"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."

Bought from the infamous Newtown second hand book warehouse, Gould's. They have a nasty habit of selling old books for near new prices - but this particular one wasn't too badly priced, for once.

I have another copy of this book, so I am adding this one to Megami's "Decade of Literary Fiction" bookbox. Enjoy!

I have read this book in the past so it will go with other books i have to release. Thanks for sending it!

RELEASE NOTES:

Via bookrelay

Arrived safely yesterday as part of the "3 day or swap Australia Only relay", along with a couple of surprises and a lovely card.
Thank you very much Megami.

Now reserved for the OZ VBB, so I'd better get on and read it! ;-)
It's been sitting here way too long...

And chosen from the box by jeniwren. :D

** Mild Spoiler Alert **

An interesting read, but not a totally satisfying one. Ishiguro is certainly a gifted writer, using lovely prose, and very adept at time frame blends using past and current realities and memories. There were echoes of his Remains of the Day, both in tone and style, and also the presence of somewhat delusional lonely men who realise too late that they may have make a huge mistake in terms of the direction their life has taken. Christopher is an vaguely interesting, though frustrating character.

I certainly enjoyed the first half of the book, but when it came to him being a right pillock stumbling about in Shanghai I'm afraid both he and the book lost my interest and empathy. I'm sure it all had a much deeper meaning etc etc, related to being an unreliable narrator, but if so it was done badly. It was so unrealistic and unbelievable, especially when a number of the other main players at this point were actually supporting his delusions and unacceptable behaviour. Another reviewer wrote "It is his misguided beliefs that lead him into an almost Kafkaesque spiral into unreality and delusion. This section of the book must be read as at least a partial deluded episode because much of what happens is implausible." That may be so, but I just found it annoying! It did wander back to reality though, and the ending sections were much more satisfying.

Off to jeniwren by mail as a choice from the OZ VBB.
Happy reading!

I have received this in the post today after selecting it as my choice from the current round of the OZVBB Feb 2015. Thanks to my friend crimson-tide for posting so promptly.