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romeo_juliet_'s review
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death
gaysandmurder's review against another edition
2.0
There isn't anything awful about this book. I just didn't really find the characters that likeable or the plot engaging until the last 3rd.
holyshark's review
2.0
2 stars — it was ok.
Although I really liked and empathised for the characters, I didn't feel like I could connect to them. I learnt hardly anything about their histories in a way that made me feel like I actually understood them. Also sometimes I was irritated and taken out of the story by Sayuri’s parts, which I thought were written were too unrealistically. Like, who writes letters like that? It’s a good story but maybe a little twee for me.
Although I really liked and empathised for the characters, I didn't feel like I could connect to them. I learnt hardly anything about their histories in a way that made me feel like I actually understood them. Also sometimes I was irritated and taken out of the story by Sayuri’s parts, which I thought were written were too unrealistically. Like, who writes letters like that? It’s a good story but maybe a little twee for me.
transficthonnomushi's review against another edition
5.0
At only 135 pages I wasn't expecting anything earth shattering. #iwakikei #farewellmyorange has to be one of the most random titles ever but it works and when you read the story you will understand why.
I tend to read longer books as I feel they stay with me and I remember them much better. The way Kei uses language and her writing
I tend to read longer books as I feel they stay with me and I remember them much better. The way Kei uses language and her writing
emmkayt's review
3.0
An understated story of friendship among women immigrants to Australia, who meet in an ESL class in their country town. They consist of an African refugee supporting her two sons cutting meat and fish at the local supermarket, a young mother from Japan who has had to forgo finishing her graduate work for her husband’s career, and, less prominently, an older Italian woman whose brusque manners mask her challenges.
Interestingly, the author has lived in Australia for twenty years but wrote the novel in her native Japanese. It shared qualities with some Japanese novels I’ve read too - simply and sometimes movingly told. I found the structure (which is more complex and meta than it seems at first) and style a bit awkward from time to time, but was glad to have read it.
The observations about language throughout were especially thought-provoking (eg. “The proximity of the subject and the predicate of sentences in English makes me more daring in what I write,” “We trust our first language most because it directly expresses our culture and our ways of thought. Actually, without an absolute faith in a first language you cannot nurture a second one. But it seems to me that this second language acquisition... can actually give birth to new values and ways of expressing oneself.”). 3.5.
Interestingly, the author has lived in Australia for twenty years but wrote the novel in her native Japanese. It shared qualities with some Japanese novels I’ve read too - simply and sometimes movingly told. I found the structure (which is more complex and meta than it seems at first) and style a bit awkward from time to time, but was glad to have read it.
The observations about language throughout were especially thought-provoking (eg. “The proximity of the subject and the predicate of sentences in English makes me more daring in what I write,” “We trust our first language most because it directly expresses our culture and our ways of thought. Actually, without an absolute faith in a first language you cannot nurture a second one. But it seems to me that this second language acquisition... can actually give birth to new values and ways of expressing oneself.”). 3.5.
clairewords's review against another edition
5.0
For the first fifty pages, I was a little unsure what I thought about the story, and I found the blurb a little disconcerting because it didn't seem to tie up with the names in the story I was reading.
The story centres around a young African migrant woman named Salimah, who has found herself a job in the supermarket, she has two boys and a husband who left her as soon as they arrived in this foreign country. She also attends an English class for learners of a second language, where she meets a Japanese woman named Echnida who brings her small baby to class, an older Italian woman Olive, a group of young Swedish 'nymphs' and her teacher. She makes observations about her classmates and her life, as she tries to learn the language that is her entry into this foreign place.
Alternatively the narrative includes letters written to an English teacher from a Japanese student recording details of her life in the same town, with what seem to be the same people, except the names are different. Initially this is confusing, but it was clear to me they were the same people. I couldn't figure out what the author was doing by this and actually read most of the novel thinking it was a mistake, albeit a consistent one. Of course, being a prize winning novella, it isn't a mistake.
This woman, whose letters are signed 'S' has sent a manuscript to her teacher entitled 'Francesca' the letters thank her for her input and update her on her life. Following her academic husband around has meant suspending her own university studies, something the teacher encourages her to continue with. In her first letter, she writes that she hopes she might find a teacher like her in the new town she has moved to and reflects on learning a foreign language:
In her next letter she has found a new class and mentions the older woman with three grown up children, who was itching to look after baby, and a woman who she thinks might be a refugee from Sudan or Somalia, who works in a supermarket and is a single mother. There is her neighbour, an illiterate truckie, who she is reading Charlotte's Web to on the stairs, an arrangement they have come to, related to the unwanted noise of another neighbour whose incessant drumming has made them unlikely allies.
Ultimately, apart from the confusion of names that slightly interferred with the initial reading experience, I actually loved this novella. After page 50 I highlighted so many pertinent passages. For me, it gave a unique insight into the lives of three women from three different cultures and countries and their experience of living in a foreign country where they don't have a complete handle on the language, through the narrative we see things from their perspective, with only a little knowledge of their background, but enough to realise that their reactions to things are going to be different from each other and also from the local population.
Over the period they know each other, something changes in their lives, and they have the opportunity to grow a little closer and develop something of a new friendship, connection. We see how this human contact and care helps them overcome the adversity of their individual situations.
Salimah is asked by the school teacher at her son's primary school to give a presentation on growing up in 'her African village', this becomes a significant project for her, that the teacher and her friend Echidna help her with. She reads to the class about her life, narrating with the simplicity of a child's story, a presentation that enraptures the children, even if it wasn't what the teacher expected.
As time passes, new developments replace old situations, opportunities arise, Salimah's son begins to be invited to playdates with a school friend, a pregnancy brings the women together and it is as if they create a community or family between them.
It is a unique insight into the intersection of lives that are so foreign to each other and to the culture within which they now live and how the old familiar references no longer help and new connections are slowly born, without expectation. It is about the common thread of humanity that can be found, if we let go of the familiar and are open to new experiences, to helping each other without judgement.
I absolutely loved it and was reminded a little of my own experience sitting in the French language class for immigrants, next to woman from Russia, Uzbekistan, Cuba and Vietnam, women with whom I could only converse with in French and a teacher who only spoke French (or Italian). So many stories, so many different challenges each woman had to overcome to cope with life here, most of it unknown to any other, worn on their faces, mysteries the local population is unconcerned by.
The story centres around a young African migrant woman named Salimah, who has found herself a job in the supermarket, she has two boys and a husband who left her as soon as they arrived in this foreign country. She also attends an English class for learners of a second language, where she meets a Japanese woman named Echnida who brings her small baby to class, an older Italian woman Olive, a group of young Swedish 'nymphs' and her teacher. She makes observations about her classmates and her life, as she tries to learn the language that is her entry into this foreign place.
Alternatively the narrative includes letters written to an English teacher from a Japanese student recording details of her life in the same town, with what seem to be the same people, except the names are different. Initially this is confusing, but it was clear to me they were the same people. I couldn't figure out what the author was doing by this and actually read most of the novel thinking it was a mistake, albeit a consistent one. Of course, being a prize winning novella, it isn't a mistake.
This woman, whose letters are signed 'S' has sent a manuscript to her teacher entitled 'Francesca' the letters thank her for her input and update her on her life. Following her academic husband around has meant suspending her own university studies, something the teacher encourages her to continue with. In her first letter, she writes that she hopes she might find a teacher like her in the new town she has moved to and reflects on learning a foreign language:
"While one lives in a foreign country, language's main function is as a means of self-protection and a weapon in one's fight with the world. You can't fight without a weapon. But perhaps its human instinct that makes it even more imperative to somehow express oneself, convey meaning, connect with others."
In her next letter she has found a new class and mentions the older woman with three grown up children, who was itching to look after baby, and a woman who she thinks might be a refugee from Sudan or Somalia, who works in a supermarket and is a single mother. There is her neighbour, an illiterate truckie, who she is reading Charlotte's Web to on the stairs, an arrangement they have come to, related to the unwanted noise of another neighbour whose incessant drumming has made them unlikely allies.
Ultimately, apart from the confusion of names that slightly interferred with the initial reading experience, I actually loved this novella. After page 50 I highlighted so many pertinent passages. For me, it gave a unique insight into the lives of three women from three different cultures and countries and their experience of living in a foreign country where they don't have a complete handle on the language, through the narrative we see things from their perspective, with only a little knowledge of their background, but enough to realise that their reactions to things are going to be different from each other and also from the local population.
Over the period they know each other, something changes in their lives, and they have the opportunity to grow a little closer and develop something of a new friendship, connection. We see how this human contact and care helps them overcome the adversity of their individual situations.
Salimah is asked by the school teacher at her son's primary school to give a presentation on growing up in 'her African village', this becomes a significant project for her, that the teacher and her friend Echidna help her with. She reads to the class about her life, narrating with the simplicity of a child's story, a presentation that enraptures the children, even if it wasn't what the teacher expected.
When Salimah finished reading, the children sat in silence. The teacher frankly thought that that the story was too personal to be much use for the children's projects. But it was certainly 'an Africa you could never learn about from the class material.' What's more, after hearing the story the children were extremely quiet, and young though she was, she had learned from experience that when children are truly surprised or moved they forget how to express themselves and say nothing, so she waited for them to slowly begin to talk again.
As time passes, new developments replace old situations, opportunities arise, Salimah's son begins to be invited to playdates with a school friend, a pregnancy brings the women together and it is as if they create a community or family between them.
Suddenly everyone in the room was laughing. With her own bright laughter, Salimah felt a great gust of air that had long been caught in her throat come bursting forth, and was aware of something new approaching within her as she drew fresh breath.
It is a unique insight into the intersection of lives that are so foreign to each other and to the culture within which they now live and how the old familiar references no longer help and new connections are slowly born, without expectation. It is about the common thread of humanity that can be found, if we let go of the familiar and are open to new experiences, to helping each other without judgement.
