The poignant story of a Japanese-American family separated and interred during the Second World War is the subject of Julie Otsuka 's novel. When The Emperor Was Divine examines the fate of those who are caught up in events bigger than themselves. For one middle-class Japanese family living comfortably in Berkeley, California, the weeks following Pearl Harbour turn their American dream into a nightmare. After the father is arrested and taken away, the mother can only hope that by destroying all that they have of their ...
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The poignant story of a Japanese-American family separated and interred during the Second World War is the subject of Julie Otsuka 's novel. When The Emperor Was Divine examines the fate of those who are caught up in events bigger than themselves. For one middle-class Japanese family living comfortably in Berkeley, California, the weeks following Pearl Harbour turn their American dream into a nightmare. After the father is arrested and taken away, the mother can only hope that by destroying all that they have of their Japanese roots she and her children will be spared the same fate. But despite her precautions, she and her two children are taken away. Through the eyes of the children, the story follows their train journey across the United States and to a camp in the deserts of Utah, where they discover they are now the "enemy". After three years, they return to their boarded and looted home. Eventually their father is returned to them, a damaged - and different - man.. Told from the perspective of each member of the family, this book reveals how it feels to be an alien in one 's own country.
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Seller's Description:
Fine in Fine jacket. Book First edition, First printing. Not price clipped. NOT REMAINDER marked. NOT ex library. Not Book Club. Dust jacket in protective cover. Shipped in a box. Number line starting with a (1). Fine/Fine.
Illuminating as to the feeling's of Americans to Japanese/American's after Pearl Harbor. Fear played such a large part in every aspect of WW II. A great book to read !!
pamela1717
Apr 2, 2008
Simple and emotional
Very stark and removed and I assume that was the intention of the author. I think the starkness serves a large purpose for the story. Many books spend time on character development and story line (not a bad thing), this one doesn't. By omitting these I think the author sets the reader up to imagine so much more than an author can supply and to ask themselves "What if this happened to me?"
Rubycanary
Jan 23, 2008
gorgeous and sad
This is a fantastic depiction of a subject that hasn't been written about nearly enough in contemporary American literature. A family of unknown name, but of Japanese origin, is the example of a common tale. People told to leave their homes to live a life in the desert of Utah. Declared enemies of the state, and told to show their loyalty to the US by allowing themselves to be locked up for years.
The only character given a name is a presumably white girl who dares to write letters to the unnamed boy.
The book is simple, beautiful, and very successfully makes its point.
