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lapsaria's review against another edition
4.0
Christian Kiefer's "Phantoms" tells the story of John Frazier after he has returned home from the Vietnam War. Struggling with the psychological trauma he experienced as a result of his deployment, Frazier elects to return to the town of his childhood and stay with his grandmother where by chance he encounters his aunt, Evelyn Wilson, who solicits his help in driving her to San Jose as she seeks to reunite with the Takahashi family (who were once her tenants prior to the Second World War) in hopes that she may attain information that will allow her to reconcile with her estranged daughter. The story follows Frazier as he finds himself a willing third wheel in search of the truth about what happened to the Takahashi's son who they had presumed was killed in WW2.
I read this novel for an English class and I honestly really enjoyed it. I ended up reading the novel twice, in part because I wanted to re-read it after becoming more familiar with the topics that I would have to write the essays on, and I think that after the second reading I came away appreciating it even more. It's hard to articulate exactly what I liked about the novel, as the story is just so easy to get engrossed in. I think what stuck out to me the most was the pacing of the novel, with how it swaps 'perspectives' and jumps around the timeline, as it makes it really easy to just slam through it (in a good way). A second reading really allowed me to see more subtle aspects of the story or relationships between characters and I just feel that overall it's a solid work whether you're reading it as a tool to clarify your understanding of certain literary theories or looking for a good book to enjoy.
Highly recommended
I read this novel for an English class and I honestly really enjoyed it. I ended up reading the novel twice, in part because I wanted to re-read it after becoming more familiar with the topics that I would have to write the essays on, and I think that after the second reading I came away appreciating it even more. It's hard to articulate exactly what I liked about the novel, as the story is just so easy to get engrossed in. I think what stuck out to me the most was the pacing of the novel, with how it swaps 'perspectives' and jumps around the timeline, as it makes it really easy to just slam through it (in a good way). A second reading really allowed me to see more subtle aspects of the story or relationships between characters and I just feel that overall it's a solid work whether you're reading it as a tool to clarify your understanding of certain literary theories or looking for a good book to enjoy.
Highly recommended
joanmperry's review against another edition
4.0
I have been reading more books recently that are set in the WWII era. Most have dealt with Europe and related to the Nazis. This one was set in the US and spoke about the Japanese internment. It was set in that era as well as post-Vietnam with one of the character returning from that war. I enjoyed the different perspectives.
lee's review against another edition
4.0
This was an interesting read about a period of history that I was familiar with, but told from a perspective that I found to be unique and different from what I expected. The story is told from the point of view of John Frazier, who has just returned to Placer County, California from service in Vietnam and finds himself haunted by what he did and saw while deployed there. He crashes at his grandmother’s house while trying to overcome a drug addiction, which is made more difficult given the “phantoms” of his past that seem to constantly follow him. While working at a local gas station, he is unexpectedly reunited with a distant relative — his aunt Evelyn Wilson — who asks him to drive her to Oakland to see a friend. It is there that John becomes a reluctant witness to an encounter between Evelyn and her former tenant Kimiko Takahashi, and subsequently becomes ensnared in the mystery of what happened to the Takahashi’s son Ray. John finds out that the Takahashi and Wilson families used to be close, but during the onset of World War II, the Takahashis were sent to an internment camp, along with all the other Japanese-Americans in the country. Several years later, Ray returned to Placer County after having served in the war, but discovered that he was no longer welcome in the place where he grew up — the only place he had ever considered home. What happened after that does not become known until nearly three decades later, when John unwittingly learns the truth and must decide how to reckon with it.
As I mentioned earlier, one of the things I thought most interesting about this book was the unique narrative structure, where the person telling the story (and from his own first person point of view too) didn’t even have anything to do with the main story arc. In essence, he was a “stranger” drawn into a reckoning between two families, and, on a larger scale, a reckoning with the country’s past actions toward an entire race. Both wars — Vietnam and WWII — serve mostly as backdrops, with the focus primarily on the aftermath of those wars and the impact from the atrocities that occurred. The writing was lyrical and poignant, though admittedly, there were also moments where it did veer somewhat toward the abstract, which made those parts a bit hard to follow. Having said that, this was overall well-written and well-told — a book that I feel is a necessary read given it’s historical context and its timely connection to recent societal issues. Reckoning with the past is not always easy — more so a past as complicated as this one — yet it is an important step to understanding and learning from what happened so as to prevent something similar from ever happening again.
