Relevant to my prior post about ‘something funny going on’ here, Ishiguro is slowly unraveling his world and evidently, the characters understand the rules.
The rain continued to fall steadily as we travelled through the night-time streets. The young man remained silent for a long time and I wondered if he had become angry with me. But then I caught sight of his profile in the changing light and realised he was turning over in his mind a particular incident from several years ago. (p. 65)
So is Ryder able to read people’s thoughts? Nope, nothing that simple, as after we get the scene played out for us that Ryder refers to, Stephan evidently understands that Ryder is now aware of it.
“I realise it’s none of my business, and I hope this doesn’t sound rude, but I do think you’ve been treated rather unfairly by your parents over the matter of your piano playing. (…)”
The young man considered this for several moments. Then he said: ” I’m grateful to you, Mr. Ryder, for giving my position thought and all that. (…)”(p. 71)
Which all means that it’s just me who doesn’t quite get what’s going on. This is, then, a different world.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology