Scan barcode
tocayadelacapuleto_'s review against another edition
4.0
Acabo de terminarlo y el último relato me estrujó el corazón. Son cuentos bellísimos; mi favorito: Diecisiete sílabas que me pareció extraordinario, bello y muy triste a la vez.
Cada historia te permite conocer un poco sobre la historia de las comunidades asiáticas en EEUU y los grandes problemas que enfrentaron particularmente durante la 2da Guerra Mundial. El racismo social (no solo dirigido hacia japoneses y chinos, sino también hacia los afrodescendientes), las diferencias culturales y las de clase y de género, la importancia de la escritura pero no solo literaria sino también periodística, son algunos de los temas que se pueden encontrar en este grandioso libro de Hisaye Yamamoto.
Se macera lentamente pero vale la pena.
Cada historia te permite conocer un poco sobre la historia de las comunidades asiáticas en EEUU y los grandes problemas que enfrentaron particularmente durante la 2da Guerra Mundial. El racismo social (no solo dirigido hacia japoneses y chinos, sino también hacia los afrodescendientes), las diferencias culturales y las de clase y de género, la importancia de la escritura pero no solo literaria sino también periodística, son algunos de los temas que se pueden encontrar en este grandioso libro de Hisaye Yamamoto.
Se macera lentamente pero vale la pena.
melinum's review against another edition
5.0
4,5-5 stars
Felt way too familiar and now I want to cry.
Felt way too familiar and now I want to cry.
lizzieh96's review
4.0
Really cool story with a lot of layers that almost all revolve around language.
salbulga's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
candidomica's review against another edition
4.0
!!! un crimen que no sea una autora leída más ampliamente. qué gran toque tiene.
lyssamarie's review against another edition
3.0
Title: Seventeen Syllables and Other Stories
Author: Hisaye Yamamoto
Series: n/a
Publisher: Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press
Publication Date: 1988
Genre(s): Short stories, Asian-American, Realistic fiction
Rating: 3 stars
Opening Line:
-from “The High-Heeled Shoes”
Here is a collection of short stories written by Hisaye Yamamoto, first published in 1988 and containing stories written during a 40-year span. This book contains some of her most anthologized works, including “Yoneko’s Earthquake,” “The Legend of Miss Sasagawara,” “The Brown House,” and “Seventeen Syllables.” Though many of them are autobiographical, only two of them, “Life Among the Oil Fields” and “The High-Heeled Shoes,” are noted as memoirs.
Though I have not been a fan of the Asian-American lit I’ve been reading this semester, I have to say I was excited to read short stories rather than yet another novel or memoir. Seventeen Syllables was actually a lot more enjoyable than I thought it would be. The stories were very relatable, even as an American, and some were interesting to read about. Yamamoto is a great storyteller and has a knack for short story writing. Though there were a few stories I could not get into, most of them were fairly enjoyable and easy to read. “Seventeen Syllables,” Yamamoto’s most famous story, was probably one of my favorites. The story is about a young Nisei girl (a person born in America whose parents were immigrants from Japan) and her growing relationship with a Mexican boy working in the fields. It’s also about the girl’s mother and her passion for haiku writing, as well as the father’s resentment towards her mother. It has a lot to due with inter-racial interaction and class separation, themes that reappear throughout the book. I also enjoyed “The Brown House,” a story about a gambling husband, and “Epithalamium,” a story about a Japanese-American woman’s troublesome relationship with her Italian-American husband. I definitely liked this collection of short stories, even though I doubt I’ll read it again. I think I just prefer it to the other works I’ve read this semester, which is why I liked it so much. It was a breath of fresh air to read about something other than simply mother-daughter relationships and the generation gap between Isei and Nisei.
