We Were Orphans: A Novel

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When 9-year-old Christopher Banks's father--a British businessman involved in the opium trade--disappears from the family home in Shanghai, the boy and his friend Akira play at being detectives: "Until in the end, after the chases, fist-fights and gun-battles around the warren-like alleys of the Chinese districts, whatever our variations and elaborations, our narratives would always conclude with a magnificent ceremony held in Jessfield Park, a ceremony that would see us, one after another, step out onto a specially erected stage ... to greet the vast cheering crowds."

But Christopher's mother also disappears, and he is sent to live in England, where he grows up in the years between the world wars to become, he claims, a famous detective. His family's fate continues to haunt him, however, and he sifts through his memories to try to make sense of his loss. Finally, in the late 1930s, he returns to Shanghai to solve the most important case of his life. But as Christopher pursues his investigation, the boundaries between fact and fantasy begin to evaporate. Is the Japanese soldier he meets really Akira? Are his parents really being held in a house in the Chinese district? And who is Mr. Grayson, the British official who seems to be planning an important celebration? "My first question, sir, before anything else, is if you're happy with the choice of Jessfield Park for the ceremony? We will, you see, require substantial space."

In When We Were Orphans Kazuo Ishiguro uses the conventions of crime fiction to create a moving portrait of a troubled mind, and of a man who cannot escape the long shadows cast by childhood trauma. Sherlock Holmes needed only fragments--a muddy shoe, cigarette ash on a sleeve--to make his deductions, but all Christopher has are fading recollections of long-ago events, and for him the truth is much harder to grasp. Ishiguro writes in the first person, but from the beginning there are cracks in Christopher's carefully restrained prose, suggestions that his version of the world may not be the most reliable. Faced with such a narrator, the reader is forced to become a detective too, chasing crumbs of truth through the labyrinth of Christopher's memory.

Ishiguro has never been one for verbal pyrotechnics, but the unruffled surface of this haunting novel only adds to its emotional power. When We Were Orphans is an extraordinary feat of sustained, perfectly controlled imagination, and in Christopher Banks the author has created one of his most memorable characters. --Simon Leake

Book Description

From the Booker Prize-winning, bestselling author of Remains of the Day comes this stunning work of soaring imagination.

Born in early-twentieth-century Shanghai, Banks was orphaned at the age of nine after the separate disappearances of his parents. Now, more than twenty years later, he is a celebrated figure in London society; yet the investigative expertise that has garnered him fame has done little to illuminate the circumstances of his parents' alleged kidnappings. Banks travels to the seething, labyrinthine city of his memory in hopes of solving the mystery of his own, painful past, only to find that war is ravaging Shanghai beyond recognition-and that his own recollections are proving as difficult to trust as the people around him.

Masterful, suspenseful and psychologically acute, When We Were Orphans offers a profound meditation on the shifting quality of memory, and the possibility of avenging one’s past.

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The maze of human memory--the ways in which we accommodate and alter it, deceive and deliver ourselves with it--is territory that Kazuo Ishiguro has made his own. In his previous novels, he has explored this inner world and its manifestations in the lives of his characters with rare inventiveness and subtlety, shrewd humor and insight. In When We Were Orphans, his first novel in five years, he returns to this terrain in a brilliantly realized story that illuminates the power of one's past to determine the present.

Customer Reviews:

An unusual and moving story.......2007-09-25

I liked it the first time I read it; when I re-read it I was blown away. Ishiguro works in odd, subtle ways and I guess it took me a while to get it, but get I did. The setting is concrete, the narrative is clear, but they are only partly what Ishiguro seems to be writing about. The section on war-torn Shanghai as the narrator goes from blown-out underground room to blown-out underground room on his pathetic quest for his (obviously) long since deceased parents aches with archetypal suffering. What Ishiguro is exploring in this book, in a new and extravagantly original way, is the landscape, the buried and secret terrain, of the heart.

The inner mystery of Detective Banks........2007-09-22

Kazuo Ishiguro won the Booker Prize for The Remains of the Day (1989), which is one of my ten favorite novels of the last 25 years. Ishiguro is a rare writer who always makes reading a worthwhile experience. In his more recent novel, When We Were Orphans (2000), he employs the literary conventions of a Sherlock-Holmes' novel and a first-person narrative to tell the story of Christopher Banks, a celebrated British private investigator who returns to Shanghai in 1937, determined to solve the mystery of his parents' disappearance when he was nine years old. In the early 1900s his father was in the opium business. Despite all the improbabilities, Banks is convinced that his parents are still alive and that he must find them. What makes Ishiguro's novel most interesting is that, unlike Sherlock Holmes, who only required fragments of evidence to solve a case, Banks is a detective with a mind deeply fragmented with the pain of his childhood, making the truth much harder for him to grasp. He operates under the sad delusion that if he solves the mystery of his missing parents, he will not only heal himself, but he will also heal the world. Much like Stevens, the memorable butler of The Remains of the Day, Banks is emotionally detached and repressed--unable to recognize his real feelings. Happiness eludes him. Ultimately Ishiguro is more interested in his detective's interior mysteries than the case his protagonist is determined to solve. The writing here is Ishiguro at his best, elegant, intelligent, suspenseful, and subtle. When We Were Orphans was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and will appeal to serious readers.

G. Merritt

Confusing and Disappointing.......2007-05-18

Sometimes the confusing nature of a book adds to its charm; this was not the case with When We Were Orphans. I felt to urge to re-read the book after figuring out most of what was going on after finishing the book.

I found the protagonist rather annoying and conceited. Perhaps we all are; perhaps others found him charming. The other characters seemed rather weak. I didn't get attached to any of them.

After reading this, I'm reluctant to pick up Remains of the Day which I've heard is excellent.

It's The Way He Tells 'Em..........2007-04-14

Kazuo Ishiguro was born in Nagasaki in 1954 and moved to Britain at the age of five. He was awarded the OBE in 1995 and the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1998. "When We Were Orphans" is his fifth novel, was first published in 2000 and was shortlisted for that year's Booker Prize.

The story is set in the 1930s and is told by Christopher Banks. Born and raised in Shanghai until the age of nine - when, within a few weeks of each other, both his parents disappeared - Banks then moved to England, to be raised by an aunt. Now grown up and based in London, Christopher is working as a high profile and very successful private detective. His celebrity has eased his way into fashionable London society, though some - such as Sarah Hemmings - are initially a little resistant to his appeal. Fashionable society, however, isn't Christopher's main concen : although it's been many years since his parents disappeared, the case is still (apparently) open and unsolved. Christopher has taken it upon himself to complete the investigation - "When We Were Orphans" sees him not only move forward with the case, but also look back on his childhood memories of Shanghai. Obviously, his parents feature prominently in these memories - but his friendship with a Japanese boy called Akira was also very important to him. As the book goes on, however, it becomes clear - though unfortunately not to Banks himself - just how unreliable his memories are. Ultimately, the investigation leads to his return to Shanghai - where he hopes to close the case. The trouble, of course, is that while his investigation may uncover the truth, the truth may not be quite what he is expecting...

While I wouldn't say "When We Were Orphans" is entirely flawless, the flaws are only very few and far between. The details on how Christopher conducted his investigation were a little scant - but, as the book wasn't written as a thriller, that's pretty easy to brush off. The style of writing was also occasionally a little formal - there's a few chaps and fellows here and there, what ho. However, given that the story was being told by a Cambridge graduate in the 1930s...somehow, to me, the language added a touch of authenticity. There were one or two questions left unanswered - particularly in relation to Akira. (I'd have given anything to find out what happened to him after Christopher left Shanghai). Overall, though, I'd absolutely recommend this book - very readable, and one that I just couldn't put down.

Premonitions of 9/11.......2006-12-10

First off, ignore the editorial reviews. This is a meditation on lost innocence that plays off its own textuality--like a Hemingway novel rewritten by Nabokov. There are many scenes that can bring you to the verge of tears; the final chapters, unfolding across a landscape of smashed buildings and shattered psyches, will make you remember 9/11. There is some hint of redemption at the end but this is a book about the difficult choices we make, and how we are compelled to live with them. A masterpiece.

Book Description

There's more than one way to lose your shirt . . .

In a rare moment, professional poker player Jax Gallagher committed a rookie's mistake. He threw an IOU for a valuable baseball that wasn't his to wager into the pot -- and lost. Now the man who won the collectible is demanding his prize . . . or else. The problem is, the ball is in the possession of his estranged father's widow -- a flamboyant Las Vegas showgirl. Jax intends to get it back, by any means available.

