When We Were Orphans (Kazuo Ishiguro)

First time reading this author’s book, find his writing style and narration to be quite smooth.  Though the reminiscing part about growing up in Old Shanghai is pretty long – life with his parents and a childhood friend – a Japanese boy named Akira whom he played with; Relationship between the British and Chinese on opium trading, how his parents’ involvement led up to their mysterious disappearance, followed by the protagonist being sent to study in England, became a detective and despite all the crimes he had solved, there’s one unsolved crime which has always haunted him, and led him back to the city of his childhood to find out what happened to his parents.  I find all these to be interesting read, except when comes to the war, and talks of the Chinese Communist Party and Chiang Kaishek, I skipped.

Beside the above, I’m also quite happy to read about Chapei, which was the hometown of my dad.  Had visited Shanghai 3 years ago, been to a place where my dad told me that’s where Chapei was, yet strangely it’s not anywhere near the famous bund. Probably, it’s like what the protagonist said in pg.352, “The streets, though renamed, are perfectly recognisable, and it’s said anyone familiar with the Shanghai of Old would know his way about there.”