Book Review #34 When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka - Stars 4/5

When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka Stars 4/5

Review:

Those who read 'The Buddha in the Attic' should also read 'When the Emperor Was Divine' which is also set in the same premise - the lives of the Japanese in the US during WW2.
'The Buddha in the Attic' was like the voice of many and not about a single main character but 'When the Emperor Was Divine' is about one unnamed family and the final chapters are said hard-hitting like a response from all the affected person point of view to the country that is treating them like an alien. This is not a melodramatic story, and it ends with a positive note about their hope.

Plot:

The story is about a Japanese family living in the US during World War II Says how men were named a traitor and prisoned secretly for years and how their families were sent to Utah desert to internment camps for years.
The family is first separated from the father and living in an internment camp, their life changes there, after years when they are back to their home they see how ruined their places are, kids are still missing their father, they are visit school and asked to not intervene the whites, they ask apologies even if their hand touches them mistakenly.
After years when their father returns the kids are not sure if it was him, he is looking different now, pale, energy drained.

Quotes from the book:
“But we never stopped believing that somewhere out there, in some stranger's backyard, our mother's rosebush was blossoming madly, wildly, pressing one perfect red flower after another out into the late afternoon light.”

"We used to live in the desert. We used to wake every morning, to the blast of a siren. We used to stand in line for our meals three times a day. We used to stand in line for our mail. We used to stand in line to get coal. We used to stand in line whenever we had to shower or use the latrine. We used to hear the wind hissing day and night through the sagebrush. We used to hear coyotes. We used to hear every word spoken by our neighbors on the other side of the thin barrack wall ... We used to try and imagine what it would be like when we finally returned home."          

Book Review #33 The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka Stars 5/5

The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka Stars 5/5 

Review:

The Buddha in the Attic is Lyrical and empathetic.
Instead of a single, named protagonist, author writes in the first personal plural through a series of thematic chapters.

Plot:

The voice of many. Tale of Japanese mail-ordered brides sent to America by ship and later when their life is kind of stable the World war 2 begins and life takes turns again.
They are lured that future husband is a wealthy businessman but only after reaching the US they come to know that the photos are 20 years old and these guys are mostly working as a slave in a farm.
They go through many struggles, they are naive, they are blamed.
But after decades when their kids grow the families become less Japanese and more American, only to have it shattered in a passage, simply called 'Traitors' as the World War II begins and men captured and the family never see them again.

Quotes from the book:

“Not once did we ever have the money to buy them a single toy”

“You will see women are weak, but mothers are strong.”

“We forgot about Buddha. We forgot about God. We developed a coldness inside us that still has not thawed. I fear my soul has died. We stopped writing home to our mothers. We lost weight and grew thin. We stopped bleeding. We stopped dreaming. We stopped wanting.”

நீங்கள் பார்க்காத சுவர்கள்

நீங்கள் பார்க்காத சுவர்கள்

நீங்கள் பேச விரும்பாத பக்கங்களை நான் அசை போட்டுக்கொண்டிருக்கிறேன்.

நீங்கள் நினைக்க இயலாத பக்கங்கள் எனக்கு பரிச்சயமான பக்கங்களாய் இருக்கிறது.

நீங்கள் கடந்து சென்ற சாதாரண நிகழ்வு எனக்கு கூர்ந்து பார்க்க விஷயங்களை தரும் பெரு நிகழ்வு.

நீங்கள் உங்களுடைய நண்பனுடன் கழித்த நாட்களெல்லாம் பின்பு மரக்கக்கூடும்.

எனக்கு அவைகள் தான் நட்பை நினைவில் அசைபோட்டு  பாதுகாக்கும் கருவி.