Come Rain or Come Shine by Kazuo Ishiguro — Finding ‘the moment’
“…And we kept dancing under the starlit sky”
Ever had one of those sour candies that gradually turn sweet after a few good sucks? Come Rain or Come Shine by Sir Kazuo Ishiguro is the exact opposite. This renowned author has written more than a few mind-boggling novels, with the deeply moving Never Let Me Go and Remains of the Day all under his oeuvre. Come Rain or Come Shine struck me, however, as something unlike anything he’s written. On the surface it seems ordinary, almost mundane, I found it to be nothing more than a pile of collapsed plot-points and convoluted relationship webs. Yet dig under the minimalistic vocabulary and light conversation, this seemingly satirical domestic realism novella transforms into something much, much more.
We follow Raymond as he visits his old college friends Emily and Charlie. But this time he is given a special task — to fully show his flaws so as to make Charlie look superior by comparison. As we read on we could see the buried history of Ray himself. Decades ago, he and Emily would listen to jazz when they were alone. Now as their old favourites start playing in the speakers, Ray struggles to restrain everything the music brings with it. The ending is ambiguous, and has as many outcomes as we can imagine.
It took me more than a few read-throughs to unravel each thread and carefully reach the core, where all humour and lightheartedness is replaced by throbbing grief and suppressed ardour. In Kazuo Ishiguro’s hands, this small innocuous snapshot becomes a rich painting of the struggles we all face in the universal sea which is life.
So here is what I found.
Acceptance of Individuality — What it Means to Love What You Have
“You know, Raymond, when you’re at a party, at a dance. And it’s maybe a slow dance, and you’re with the person you really want to be with, and the rest of the room’s supposed to vanish. But somehow it doesn’t…It just doesn’t”
— Emily to Ray
Towards the conclusion of the story, Emily confesses her exasperation of not feeling satisfied to Ray. She loves Charlie, yet still feels the pressure of everyone and everything bearing down on them, seemingly belittling them with their own achievements. Her struggle is so heartfelt and widespread among current times, when the increase of material desire overwhelms our sense of gratification.
Emily could mean many things here. Could it be that the outside world acts as a distraction to pull us out of our concentration? Or that ‘the rest of the room’ has potentially more exciting opportunities that seem to outweigh the one she already has? No matter what her exact meaning is, Emily is confused by a desire for something more.
I’ve had my fair share of this same desire. Younger, I would always stare in jealousy as other kids get their candy, since I believed theirs to be better than mine. Now that feeling comes in the yearning when I find someone with a better score, or someone with more certificates, or someone with more knowledge. But at the same time that wish for something better is what keeps me up at night. One more chapter. One more page. One more question. One more lap.
A craving for a brighter outcome is the drive behind motivation, but Emily allows it to overpower her. Her motivation is turning against itself, with every uncompleted goal adding to her sense of dread and failure. Sure, setting reasonable objectives help, but eventually we will still have to find peace among ourselves.
I’ve spent hours trying to mimic the styles of my favourite authors, but in the end, I know I still have to find my own way. I might not like it, but the outcome is true to myself and I’ll have stick to it.
Emily tells us that, maybe sometimes, it’s simply best to hold on to what we have and carry on with a full heart.
Ishiguro talks through Emily as she lays out her worst fears. And through her gaze we see the confusion and disillusionment that comes with too many expectations. He weaves this truth with subtlety and irony. In fact, the sentence itself might be a trap — What if it has no deeper meaning than what is on the surface, and diving too deep in want of clear answers might just end up with disappointment?
The Winds of Life — Dropping an Anchor in the Right Harbour
“Well I’m not as lucky as you and Charlie. I don’t have anyone special like you. But yes, in some ways, I know just what you mean. It’s hard to know where to settle. What to settle to.”
— Ray to Emily
Ray reassures Emily that he feels the same, that they are all wandering and finding the right harbour where they could safely unload and rest. This place of comfort isn’t an actual place — it could be, but as Ray points out, it usually occurs in strong relationships. On the lonely sea, we sail alone. Occasionally we spot a temporal lagoon to wait out a storm but eventually we sail on. To where I’m not sure, but we are all going somewhere.
