351 reviews for:

No-No Boy

John Okada

3.93 AVERAGE

taxidermies's review against another edition

3.5

reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

prutherford's review

4.25

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

ptreick's review

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I'm so glad I stumbled across this book in the gift shop at Manzanar, the former Japanese internment camp in Owens Valley, CA. (If you have the chance, please visit. You'll learn all the things you should have learned in history class.) Posting about that experience on Facebook, I learned of a former "no-no boy" in my own sphere, and that led me down a rabbit hole of research.

This is not an uplifting book by any means--it's dark and tortured and speaks to the confusion and tumult for many Japanese Americans in the wake of World War II. It's also damn necessary.

Bonus: Ruth Ozeki's introduction is a haunting love letter to this book.

cybersajlism's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

weswinters's review

3.0

reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

anna_carina's review against another edition

4.0

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Die no-no Boys: Japanese-Americans, die im Zuge des Angriffs auf Pearl Harbor zu Tausenden an der amerikanischen Westküste in Internierungslager kamen, sich dem Kriegsdienst verweigerten und nicht Japan abschworen, für weitere 2 Jahre ins Gefängnis kamen und danach irgendwie wieder in der Gesellschaft versuchten Fuß zu fassen.

Eine schonungslose und trostlose Story über den no-no Boy Ishiro, seine Familie, seinen besten Freund, einem Bekannten (auch no- no Boy), einer Frau, möglichen Arbeitgebern und ein paar Pöblern.

Die meisten Charaktere und Situationen sind sehr strikt: schwarz oder weiß- Krass, völlig Gaga oder durch und durch gut/vorbildlich und weise. Dadurch wirkte vieles in der ersten Hälfte recht stumpf und holzhammerartig auf mich.
Allerdings kommt hierdurch die schwere Tragik der Situation um die Japanese-Americans unheimlich gut zur Geltung. Dafür musste aber Steinchen für Steinchen zusammengetragen werden, bis mir klar wurde wie gut das Buch ist.
Generell schafft John Okada einen tiefen Einblick in die Seelenleben und die vielfältige Zerrissenheit der Figuren und wie schwer es ist Hoffnung zu haben, Hoffnung sehen zu können und sie zu verinnerlichen.

mhsieh's review against another edition

4.0

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really speaks to the immigrant experience, learned a lot about japanese encampments, and appreciated the multiple different aspects this book presents 

kar_in_a_book's review against another edition

3.25

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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read it for a class, enjoyed it more than i was expecting! family and friend dynamics are so comlicated and emotional

n_g_reader's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional informative tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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This is definitely a book that deserves the name of classic - it reminded me a little of Ernest Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises" book but with actual purpose and voice. It explores the complex feelings of being a "No-No" boy and the various reasons Japanese men chose to answer both "No's". It made me think and reflect on what it means to be American and what that privilege entails, especially in a world where American citizenship is so difficult to defend depending on your name, your skin tone, and your tattoos - similar to Japanese-Americans who were marked as different and dangerous by their name, their skin tone, their eye-shape, and their dark hair. So glad I finally read this book.

robbie_kite's review

3.75

dark

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes