Reviews

Beautiful. Poetic. Inspiring and gently yet powerfully challenging. I don't have the words to do justice to the grace, sensitivity, and emotional depth in Goto's writing. I particularly enjoyed the wealth and profundity of meaning explored in the themes of being, eating, and naming. A master spinner of story.

redheadreading's review

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reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.75

Reminds me a little of elements of Maxine Hong Kingston and An Yu's works. Growing of stories, growing of mushrooms, awareness of construction. Lots of excellent food scenes!

dcheers's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

nishnish's review against another edition

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DNF @ 35% idk What I am reading and I simply don’t have the patience to find out

butchbatman's review against another edition

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inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

thebacklistborrower's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Issued in a special 20th Anniversary edition, and with *quite* the prize list to its name, I’m surprised the first I’d heard of this book was scrolling through the Bespeak books available on Libby. Last year I read Shadow Life by Hiromi Goto, a funny and touching graphic novel about aging, autonomy, and our relationship with death, so I thought I’d check this out too.

Chorus of Mushrooms is a tale of three Japanese women living in rural Alberta: Naoe, who immigrated to Canada, her daughter Keiko, and Keiko’s daughter, Muriel. Each relates to their immigrant status in their own way: Naoe refuses to speak English and is firmly loyal to Japanese culture. Keiko is the opposite: going by the Westernized name “Kay” she only cooks Western food and refuses to speak Japanese or associate with the culture. Muriel is who ties them together: being raised by her mother, but connecting deeply with her grandmother without speaking Japanese. Nicknamed “Murasaki” by Naoe -- a name she ultimately adopts, she reconciles her family's immigrant experience and her existence as a Japanese-Canadian woman.

The format of this story is so interesting, switching between characters, but also second, first, and third person POV. Initially, I found it a little challenging to follow by audio, but I picked it up eventually. The book is a story within a story: Murasaki telling her unnamed boyfriend her family history, and it delves into fantasy realism and folktale along the way. The book takes a bit to work up, but by the end I was fascinated, entranced, and warmed by the three women’s stories.

This is a wonderful, definitely underappreciated work of Canadian fiction. It explores the Canadian immigrant experience and women’s experiences so uniquely. If you’re looking to diversify your reading, track it down!

mbejjani's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny informative reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Listening to the audiobook made the shifts in narration hard to follow at times, but I also think that was part of the point. Overall, I appreciated learning a lot about the Japanese-Canadian experience through the generations of this family and the beautiful writing.

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