Yuko is a poet who loves snow and writes Haiku poetry only about snow. The Poet of the Imperial Court thinks Yuko has great potential but thinks his poetry needs more color. He then sends him on a journey to a blind poetry master named Soseki where Yuko will not only learn about poetry, but also about love.
I really loved aspects of this book and the language is lyrical, but parts of it just didn’t sit right with me. It takes only an hour or two to read, though, so I do recommend it as something different from the usual that is not too time-consuming.
Silk is a novella about obsession, longing, and love. It’s the 1860’s and Herve Joncour, a married French merchant of silkworms, goes to Japan several times for eggs. While there, he meets a young concubine who is not Japanese but cannot communicate in anything except Japanese. Joncour becomes obsessed; meanwhile, his wife back home waits patiently for him during every trip he takes. Will either of them get what they long for?
Sigh. This was a well-written novella; but again, it was just too graphic in parts for my tastes. I have a difficult time believing that one of the female characters would write a letter such as the one found in this book, but who knows. On a positive note, this is my first book completed for the 1% Well-Read Challenge, so I guess that means I’m 0.1% well-read.
1996, 91 pp.
Rating:
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Based on a true story about the persecution and torture of Japanese Christians and foreign missionaries in 1600s Japan, Silence is a powerful book about faith (and doubt), truth, and the human spirit. What will make one person stay true to his faith, even under unspeakable torture, while another one does not? Why is God silent during suffering? These are the questions the book raises, and some would say it gives no clear answers. It is easy to say from our comfortable Western homes that we would never deny God under duress. But the Bible states that even Peter, a much loved disciple, denied Christ. What does it truly mean to stay faithful to God?
Repeating the prayer again and again he tried wildly to distract his attention; but the prayer could not tranquilize his agonized heart. ‘Lord, why are you silent? Why are you always silent…?’
This book powerfully affected me, and I’ve already sought out more books by this Japanese Christian author.
It has been announced that Martin Scorsese will be making this into a movie slated for 2010.
I read this book for the Japanese Literature Challenge and the Notable Book Challenge. This is my first Murakami. I wasn’t sure what to expect, and even though I am only rating this a 3.5, I will definitely read more by this author. I found his writing style to be very unique.
The book covers the encounters of several “night people” on one particular evening from 11:56 pm to 6:52 am. All of the characters in the book have some interconnection. I most enjoyed the story of the two sisters, Eri and Mari. One of them can’t sleep and the other one won’t wake up. I also enjoyed the philosophical discussions between Mari and Takahashi. I didn’t really get what was going on with the TV/white noise thing, but it was interesting. Does anyone have a favorite Murakami? Although I might not get to another one of his until next year, I’d like to read more.
I read Strangers by Taichi Yamada for the Japanese literature challenge. This was my first book for the challenge, and I don’t recollect ever having read a book translated from the Japanese before. I first heard about it from kimbofo at Reading Matters, who gave it a perfect 5 star rating.
It’s very atmospheric. I found myself thinking about it long after reading the novel, and the story somewhat reminded me of an M. Night Shyamalan movie. Harada lives in a building on a very busy street in Tokyo. However, most of the units in the building have been converted to office space and, consequently, there are only two tenants there after hours. He’s a little spooked by the quietness in the building at night but chalks it up to being recently divorced and unused to being alone.
One night he decides to go to his hometown where he meets a couple who are the spitting image of his long-dead parents. He keeps going back to see them to try to determine who they really are. There are other strange happenings in his life that I won’t spoil for you here.
It’s a short book that can be read in a few hours, and I encourage anyone interested in world literature to read it. The ‘quiet suspense’ of the novel impressed me and made me want to read more by this author.
The Kite Runner by Khalded Hosseini starts out beautifully:
I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975. I remember the precise moment, crouching behind a crumbling mud wall, peeking into the alley near the frozen creek. That was a long time ago, but it’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years.