Only, Treena McCall is anything but the ruthless gold digger Jax expects. She's built a life for herself filled with good friends and hard work. And if she sometimes wonders what it would be like to share her dreams with someone, she can live with the suspense. She's got enough on her plate tyring to hang on to her job as a dancer without being wined, dined, and seduced by sexy Jax Gallagher.

In Vegas there's more than one way to lose your shirt, and both Jax and Treena know better than to bet on love. Yet sometimes rolling the dice in a high-stakes game can lead to a prize beyond compare -- if you have the courage to gamble your heart.

Customer Reviews:

Good story.......2006-10-04

Las Vegas showgirl Treena McCall married Big Jim McCall when his prostate cancer was in remission. Big Jim paid attention to her, listened to her. They weren't in love but they did care about each other. When the cancer returned shortly after they married, Treena took care of him until he died, using up his money and her savings.

Four months after becoming a widow, and having returned to her showgirl job, Treena meets Jax Gallagher, a professional poker player. Treena doesn't know Jax is Big Jim's estranged son. Jax was a child prodigy math genius who graduated from M.I.T. at age seventeen. He felt he never measured up in Big Jim's eyes, always felt inadequate.

Jax arranges to meet Treena so he can get inside her house and steal something: A valuable 1927 World Series home run baseball signed by Murderer's Row. Jax's grandfather and father owned the baseball and Jax thought it should be his. And he really needs it. He foolishly used the ball as a bet and lost it to a Russian mafia-type gambler. His plan to steal the ball is sidetracked when he falls in love with Treena. Jax finds out too late that Treena had planned to give him the ball all along.

This was a great look into the life of a showgirl, how hard she worked, how uncertain her future was. Only stumbling block for me was throughout most of the story Jax believed Treena had been his father's wife "in the Biblical sense" and Jax still went to bed with her. That was not cool. Otherwise a solid story.

Great Characters & Fun Reading.......2006-06-07

Likeable characters, a breezy style and steamy sex... this book has it all! Jax, a professional poker player, tracks down the gold digger, a Las Vegas dancer, that is his father's young widow. He hopes to retrieve a family heirloom that will bail him out of a jam.
That sets the scene for some heavy romancing that seduces both Jax and the dancer, Treena. There's a secondary romance that's charming as well (between Treena's older friends - a retired librarian and an inarticulate handyman). The author is even able to make a sexy moment out of dusting the furniture.
Switching between the hero and heroine, one gets insight into their thinking and really empathizes with each. Jax is sophisticated, yet vulnerable and Treena is quite genuine and caring. Great characters that you would like to really meet and a fun read. This was my first Susan Andersen and I've already bought another of hers and can't wait to start reading it.
This one is hard to categorize. It's not exactly a romance, not chick lit, not exactly a mystery but still it has a blend of each and moves to a new level. Enjoy!

Not up to her usual standard.......2006-04-24

I LOVE Susan Andersen's humor and track down her books for this reason. However, her wonderful distinctive voice is present only here and there, and the characters are not at admirable.

What are Treena's problems? Her husband died and left her penniless--yes, that is sad. Her other problems are 1) she lost the job as captain. So? 2) Her parents don't approve of what she does. I don't think I'd be happy if my daughter were parading around topless either (of course, she doesn't tell them this because she's afraid these judgmental people won't approve.)

And Jax? He did have a terrible father and childhood--and nothing Treena says about what happened can convince me his father was any good, but he's grown up and successful so get over it!

Another thing? Treena stayed with Jax' father because the man was impotent and liked to have beautiful women around so no one would guess his secret. And yet he took a Viagra and had a baby with a young woman. Why didn't he care enough about Treena to do this?

All in all, the characters' lives are messed up and no one takes responsibility.

I expect more from Mira, Ms. Andersen and for $6.95.

Sweet and sexy, great escapism read!.......2006-02-13

I really enjoyed this book, very well on a par compared to her others - Susan never fails to deliver! Good characters and great emotional depth to them. I was glued to it until I finshed and almost sad when it was over.

