A review by ifyouhappentoremember
The Translation of Love: A Novel by Lynne Kutsukake

3.0

Maybe this book worked better for people unaware that General Douglas McArthur was de facto dictator of Japan during the American occupation of Japan and how this occupation affected every level of Japanese society. Most of the positive reviews I see discuss that they appreciate this book illustrated and enlightened them on post-war Japan but I can’t help but think this book barely scratched the surface. There’s a lot of perspectives to manage and not enough time to thoroughly explore them all.

I felt that the multiple perspectives dragged a bit at times and the plot was slow moving. It takes a while for everything to come together, but I’m not sure if the payoff was worth it. I suppose the purpose is to get a glimpse into the Japanese occupation from multiple different vantage points, but it felt redundant at times.