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A review by midnighteyesx
The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka
5.0
One of the only books I have ever read in first person plural. A great introduction to immigrant literature and wartime literature. I read this book cover to cover in under three hours, and the emotional impact of every single line was paramount. The use of "we" instead of "I" invites the reader in, making each move and each event more dire to thoughts of the future. It begins with the women from all areas of Japan meeting to make the crossing to California pre-WW II. They move in with men who have lied about their appearance, who have paid their families. They are made to work in fields, their husbands are cruel, some become servants, some have affairs, all eventually move to J-town, where we see the full extent of American racism after Pearl Harbor. "We" are forced out of homes, out of daily life, to an unknown location for an unknown purpose.
"We" are gone. The final chapter showcases that these Japanese immigrants did all they could to assimilate into America, and there is constant denial and constant pushing back from the Americans. It shows the disconnect between "us" and "them", and honestly made my ashamed to be an American.
The one thing this book does not cover is the treatment of these women we have come to love once they reach the camps. I craved it only because my education did not cover the internment of the Japanese. We studied World War II every other year in school, and it was never more than an afterthought - and embarrassment as it is. A gross, disgusting smear on American history. The right-wing Texans making our textbooks are careful not to exploit the human rights violations that occurred in these camps.
This book does not need the detail of the camps to achieve the emotional weight. We are one with the immigrants. "we" have been with them through each step, every moment, for over 100 pages. We know all they have struggled with, all of the people who have denied them opportunities, we have seen none of them act in any threatening way - all we see is them trying to make a living in their daily lives, and the actions of their country of origin or their country of ancestry made them all a threat somehow.
Pick up this book, and read it. I implore you.
"We" are gone. The final chapter showcases that these Japanese immigrants did all they could to assimilate into America, and there is constant denial and constant pushing back from the Americans. It shows the disconnect between "us" and "them", and honestly made my ashamed to be an American.
The one thing this book does not cover is the treatment of these women we have come to love once they reach the camps. I craved it only because my education did not cover the internment of the Japanese. We studied World War II every other year in school, and it was never more than an afterthought - and embarrassment as it is. A gross, disgusting smear on American history. The right-wing Texans making our textbooks are careful not to exploit the human rights violations that occurred in these camps.
This book does not need the detail of the camps to achieve the emotional weight. We are one with the immigrants. "we" have been with them through each step, every moment, for over 100 pages. We know all they have struggled with, all of the people who have denied them opportunities, we have seen none of them act in any threatening way - all we see is them trying to make a living in their daily lives, and the actions of their country of origin or their country of ancestry made them all a threat somehow.
Pick up this book, and read it. I implore you.