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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
This books is amazingly brutal. Every sentence was a different Japanese experience--- the repetition was at times, annoying, but I think it stood for the repetition of japanese-american experiences. Some of the "stories" were brutal. I think the shortness of these stories spoke to the ease of forgetting these experiences. By the end the Japanese are taken out of their home and are but a memory.
Read for the Pioneer Book Challenge - Its a PEN Faulkner award nominee. It was really beautiful and compelling. Heartbreaking.
Told in a collective "we", it tells the story of Japanese immigrants in the early 1900s through to WWII. In simple but elegant and precise language, the book tells hundreds of one-line histories, individually yet still as a collective. You read how varied were the young Japanese women came to America. Who they thought they were going to marry vs the the real man who had sent for them. The kinds of jobs they had. How they built their lives in this foreign land. Their relationships with their husbands. Birthing stories. How they raised their babies. How they interacted with "them" (i.e. the Americans) in their towns. And, inevitably, their treatment during WWII.
I've read a few books about Japanese internment camps. It's hard to read about. So many atrocious parts of our history due to racism. It's awful. We can do and be better.
The book ended with the empty towns and the neighbors (and kids) shocked by the departure of the Japanese. But they eventually forget and move on. :( I wanted more about their experiences in the camps and after the war.
I would read it again. Well done Julie Otsuka!
Told in a collective "we", it tells the story of Japanese immigrants in the early 1900s through to WWII. In simple but elegant and precise language, the book tells hundreds of one-line histories, individually yet still as a collective. You read how varied were the young Japanese women came to America. Who they thought they were going to marry vs the the real man who had sent for them. The kinds of jobs they had. How they built their lives in this foreign land. Their relationships with their husbands. Birthing stories. How they raised their babies. How they interacted with "them" (i.e. the Americans) in their towns. And, inevitably, their treatment during WWII.
I've read a few books about Japanese internment camps. It's hard to read about. So many atrocious parts of our history due to racism. It's awful. We can do and be better.
The book ended with the empty towns and the neighbors (and kids) shocked by the departure of the Japanese. But they eventually forget and move on. :( I wanted more about their experiences in the camps and after the war.
I would read it again. Well done Julie Otsuka!
It was ok. Very short, surprisingly I think the thing I liked best about it also caused it to not grab me quite as much. It is told with a "group voice" all of these Japanese women speak collectively about "us" which I found to be very cool. But because there is not one central character I couldn't connect to any one family story. I think she gets her point across, and it is told beautifully, more like a long poem and less like a short story. I also would have liked to see it go a little longer. It ends with the families being sent to the internment camps, I would have like to explored life in the camps a little more.
On m'avait conseillé ce livre en me disant qu'il était reconnu pour sa polyphonie. C'est une approche que j'aime beaucoup dans la littérature. Je m'attendais donc à lire une alternance de voix donnant la parole à chacune de ces femmes.
En réalité l'autrice nous laisse entendre les voix entremêlées de plusieurs femmes japonaises à travers une écriture à la première personne du pluriel. Ce nous collectif qui résonne comme un chœur rend leur désespoir poignant et unanime.
Ce roman est bien écrit, fluide et rythmé. Il aborde les thèmes comme le racisme, la prostitution et les violences sexuelles.
C'est une bonne lecture.
En réalité l'autrice nous laisse entendre les voix entremêlées de plusieurs femmes japonaises à travers une écriture à la première personne du pluriel. Ce nous collectif qui résonne comme un chœur rend leur désespoir poignant et unanime.
Ce roman est bien écrit, fluide et rythmé. Il aborde les thèmes comme le racisme, la prostitution et les violences sexuelles.
C'est une bonne lecture.
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is my first historical fiction book and I really enjoyed it. I loved the writing style of first person omniscient, so unique and engaging. I learned a lot from this book and found myself pausing just to reflect on these women and their stories. So many details tied in to one another and the book kept me wanting to read more even though i knew the inevitable end.
I'd give it three and a half stars really. The content was at times fascinating, but the form became quickly monotonous in spite of its charming novelty at the beginning. I especially liked the part where I learned that, in Japan, the opposite of white is red and not black. It really drove home the cultural differences. I also admire how the author managed to avoid a sensational tone in spite of the subject matter that could have born a melodramatic style.
I don't really know where to start when reviewing this book other than to say, how the author has managed to cram so much, hope, despair and history, into 129 pages is beyond me.
The book follows the story of many mail order brides being transported by boat from Japan to American in hopes of a better life, some of which are as young as 13. A phrase used within the book like "A girl must blend into a room: she must be present without appearing to exist" I found very harrowing and can imagine being the case. Imagine leaving your home on a boat preparing to leave the life you have ever known to get and meet your husband, with no other choice if your family want to eat! Only to find out that the life you had hoped for was definitely not waiting for you.
A poignant book full of history which has obviously been researched greatly.
The book follows the story of many mail order brides being transported by boat from Japan to American in hopes of a better life, some of which are as young as 13. A phrase used within the book like "A girl must blend into a room: she must be present without appearing to exist" I found very harrowing and can imagine being the case. Imagine leaving your home on a boat preparing to leave the life you have ever known to get and meet your husband, with no other choice if your family want to eat! Only to find out that the life you had hoped for was definitely not waiting for you.
A poignant book full of history which has obviously been researched greatly.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
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:
No
challenging
dark
informative
sad
fast-paced
What a way to open your eyes to this if didn't already know the history.
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No