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A review by whothehelliskaitlin
No-No Boy by John Okada
3.0
Okada's novel is a thoughtful representation of the Asian American experience and the effects of WW2 and it is sad that he did not get to witness the praise for his book while he was alive. His style of writing is something that I have truly never experienced before. He bounced between third and first person, from insider to outsider, from dialogue to long internal monologues. It took a while to get used to but I appreciated what it did to explain the characters and their setting and to try to get readers to expand their thinking and understanding of their place in the world around them. I also enjoyed the description of the places, I could picture Seattle and see the smokey clubs.
There were a few things, however, that I did not enjoy as much. The main character, Ichiro, was perhaps the most boring character in the novel even though he was granted a rich backstory to pull from. I did not feel a connection to him and while I sympathized with his situation I did not feel his emotions. Additionally, most of his dialogue was incredibly monotone: "No." "Ya." "Okay." However, all the other characters were tremendously interesting and I loved getting to peer into their minds and see glimpses of them. And Kenji, ugh, my favorite.
On top of this, Okada did not have a good representation of women in his book. Most of them are deemed as crazy/dumb/weak/harsh, even the ones who appear for only one page. Okada goes as far as to imply that the main character's life and his father's life would be better without women in them. The only half decent portrayal of a woman in this book was Emi, who is also portrayed as a cheater and whose emotions are always changing.
Also, the ending was a little rushed to me as the whole book was slow-paced, and then the last three chapters it's like BAM BAM BAM ACTION finished. Overall, I appreciate Okada's courage to write such a taboo topic for the time in which it was produced, but otherwise, it was a pretty average book experience.
There were a few things, however, that I did not enjoy as much. The main character, Ichiro, was perhaps the most boring character in the novel even though he was granted a rich backstory to pull from. I did not feel a connection to him and while I sympathized with his situation I did not feel his emotions. Additionally, most of his dialogue was incredibly monotone: "No." "Ya." "Okay." However, all the other characters were tremendously interesting and I loved getting to peer into their minds and see glimpses of them. And Kenji, ugh, my favorite.
On top of this, Okada did not have a good representation of women in his book. Most of them are deemed as crazy/dumb/weak/harsh, even the ones who appear for only one page. Okada goes as far as to imply that the main character's life and his father's life would be better without women in them. The only half decent portrayal of a woman in this book was Emi, who is also portrayed as a cheater and whose emotions are always changing.
Also, the ending was a little rushed to me as the whole book was slow-paced, and then the last three chapters it's like BAM BAM BAM ACTION finished. Overall, I appreciate Okada's courage to write such a taboo topic for the time in which it was produced, but otherwise, it was a pretty average book experience.