As I mentioned earlier, one of the things I thought most interesting about this book was the unique narrative structure, where the person telling the story (and from his own first person point of view too) didn’t even have anything to do with the main story arc. In essence, he was a “stranger” drawn into a reckoning between two families, and, on a larger scale, a reckoning with the country’s past actions toward an entire race. Both wars — Vietnam and WWII — serve mostly as backdrops, with the focus primarily on the aftermath of those wars and the impact from the atrocities that occurred. The writing was lyrical and poignant, though admittedly, there were also moments where it did veer somewhat toward the abstract, which made those parts a bit hard to follow. Having said that, this was overall well-written and well-told — a book that I feel is a necessary read given it’s historical context and its timely connection to recent societal issues. Reckoning with the past is not always easy — more so a past as complicated as this one — yet it is an important step to understanding and learning from what happened so as to prevent something similar from ever happening again.
ejdonovanreads's review against another edition
4.0
Phantoms by Christian Kiefer is a story that follows John Frazier, our main character, while he reluctantly chases ghosts in order to investigate the disappearance of Vietnam Veteran Ray Takahashi, whose family were neighbors and friends with John's Aunt Evelyn years prior. John becomes the bridge between truth and fallacy as well as memory and guilt as he tries to piece together the events of the past.
Phantoms is a story that really affected me. As you experience this journey, you become aware of how every single action of the people in this story, big or small, is culpable in the disappearance of Ray. You feel the weight that each decision, lie, and mistake has and it devastated me. This book has a handful of characters and though the main character is John Frazier, Ray Takahashi is the real star of this story.
Ray's story (and fate) is not unlike so many other Japanese Americans, not only at the time of the Vietnam War, but all throughout American history. I try my best for spoiler free reviews, so all I will say is that I was definitely in tears by the time I reached the last page of this book.
There's not much else I can say, considering the fact that this is a story that you need to just experience yourself while reading. The only reason that this isn't a 5 star rating is because I do not believe that we needed to see Ray's story through the lens of a white (savior) narrator. This is a common theme that occurs throughout historical fiction and it is so unbelievably outdated.
Otherwise, this is such a good read. Have some tissues ready!
Phantoms is a story that really affected me. As you experience this journey, you become aware of how every single action of the people in this story, big or small, is culpable in the disappearance of Ray. You feel the weight that each decision, lie, and mistake has and it devastated me. This book has a handful of characters and though the main character is John Frazier, Ray Takahashi is the real star of this story.
Ray's story (and fate) is not unlike so many other Japanese Americans, not only at the time of the Vietnam War, but all throughout American history. I try my best for spoiler free reviews, so all I will say is that I was definitely in tears by the time I reached the last page of this book.
There's not much else I can say, considering the fact that this is a story that you need to just experience yourself while reading. The only reason that this isn't a 5 star rating is because I do not believe that we needed to see Ray's story through the lens of a white (savior) narrator. This is a common theme that occurs throughout historical fiction and it is so unbelievably outdated.
Otherwise, this is such a good read. Have some tissues ready!
murderbot42's review against another edition
2.0
Oh, wow. This one was hard to rate. The subject matter definitely needs to be talked about and the plot was solid. My main problem was the author's style. He uses a weird POV switching style that when used in this way, really just distracts from the main story. There's really nothing you get from switching view that way, and quite a bit of the drama of the story is lost in the going back and forth.
So I was on the fence about what to rate this and I was thinking about 3 stars, you know, kind of mediocre, but had its good parts. But then I thought about the fact that it barely touches on the Japanese internment camps at all. Like, why set your book with a Japanese character in that time period and barely deal directly with the subject matter at hand? Was he trying to be coy? Why shine a light on a subject only to immediately after hide it under a bush? It makes no sense. So in the end, I had to knock off a star for that. If you're going to take the time to set a period piece during an important time in our history, you have got to show that history, warts and all, and you aren't doing anybody any favors by white washing or avoiding events.
So I was on the fence about what to rate this and I was thinking about 3 stars, you know, kind of mediocre, but had its good parts. But then I thought about the fact that it barely touches on the Japanese internment camps at all. Like, why set your book with a Japanese character in that time period and barely deal directly with the subject matter at hand? Was he trying to be coy? Why shine a light on a subject only to immediately after hide it under a bush? It makes no sense. So in the end, I had to knock off a star for that. If you're going to take the time to set a period piece during an important time in our history, you have got to show that history, warts and all, and you aren't doing anybody any favors by white washing or avoiding events.
sariggs's review against another edition
4.0
This book is really sad. Initially, I liked the story from the point of view of the Takahashis more than John’s story, but eventually they blended together and I no longer resented the shifts in narrative. It’s a sad book about Japanese internment and racism in the US and the terrible effects that war has on soldiers who come back from any war.
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