Sweet showgirl melts card sharp's heart.......2005-12-28

Recent widow and Vegas showgirl Treena McCall is not sure if she wants to give her husband's prized autographed 1927 World Series baseball to his estranged son, Jackson. Further complicating the matter - she does not know where to find him since he did not even bother to come to the funeral.

A chance meeting with a sexy poker champion gets her heart racing again. Jax Gallagher is everything she ever wanted in a man. Talk dark and handsome... he is even more than she ever wanted, as he is also her late husband's estranged son, with the intention of keeping his parentage a secret, and romancing the ball right out from under her. She is not sure she wants to get involved, as she needs to concentrate on the career she put on hold while nursing her husband,, and going through both their life savings.

The night that Jax found out his father died is the night that he realized there would be no reconciliation. He would never have the chance to understand why his father kept him at arm's length and never was there for him. A math prodigy, Jax was shipped off at an early age to fend for himself in an adult world. Making a rookie error, he was out of cash and bet the 1927 baseball to a Russian card sharp, and lost.

As he sets about to insinuate himself into Treena's life, he does not count on falling for her, as she is nothing like the gold digging bimbo he thought she would be. As they get closer, and the Russian more adamant about getting his baseball, Jax struggles with his heart and his conscience, and discovers that his father was not the callous bastard he thought him to be. And that baseball could make all Treena's financial dreams come true. What's a guy to do?

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Skintight Shroud, The
Wayne Dundee
Manufacturer: Dell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0440207185
Release Date: 1991-01-05

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An intriguing book of erotic art
Skintight Erotica

Skintight: The Art of Marcus Gray
NA , and Marcus Gray
Manufacturer: SQP
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Artists, A-Z | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0865620601

Book Description

Marcus Gray has created his own distinct "retro-futuristic" style. Unique, sensual works created by a fusion of gouache and colored pencil, Gray's work highlights sexy women in fetish themes. Gray has obviously been influenced by a variety of artists: Sorayama, Olivia, Cartagena and even Yoshitaka Amano and Alphonse Mucha, each of whose style he melds into his own intoxicating vixen. Works are printed in full color, full-page on glossy paper.

Customer Reviews:

An intriguing book of erotic art.......2005-11-27

Marcus Gray is undoubtably, a very talented artist. I have never seen someone who can render their subjects with such layered looks. His art manages to convey the subtlty of transparent material over the human form. He makes it look easy. His models are beautiful, his subjects erotic, and his artwork amazing. Truly a treat.

Skintight Erotica.......2003-05-09

I first saw Marcus Gray's work in the fetish magazine, Marquis, and it was a treat recently to come across this collection of his illustrations. There are so many fantasy/fetish artists around who churn out the same standard slick airbrush stuff, that this book of genuinely erotic images stands out as a breath of fresh air. Marcus has a wonderful painterly style which looks deceptively loose and free, but actually nails the essence of his subject far more realistically than any amount of airbrush detailing. His ability to render texture and form with the simplest of brushstrokes is exquisite. An excellent collection to be enjoyed again and again.

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Skintight

Manufacturer: Mira
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Product Description

In Vegas there's more than one way to lose your shirt, and both Jax, professional poker player and Treena, a flamboyant Las Vegas showgirl, know better than to bet on love. The prize is there is you have the courage to gamble your heart.

Las Vegas Series: Skintight, Just for Kicks (Set of 2)

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Las Vegas Series: Skintight, Just for Kicks (Set of 2)
Susan Andersen
Manufacturer: Mira
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000NE88N4

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Skintight
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ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press c1989
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Binding: Hardcover
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Manufacturer: NY St. Martin's 1989.
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Skintight: An Anatomy of Cosmetic Surgery (Key Concepts)

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Skintight: An Anatomy of Cosmetic Surgery (Key Concepts)
Meredith Jones
Manufacturer: Berg Publishers
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Binding: Hardcover

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Release Date: 2008-04-15

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Cosmetic surgery is everywhere: we are surrounded by altered, enhanced, skinny and stretched celebrities, in a hyped media culture that focuses increasingly on the body beautiful. Once only associated with the rich and famous, cosmetic surgery is now widely available, advertised in magazines, doctors' surgeries, and even on television. In some parts of the world it has become an aesthetic and cultural norm, yet remains deeply troubling for many.
Skintight argues that cosmetic surgery is the most provocative and controversial aspect of a new 'makeover culture'. Shows such as Ten Years Younger and Extreme Makeover demonstrate that 'fixing' the body is a way to improve lifestyle and uncover true identity. Meanwhile, celebrities such as Michael Jackson and Jocelyn Wildenstein demonstrate the horrors of extreme surgical alteration.
Presenting a multidisciplinary approach, and examining a wide range of popular culture case studies from women's magazines, television, architecture and the Internet amongst others, Skintight dissects the realities of cosmetic surgery and culture.