The description Amir tells of his childhood in Afghanistan is mesmerizing. Wanting to please his father, playing (and taunting) his friend/servant Hassan, dealing with the neighborhood boys. The first half of the book is very, very strong. However, the last third of the book I felt was too contrived, too formulaic, and too coincidental. I still became very emotional at times, but the ‘wow’ factor for me was gone. There were just too many coincidences in the end to make it a believable story. Overall, though, I did enjoy it, and I’m looking forward to seeing the movie adaptation. I’ll also be reading A Thousand Splendid Suns in 2008.
2003, 371 pp.
Rating: 4
The Bookseller of Kabul, although it is non-fiction, definitely reads like a novel. Asne Seierstad changed the names of the characters in the book, but even with that, it was obvious to Afghanis who the bookseller was. When the book was translated into English, the real bookseller was outraged. He has even tried suing Seierstad and her publisher, and he has also written and published his own version of events. None of which had much impact in her home country of Norway.
Life for many Muslim women is difficult, and that is clearly portrayed in this book. However, before I give a plot synopsis I would like to caution potential readers of the book to not think that ALL Muslim women are in this predicament. I stayed in a Muslim country in the Middle East for three months and have talked with local women and girls myself to hear their views. I have seen Muslim couples and how they interact. It’s not all bad. All families are different in how they interact with each other, whether they be Afghani, American, Chinese, or Russian. I’m sure there are some families even in non-Muslim America who treat women in a similar way that these women are treated. That said, this book will do a good job opening your eyes to the plight of (some-not all) women in non-Western areas of the world.
Sultan is the bookseller whose word is law. He is the leader of the family and even his brothers must obey him, let alone his mother, wives, and children. He rules his family with an iron fist, all the while telling himself he is a progressive, modern-minded man. He replaces (technically, adds to) his 50-something wife with a young teenager. His son Mansur resents and fears him, all the while treating his mother and aunt deplorably. This aunt, Leila, Sultan’s sister, is basically a slave to the entire family and is treated like one. I felt particularly sad for her story.
Rape, forced “prostitution” of widows, and brothers’ suffocation of their sister are only a few of the awful events in this book. In reading of these, I did question how the author would know about some of them. I was also worried about the safety of some of the family members after the book’s publication. In the end, it does reveal that part of Sultan’s family left to live with another male family member. I was very relieved to know that. I’ve thought of these characters often because they’re not just characters. They are real people.
I finished this book two days ago, and I still don’t know how I feel about it. Loved some of it, hated some of it, and was confused by the ending (particularly the second to last chapter; did they ?). I am reading this with my Book Awards group in September, and I have many things I’d like to talk about and discuss with them first before I write any kind of formal review.
I guess I will write one later. Lay Ter. (If you’ve read this book, you know what this means!)
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China
by Jung Chang
1992, 508 pp.
Rating: 4.5
1994 British Book of the Year
This is a long, fascinating book that I’m really glad I finished. I got this after reading Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, which I absolutely loved. I didn’t know it was non-fiction until it came in the mail. I saw that it was a banned book, so I used it for the Banned Book Challenge as well as the Chunkster Challenge.
The book tells the life stories of Jung and her mother and grandmother. Along the way I learned quite a bit about China under Mao as well. I love history when it is presented this way. I’ve always felt that history was more about how people’s lives were affected by their rulers than just names, dates, and events that occurred.
The book is told chronologically. The first story is about how Jung’s grandmother had no choice in being a concubine to a Chinese general. The “marriage” was arranged so that her grandmother’s father would have more privileges of his own. Jung’s mother was born from this union.
Next, we learn of her mother’s life growing up under Japanese occupation in Manchuria, and then after the Japanese surrender, the fight between the Kuomintang and the Communists for power in China. Jung’s parents become Communist officials who very much believe in the Communist ideals. Their “faith” is eventually shattered by Mao’s thirst for power and his “Cultural Revolution.”
