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A review by fachrinaa
A Daughter of the Samurai by Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
What an extraordinary book from an extraordinary woman!
I had no idea who Etsu was - I bought the book because it was on sale and it sounded interesting. I'm so glad I did because this book is a revelation. Etsu lived during a time where rapid changes took place in Japan and in the world, and her life is a testament of the power of progress. She was the daughter of an impoverished samurai, who no longer had either the wealth or the status of his ancestors, but who instilled the old values in Etsu while allowing her to receive a relatively progressive education.
Her prose is vivid and beautiful, but above all it's full of compassion towards others and of the belief of a better, more understanding future. The America she wrote about provides a glimpse of what American could be.
It's also a complex text. The short chapters show the origin of this book as a newspaper column. Etsu was asked to write about her life for American audience, a fact that I believe we should keep in mind when reading the book.
The book ends when Etsu and her daughters were about to sail back to America to live with her adoptive Western mother. From the back cover and her wikipedia page, I know that Etsu eventually taught Japanese language and culture at Columbia University (what an achievement!) and that she passed away in 1950. I can't help but wonder how she felt about the events in 1940s: the racism and the internment. I saw that her daughter wrote a biography of her last years - I'm gonna search for that book now.
I had no idea who Etsu was - I bought the book because it was on sale and it sounded interesting. I'm so glad I did because this book is a revelation. Etsu lived during a time where rapid changes took place in Japan and in the world, and her life is a testament of the power of progress. She was the daughter of an impoverished samurai, who no longer had either the wealth or the status of his ancestors, but who instilled the old values in Etsu while allowing her to receive a relatively progressive education.
Her prose is vivid and beautiful, but above all it's full of compassion towards others and of the belief of a better, more understanding future. The America she wrote about provides a glimpse of what American could be.
It's also a complex text. The short chapters show the origin of this book as a newspaper column. Etsu was asked to write about her life for American audience, a fact that I believe we should keep in mind when reading the book.
The book ends when Etsu and her daughters were about to sail back to America to live with her adoptive Western mother. From the back cover and her wikipedia page, I know that Etsu eventually taught Japanese language and culture at Columbia University (what an achievement!) and that she passed away in 1950. I can't help but wonder how she felt about the events in 1940s: the racism and the internment. I saw that her daughter wrote a biography of her last years - I'm gonna search for that book now.