Fitting record earnings into skintight margins. (Banking).: An article from: Business North Carolina

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Fitting record earnings into skintight margins. (Banking).: An article from: Business North Carolina

Manufacturer: Business North Carolina
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Business North Carolina, published by Business North Carolina on February 1, 2003. The length of the article is 1365 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Fitting record earnings into skintight margins. (Banking).
Publication: Business North Carolina (Magazine/Journal)
Date: February 1, 2003
Publisher: Business North Carolina
Volume: 23 Issue: 2 Page: 30(3)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

Not old enough to fight in the First World War (though he did manage to fight in it centuries later, by going back in time), but destined to lead the first successful expedition to another star system, and then some, the (literally) immortal Lazarus Long is the most popular and enduring character created by Robert A. Heinlein, author of numerous New York Times best sellers. Across five decades, he appeared and reappeared in Heinlein's most popular novels, including Methuselah's Children, Time Enough for Love, The Number of the Beast, To Sail Beyond the Sunset, and others. Long is the oldest living member of the human race by virtue of a unique set of chromosomes, aided by the advanced rejuvenation technology of the far future. He has been a pioneer on eight planets, survived wars and lynch mobs, and explored all of interstellar space known to humanity, as well as some other parts he doesn't talk about. Long's adventures and narrow escapes have given him a breadth of experience distilled through the irony of an immortal viewpoint. But there is nothing stuffy or snobbish about Long's reflections on the human condition. As the noted editor and critic David G. Hartwell has observed, "Lazarus' comments are acute, lively and intelligent." And here they are, compiled in one beautifully designed book, for the delight of the millions of Heinlein fans around the world.

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Notebooks of Lazarus Long, The
Robert A. Heinlein
Manufacturer: G.P. Putnam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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The Notebooks of Lazarus Long
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Manufacturer: g p putnam's
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The Notebooks of Lazarus Long
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Manufacturer: G. P. Putnam's Sons
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Book Description

You know the names Martin Luther King, Jr., Mohandas Gandhi, Nelson Mandela. But have you heard of Roy Bourgeois, Neta Golan, or Sulak Sivaraksa? How about Vandana Shiva, Daniel and Philip Berrigan, or Janusz Korczak? They, and the dozens more spiritual activists in this book, are the heirs to that great tradition of faith-based activism. The spiritual activists in this book are environmentalists, gay-rights activists, peace workers, land reformers, and child advocates. They are Buddhists and Catholics, Hindus and Muslims, Baha'is, Jews, and Quakers. The stories of these modern-day prophets of positive change will inspire you, and the resources provided in each chapter will help you put your own beliefs to work in the world.

Customer Reviews:

"Best Book in History of English Language"?!?!.......2003-10-27

Wow, some of you people need to read a bit more broadly. Jeepers, this is the sort of maudlin claptrap that gives maudlin claptrap such a bad name. Brave hearts, rebel spirits, lots of cheap slogans and smarmy cliches and uplifting tales of grrl power and similar blather are a good example of why people think Americans are so stupid, and Mrs. R is certainly closer in spirit to a typical American housewife than anyone I've ever known from the UK.

Get up and do something!.......2003-06-14

These stories of modern day activists really give you a different perspective on the world we live in and what our role should be. Biggs is an excellent story teller.

Go out and do something!.......2003-06-12

Great stories of real people today who took a look at the world and didn't like what they saw. So they did something about it. Biggs is a great storyteller.

Best Book in History of English Language.......2003-04-18

Brooke Biggs is a literary master with the heart of a lion and excellent taste in sneakers. Her latest volume, a staggeringly huge triumph of the written word, should find its way to the shelf of every sentient being on Earth, nestled between "Das Kapital" and the complete Nancy Drew series.

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