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A review by cousinrachel
Tropic of Orange by Karen Tei Yamashita
2.0
1.5 stars
Read this for school. It's one of those books that doesn't focus on plot or characters, but on the Societal Meaning. There wasn't really anyone to sympathize with, and no event sequence that made me want to know what happened next. I liked some of the writing and descriptions, so I tried to like it, but for me, it didn't go anywhere with those.
Unfortunately, the writing went off into odd metaphors, with people turning into various animals among them. I wasn't sure if this was intended to be taken literally or as a meaning for something else. There are fantasy books in which I find the magic believable, but this was written in such an abstract way that the fantasy element was distracting and confusing.
One character in particular called Emi was irritating, as she confronted a total stranger in a restaurant about how speaking Japanese and eating Japanese food (the person was white, of course) is appropriating Japan's culture. This scene was presented as Emi the Minority Warrior putting a clueless, culturally-insensitive, American woman in her place, when actually it was extremely rude and what the woman chose to do was none of Emi's business. In some situations it's appropriate to confront someone about their behavior, but this wasn't one of those situations. This book pushed the idea that you don't need to pick your battles - just self-righteously "call out" people for doing something of which you personally disapprove.
In contemporary literature, there's a strange trend of focusing on body parts and functions. I guess it's supposed to be honest and realistic instead of romantic, but to me it looks like pretentiously overdoing it just to seem "real." In one scene, an old man pulls out his "virile" penis in public, for some reason that other than the pretentious realism was lost on me. Um - who does that in real life and isn't mentally checked-out or a sexual predator?
I made a good effort at enjoying it, but it turned out to be moralizing and confusing, so that I did not care what happened to anyone in the book. Except that how one of them turned out makes me feel a bit smug. :) If you end up being obligated to read this, you have my sympathy.
Read this for school. It's one of those books that doesn't focus on plot or characters, but on the Societal Meaning. There wasn't really anyone to sympathize with, and no event sequence that made me want to know what happened next. I liked some of the writing and descriptions, so I tried to like it, but for me, it didn't go anywhere with those.
Unfortunately, the writing went off into odd metaphors, with people turning into various animals among them. I wasn't sure if this was intended to be taken literally or as a meaning for something else. There are fantasy books in which I find the magic believable, but this was written in such an abstract way that the fantasy element was distracting and confusing.
One character in particular called Emi was irritating, as she confronted a total stranger in a restaurant about how speaking Japanese and eating Japanese food (the person was white, of course) is appropriating Japan's culture. This scene was presented as Emi the Minority Warrior putting a clueless, culturally-insensitive, American woman in her place, when actually it was extremely rude and what the woman chose to do was none of Emi's business. In some situations it's appropriate to confront someone about their behavior, but this wasn't one of those situations. This book pushed the idea that you don't need to pick your battles - just self-righteously "call out" people for doing something of which you personally disapprove.
In contemporary literature, there's a strange trend of focusing on body parts and functions. I guess it's supposed to be honest and realistic instead of romantic, but to me it looks like pretentiously overdoing it just to seem "real." In one scene, an old man pulls out his "virile" penis in public, for some reason that other than the pretentious realism was lost on me. Um - who does that in real life and isn't mentally checked-out or a sexual predator?
I made a good effort at enjoying it, but it turned out to be moralizing and confusing, so that I did not care what happened to anyone in the book. Except that how one of them turned out makes me feel a bit smug. :) If you end up being obligated to read this, you have my sympathy.