I absolutely loved it and was reminded a little of my own experience sitting in the French language class for immigrants, next to woman from Russia, Uzbekistan, Cuba and Vietnam, women with whom I could only converse with in French and a teacher who only spoke French (or Italian). So many stories, so many different challenges each woman had to overcome to cope with life here, most of it unknown to any other, worn on their faces, mysteries the local population is unconcerned by.
crazytourists_books's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
I'll start by saying that I really loved this book!
Living in a foreign country myself and even though i am fluent to the language (there are of course moments that I can't understand what I am told), I do understand the sence of being isolated and unable to fit in and the struggle to go on with your life and provide for your kids.. And those feelings are very well described in this book.
Living in a foreign country myself and even though i am fluent to the language (there are of course moments that I can't understand what I am told), I do understand the sence of being isolated and unable to fit in and the struggle to go on with your life and provide for your kids.. And those feelings are very well described in this book.
jaymoran's review
4.0
But the cultivation of the written word, the language that sustains thought, is an individual matter, a thing that endlessly changes as it’s propagated inside each person’s head. It’s like planting seeds of language deep inside the heart. It’s simple when you’re young, but with the passing years it can get difficult to dig into the hardened earth. I’m neither young nor very old yet, and my hope is that I can use not only the visual input of reading but the output of writing, however clumsy, till one day a whole forest of language has grown into the soil of my heart.
4.5
Farewell, My Orange is a tender, moving look at friendship, culture, language, and belonging. In a small town in Australia, two women meet at their English language class, one who moved from Japan seven years prior with her husband and baby, the other more recently from Africa who was abandoned by her husband shortly after arriving and left to raise their two sons by herself. Their relationship is explored in a realistic way; they don't immediately become inseparable, and it's mostly in hindsight that they realise how important they were to one another in their times of difficulty. Kei handles the subject of racism brilliantly without permitting it to take centre stage and overshadow her characters - it affects them, it's something they know is going on around them but they thrive anyway, taking pride in their identity and their own story.
I could've easily read another 100 or so pages of this book...I didn't really want it to end. The only reason it's not 5 stars is that I felt like there needed to be a little bit more. The pacing near the end was slightly rushed, in my opinion, and I wanted Kei to slow down a little and let the characters exist for a while longer.
4.5
Farewell, My Orange is a tender, moving look at friendship, culture, language, and belonging. In a small town in Australia, two women meet at their English language class, one who moved from Japan seven years prior with her husband and baby, the other more recently from Africa who was abandoned by her husband shortly after arriving and left to raise their two sons by herself. Their relationship is explored in a realistic way; they don't immediately become inseparable, and it's mostly in hindsight that they realise how important they were to one another in their times of difficulty. Kei handles the subject of racism brilliantly without permitting it to take centre stage and overshadow her characters - it affects them, it's something they know is going on around them but they thrive anyway, taking pride in their identity and their own story.
I could've easily read another 100 or so pages of this book...I didn't really want it to end. The only reason it's not 5 stars is that I felt like there needed to be a little bit more. The pacing near the end was slightly rushed, in my opinion, and I wanted Kei to slow down a little and let the characters exist for a while longer.
jchant's review
5.0
Update: 2024: I just reread this wonderful little book and gave it a fifth star.
This sweet little book tells the story of two immigrants to Australia who meet in an ESL class. Salimah is a refugee from Africa, and Sayuri has moved with her academic husband from Japan. Theirs is an unlikely friendship, but each provides support and caring to the other. I was drawn into their story from the first page. Highly recommended.
My local library system has a "10 to Try" challenge again in 2019. The idea is to read a book in each of 10 categories during the current year. The category that this book fits into is: Read a book by an immigrant author. (Like Sayuri in the novel, author Iwaki Kei immigrated from Japan to Australia.)
This sweet little book tells the story of two immigrants to Australia who meet in an ESL class. Salimah is a refugee from Africa, and Sayuri has moved with her academic husband from Japan. Theirs is an unlikely friendship, but each provides support and caring to the other. I was drawn into their story from the first page. Highly recommended.
My local library system has a "10 to Try" challenge again in 2019. The idea is to read a book in each of 10 categories during the current year. The category that this book fits into is: Read a book by an immigrant author. (Like Sayuri in the novel, author Iwaki Kei immigrated from Japan to Australia.)
gum1311by's review against another edition
5.0
No surprise that this novel by Japanese author, Iwaki Kei, won the 2013 Japanese prize for literature.
Beautifully written story of two immigrants in Australia, navigating isolation and a new language.
With passages such as this: “Often, she cried as she showered. She twisted the two taps, the one with the blue circle and the one with the red circle, in a single movement, then stood stock-still under the water that spurred from the lotus-shaped shower head. At that moment when the cold and hot water blended to create the perfect temperature, the tears always came. She could feel their special warmth despite the hot water streaming over her”, Farewell My Orange is a hidden gem.
Beautifully written story of two immigrants in Australia, navigating isolation and a new language.
With passages such as this: “Often, she cried as she showered. She twisted the two taps, the one with the blue circle and the one with the red circle, in a single movement, then stood stock-still under the water that spurred from the lotus-shaped shower head. At that moment when the cold and hot water blended to create the perfect temperature, the tears always came. She could feel their special warmth despite the hot water streaming over her”, Farewell My Orange is a hidden gem.