Scan barcode
jenmcgee's review against another edition
4.0
Whether or not a reader likes this book will depend a great deal on whether they can handle a book written entirely in the first person plural point of view. I found it fascinating and illuminating, an interesting way to explore the complexities and subtleties of the experiences of a large group of people. However, I can easily imagine it would wear on other readers. Most interesting, I thought, was the shift from the point of view of the Japanese to the point of view of the residents of the West Coast who remain behind after their neighbors and help are taken away to the internment camps. Suddenly the monolithic-yet-varied viewpoint shifts to the majority, and the effect is subtle but powerful.
Special irony points to putting the words of Donald Rumsfeld in the mouth of a local mayor of the time.
Special irony points to putting the words of Donald Rumsfeld in the mouth of a local mayor of the time.
oasis_verdura's review against another edition
4.0
Fictionalized story of the composite lives of Japanese women who came to the US as arranged brides in the early 1900s.
jennc's review against another edition
4.0
Kind of like a prequel to When the Emperor was Divine. I didn’t like this one quite as much as that one but it was still really good and showed you how they got there in the first place. It gave me a window into a life I’ll never lead.
jessappel's review against another edition
5.0
At first the first person plural narration bugged me, but as I got into it and started thinking about major experiences in life and how they are most often "we" experiences rather than "I," I felt captivated.
connie_rea's review against another edition
3.0
ok, this was the weirdest formatting of a book every! It is just like being in a crowd with thousands of people that are all talking at once. There was no way for me to really connect to the book because there was not a character to connect with. Just thousands of nameless voices telling one sentence descriptions of what life was like. I kept waiting and waiting for one voice to stand out...it never did...Since the subject matter is the type that I normally *love*, even as it tears my heart apart, I was very disappointed...
roulettegirl's review against another edition
3.0
The prose was lovely, but overall the story did not resonate with me. I think because the author tried to tell every woman's story, I didn't feel connected to a single one of them. I also didn't like ending the story from the white neighbors perspective - I felt it undid everything she'd tried to do before, and robbed the women of the voice she gave them.
lyndamr's review against another edition
4.0
I'd seen this book and was attracted to it some time ago, and thought I'd bring it on my trip (yep, a real paper book!) and so read it while in the states. I have to say that I didn't like the way it was written at first, it took a while to get used to a story about a cohort of people moving through time but without focus on any one person. The story was of what happened to all the Japanese that came over to the states in the early 20th century as they built a life in California. Surprisingly moving, I found myself crying on the flight as I finished the book.
evagachus's review against another edition
3.0
Always cool to learn things through other perspectives. But I didn't take away as much as I did when I read The Emperor Was Divine.
azure_atlas's review against another edition
This novel doesn't have a main character, nor any major characters to speak of. The cast consists of largely unnamed Japanese-Americans, immigrating to the United States or born in America, from the early 1900s to the unconstitutional internment of "all persons of Japanese ancestry" in 1942 on. The story is of brutality and beauty, and even though it sounds like a historical slog, it's not. It's a catalogue of humanity.
A snapshot of time as Japanese-Americans were forced to leave their homes, despite their hopes otherwise:
"Mitsuko's favorite black hen clucked once and laid a warm brown egg. A green plum fell early from a tree. Our dogs ran after us with balls in their mouths, eager for one last toss, and for once, we had to turn them away. Go home. Neighbors peered out at us through their windows. Cars honked. Strangers stared. A boy on a bicycle waved. A startled cat dove under a bed in one of our houses as looters began to break down the front door. Curtains ripped. Glass shattered. Wedding dishes smashed to the floor. And we knew it would only be a matter of time until all traces of us were gone."
What is life, if not a collection of moments just like these? Julie Otsuka's writing is so clean, so efficient. Every word is intentional, necessary, and so, so evocative.
If we're ever going to come to grips with our history, we need more books like this -- books that allow us to live in the shoes of those who came before us.
A snapshot of time as Japanese-Americans were forced to leave their homes, despite their hopes otherwise:
"Mitsuko's favorite black hen clucked once and laid a warm brown egg. A green plum fell early from a tree. Our dogs ran after us with balls in their mouths, eager for one last toss, and for once, we had to turn them away. Go home. Neighbors peered out at us through their windows. Cars honked. Strangers stared. A boy on a bicycle waved. A startled cat dove under a bed in one of our houses as looters began to break down the front door. Curtains ripped. Glass shattered. Wedding dishes smashed to the floor. And we knew it would only be a matter of time until all traces of us were gone."
What is life, if not a collection of moments just like these? Julie Otsuka's writing is so clean, so efficient. Every word is intentional, necessary, and so, so evocative.
If we're ever going to come to grips with our history, we need more books like this -- books that allow us to live in the shoes of those who came before us.