Although her parents were still receiving their salaries from the government, they were also being detained or being made to go to denunciation meetings where they were yelled at and/or beaten. The Red Guard and the Rebels were encouraged to rise up against the old Communist officials and take control. Even young children were encouraged to beat up their teachers. School days consisted of reading Mao’s works, punishing anyone who was a “class enemy”, and tearing up the grass and flowers in the courtyards as they were too “decadent.”
As Jung grows up, she is at first enamored with Mao, but is eventually disillusioned with what has happened to her family and to herself. She is a bright young woman who is required several times to be “reeducated” by the peasants or factory workers. After Mao dies, eventually China changes for the better. She is able to go to the West and study, but she never permanently returns to China.
I highly recommend this book if you are interested in history in general or Chinese culture. It is also a “wake-up” call to us softies in the West. Books like these really make me appreciate American freedom!
Wild Swans is a great book! You might also like The Sacred Willow by Duong van mai elliott. It’s about 4 generations of her vietnamese family, starting in the late nineteenth century, and continues up until the 1990’s. It is also non-fiction, but told in a narrative style, with a lot of it reading like a novel.
Caveat! I didn’t like the book much. I’m giving it a ‘4′ because of the brilliant writing.
Subtitled One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia, Elizabeth Gilbert’s book about “finding herself” after a divorce is, well, interesting to say the least. She is frank, candid, brutally honest, and bares all in this travel memoir. I do give her this: she is a brilliant writer and narrator (I listened to the audio CD). The problem was, though, that after finishing the book, I found I really didn’t like it much. It is an easy read/listen, with a little ‘too much information’ sometimes, if you know what I mean. I also didn’t agree with almost any of her decisions or with her conclusions about God and spirituality, though I’m sure she’s not asking me to, either! Still, I rated it a ‘4′ because I want to recognize her writing talents.
She goes through a messy divorce and travels through the three “I” countries listed above. She learns Italian and eats a lot of pasta in Italy (the Eat in the title), she “finds God” in India (the Pray), and she finds love (the Love in the title) in Indonesia. She makes it all very interesting, that’s for sure. I do recommend this book because it is always fascinating to take a peak at other women’s lives and their viewpoints, and as I said, the writing is excellent. In some ways, though, books like these always reinforce my own beliefs and viewspoints as well.
Lisa – May 5, 2007
I am sad that you didn’t like this! I loved it so much. It was so easy to read and just flowed for me. I am dying to go to Italy, so that may be part of my love.
Bybee – May 30, 2007
I’m going to try this book because I really enjoyed her first one, The Last American Man.
Yuko Akita had two passions.
Based on a true story about the persecution and torture of Japanese Christians and foreign missionaries in 1600s Japan, Silence is a powerful book about faith (and doubt), truth, and the human spirit. What will make one person stay true to his faith, even under unspeakable torture, while another one does not? Why is God silent during suffering? These are the questions the book raises, and some would say it gives no clear answers. It is easy to say from our comfortable Western homes that we would never deny God under duress. But the Bible states that even Peter, a much loved disciple, denied Christ. What does it truly mean to stay faithful to God?
I read this book for the Japanese Literature Challenge and the Notable Book Challenge. This is my first Murakami. I wasn’t sure what to expect, and even though I am only rating this a 3.5, I will definitely read more by this author. I found his writing style to be very unique.
I read Strangers by Taichi Yamada for the Japanese literature challenge. This was my first book for the challenge, and I don’t recollect ever having read a book translated from the Japanese before. I first heard about it from 
The Bookseller of Kabul, although it is non-fiction, definitely reads like a novel. Asne Seierstad changed the names of the characters in the book, but even with that, it was obvious to Afghanis who the bookseller was. When the book was translated into English, the real bookseller was outraged. He has even tried suing Seierstad and her publisher, and he has also written and published his own version of events. None of which had much impact in her home country of Norway.
The God of Small Things