Of course, I’d never heard of Yamamoto until taking this class, and it appears she recently died in 2011. Though this wasn’t my favorite short story collection, I did enjoy it and I truly liked Yamamoto’s writing. I think she had real talent with writing short stories, which is not something everyone has. I’m very particular about short stories, which sounds silly but they have to be written a certain way, and Yamamoto achieved that. She was no Neil Gaiman, but I liked her writing nevertheless.
Favorite Quote(s): “But, alas, most egos were covered with the thinnest of eggshells.”
Author: Hisaye Yamamoto
Series: n/a
Publisher: Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press
Publication Date: 1988
Genre(s): Short stories, Asian-American, Realistic fiction
Rating: 3 stars
Opening Line:
In the middle of the morning, the telephone rings.
-from “The High-Heeled Shoes”
Here is a collection of short stories written by Hisaye Yamamoto, first published in 1988 and containing stories written during a 40-year span. This book contains some of her most anthologized works, including “Yoneko’s Earthquake,” “The Legend of Miss Sasagawara,” “The Brown House,” and “Seventeen Syllables.” Though many of them are autobiographical, only two of them, “Life Among the Oil Fields” and “The High-Heeled Shoes,” are noted as memoirs.
Though I have not been a fan of the Asian-American lit I’ve been reading this semester, I have to say I was excited to read short stories rather than yet another novel or memoir. Seventeen Syllables was actually a lot more enjoyable than I thought it would be. The stories were very relatable, even as an American, and some were interesting to read about. Yamamoto is a great storyteller and has a knack for short story writing. Though there were a few stories I could not get into, most of them were fairly enjoyable and easy to read. “Seventeen Syllables,” Yamamoto’s most famous story, was probably one of my favorites. The story is about a young Nisei girl (a person born in America whose parents were immigrants from Japan) and her growing relationship with a Mexican boy working in the fields. It’s also about the girl’s mother and her passion for haiku writing, as well as the father’s resentment towards her mother. It has a lot to due with inter-racial interaction and class separation, themes that reappear throughout the book. I also enjoyed “The Brown House,” a story about a gambling husband, and “Epithalamium,” a story about a Japanese-American woman’s troublesome relationship with her Italian-American husband. I definitely liked this collection of short stories, even though I doubt I’ll read it again. I think I just prefer it to the other works I’ve read this semester, which is why I liked it so much. It was a breath of fresh air to read about something other than simply mother-daughter relationships and the generation gap between Isei and Nisei.
Of course, I’d never heard of Yamamoto until taking this class, and it appears she recently died in 2011. Though this wasn’t my favorite short story collection, I did enjoy it and I truly liked Yamamoto’s writing. I think she had real talent with writing short stories, which is not something everyone has. I’m very particular about short stories, which sounds silly but they have to be written a certain way, and Yamamoto achieved that. She was no Neil Gaiman, but I liked her writing nevertheless.
Favorite Quote(s): “But, alas, most egos were covered with the thinnest of eggshells.”
emilieamcconnell's review against another edition
4.0
So much power in the words Hisaye Yamamoto chose to describe the Japanese American experience before and after the war. Especially these two, used frequently in her stories: “Concentration camp.”
diameters's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
namesake "seventeen syllables" was deeply compelling. love the literary tone. feels very much like a "literary" novel if that makes any sense. clear connections to sui sin far, but with a more modern style. the amount of detail in the descriptions and in the build up of the emotional conflicts made me pause and think about if i have ever written a character half as compelling as the three lines that yamamoto gave to rosie's father.
after reading each story i usually had a brief moment (3-8 seconds) of just genuine confusion and/or misery. felt like reading killing and dying. felt like reading a literary short story.
after reading each story i usually had a brief moment (3-8 seconds) of just genuine confusion and/or misery. felt like reading killing and dying. felt like reading a literary short story.
papayadiana's review against another edition
Title short story easily my favorite, but overall solid collection
hisaye's review against another edition
4.0
So lovely. So subtly and sharply insightful, and with such wonderful details of west coast Nisei life in the years surrounding WWII.