During times when the storm sneaks up, companionship is the best comforter. It doesn’t even have to be a real person. I used to tell the most interesting stories to my stuffed toy pig Captain. As I grew older now books and characters became my harbour. I had conversations with Jane Eyre, deciphered mysteries with Sherlock Holmes. When human relationships grow too tiring my brain pours my heart out to these beings of my imagination.
I am an introvert and a homebody. It’s not that I dislike being with you, but I need my own time to recharge my energy. I have a small friends group, enclosed social media and mostly resorts to quiet spaces. This is my harbour, and in here everything is just so attuned to...me. From the books to to music to the poetry, it all feels like a part of my soul.
Fiction as solace. Fiction as a haven for when the winds get too rough.
Finding someone who understands and appreciates is just as important. When we love the same things there is no need for ice-breaking or small talk. In Emily and Ray’s case that link is their avidity for jazz. Ray begins the story by recounting his past times spent with Emily, how they would crouch around an old portable record player listening and arguing about the lyrics and the singers for hours on end. This someone is rare but finding each other could act as a beacon in the dark. Even as times change, as years pass, Raymond and Emily still sees a shred of their old selves as the same music plays.
And just as Ray Charles sings in his song ‘Come Rain or Come Shine’:
“I’m with you always, I’m with you rain for shine.”
A Dance Under the Stars — Living in the Moment
“I felt pleased about that, because I knew after the song we wouldn’t dance anymore, but go in and eat the casserole. And for all I knew, Emily would reconsider what I’d done to her diary, and decide this time that it wasn’t such a trivial offence. What did I know? But for a few minutes at least, we were safe, and we kept dancing under the starlit sky.”
— Ray
Thus Come Rain or Come Shine ends, with Ray contemplating about where their lives would go after this brief dance. He imagines all those different possibilities, but eventually lets go of all his agenda and slows down to really enjoy the dancing itself.
Throughout the novella we are exposed to the wants of all the characters: how Charlie is tired of trying to impress Emily and wants to settle, how Ray’s life is slowly going down a state of dilapidation and he is unaware, how Emily feels empty and stressed and wishes for release. It’s surprising how two of the main cast could manage to muster even a a slight moment of peace, but they do.
Sometimes we skim the surface of some experiences. I’ve slept through orchestral productions, skipped seemingly boring sections of books and kept my face buried in my phone for a fair amount of times before. All of this adds to a growing gap — where the appreciation of minute beauty and enjoyment should have been. I would have missed the melancholy climax of the musical score, glanced over important character details and lost the awe and happiness of seeing the first mottled leaf flutter to the ground. How autumn killed summer with the softest kiss.
Just like music, every note in our daily lives matter. As Virginia Woolf said, you cannot make peace by avoiding life. 2020 has been quite the challenge for me, but in the end I still think there are memories worth remebering. I remember the iridescent spray blow across my face as we rowed down the Yarra through the chopping wind. I remember the small moments of revelation in the classroom as we talked about Christopher Nolan and Ridley Scott. I remember the burst of sunshine that splashed through the windows of my tram as I made my way through Melbourne City. Everything has cracks, that’s how the light gets in.
Just like us, Ray has many things to worry about, but he and Emily manage to sooth their flames with the joy of immersing in the fraction of a single second. When all is silent. When all is still. When all is gone.
Except for them.
Kazuo Ishiguro is one of my favourite contemporary authors of all time. With his simple prose and unassuming plot, he touches my heart without flooding me with melodrama. His focus is not on the big, but the smallest of small things. His small cast of usually two to three, his keep eye for specific detail and his gentle approach to everything makes him such a warm and unique author.
Come Rain or Come Shine is both a satire and a tragedy. Emily and Charlie will get back together, but their couple dynamic is forever changed. Ray would have completed his ‘mission’ and left for his own life. The friends may never see each other again, their ships forever destined for different shores.
This snapshot of domestic interactions unfolds to become a miniature world — in which the memories of that particular day is forever encapsulated.
“We often go through life and find it’s like a mist…We often don’t know what it is we are aiming for, but a vague instance tells us where to go.”
— Kazuo Ishiguro
