Another excellent tale by Keigo Higashino. Charming, touching, fun and a little mysterious. There is a Japanese movie version that is remarkably faithAnother excellent tale by Keigo Higashino. Charming, touching, fun and a little mysterious. There is a Japanese movie version that is remarkably faithful to the book and quite excellent as well....more
Another fascinating mystery by Higashino where he delves into the psychology of the murderer. And, though I have been highly critical in the past of AAnother fascinating mystery by Higashino where he delves into the psychology of the murderer. And, though I have been highly critical in the past of Alexander Smith's translations, he does a very good job with this one.
Higashino really is a master at mysteries because he gives a unique twist on them. It's not so much that the mystery is who the murderer is (as in Golden Age mysteries) as in most Higashino novels I have read this is usually revealed fairly early one and the "mystery" is the how and why. Higashino creates psychological labyrinths leaving clues along the way. He throws in red herrings and MacGuffins (and maybe even un unreliable narrator or two), leading the reader to think one thing, only to direct them back on course. Much like an investigator would do. Clues point in one direction and the investigator begins to form an opinion as to how and why the murder happened, only to be presented with a piece of evidence that doesn't fit that theory. The detective must start from scratch and throw out his or her prejudices caused by past evidence.
It's a puzzle...a psychological one...and one of the ways that Higashino has helped redefine the modern mystery. Like Under the Midnight Sun, Malice is never less than fascinating.
This novel positively leaps to my favorite read of the past few years and my new Higashino favorite. (Note, the title I bought it under was simply "UnThis novel positively leaps to my favorite read of the past few years and my new Higashino favorite. (Note, the title I bought it under was simply "Under the Midnight Sun").
Like most Higasino novels I've read, this is a twist on mystery. Like "The Devotion of Suspect X" where you knew who the murderer was right away, you have a pretty good idea from the start who the murderer is in this one. The fun of the novel is seeing the psychology of it all and the mastery with which Higashino puts it all together.
It's a treatise, in some ways, on the domino effect of crime and how it can impact people for decades and it is never less than fascinating.
I am usually not a fan of Alexander Smith's translations of Higashino's work, but this translation he did very well.. The characters and settings are well crafted and the suspense comes through. But be warned, if you take a liking to a character or two, they may not be around for long.
In some ways, this novel reminds me of Steinbeck's "East of Eden." I can't really say why without possibly creating spoilers, but I think those familiar with Eden will see some of that here.
I'm not sure what is up with all the 1 and 2 star reviews. Most seem predicated on the fact that it is a long novel. Is it? It did not seem that way to me, but then perhaps I am used to reading longer novels.
This is a character study, psychological suspense and a mystery, and if Alfred Hitchcock were alive today I have no doubt he would option this book. If you're looking for a traditional mystery, this might not be your cup of tea. If you are looking for a rich, suspenseful character study that is indeed a mystery, I think you will like this. The journey is where the fun is with this novel.
First and foremost, I must state up front that this work is a novella length work, clocking in at approximately 100 pages. But don't let that dissuadeFirst and foremost, I must state up front that this work is a novella length work, clocking in at approximately 100 pages. But don't let that dissuade you as Milton Murayama packs more into those 100 pages than most novels manage to do in 300+ pages.
This is an outstanding work, capturing so many varied aspects of the nisei (second generation Japanese Americans) experience in Hawai'i during the years leading up to (and including) the bombing at Pearl Harbor. I understand completely why it is considered a classic as it drew me in with its deceptively simple prose, rich characters, and vivid setting, all accomplished without verbosity.
The story is told from the first person point of view of Kiyoshi, the second son in a Japanese family who came to Hawai'i in the 1930s to work on the sugar cane plantations in order to better their lives. His older brother Tosh, is a headstrong young man, the manifestation of the growing differences between the issei (first generation Japanese Americans) and the nisei and as vastly different from Kiyoshi as can be imagined. In some respects, Kiyoshi is stuck between the old ways of filial piety represented by his parents and the birth of a new generation of Americans of Japanese ancestry represented by Tosh. The family is crippled by massive debt and as much as Tosh rebels against the thought of being saddled as first son, Kiyoshi is relatively content in discovering his own role in this new world.
But neither Tosh nor Kiyoshi are stereotypes. As often as Tosh finds the old ways grating and confining, he also find moments of pride in his heritage. Kiyoshi seems more comfortable in the divide between the two generations, seeming to understand the good points of the old ways, but fully aware that his generation is somehow different. Never is the angst in either character over the top, but when Tosh utters the titular line "All I asking for is my body," it packs an emotional wallop.
Murayama wisely chose to keep the narration in traditional English, while much of the dialog is in Hawaiian pidgin creole. This choice expertly creates a realistic setting while brilliantly capturing the differences between the ways the issei and nisei communicate. In turn, this subtly demonstrates the growing divide between the two "cultures."
What also is fascinating is Murayama's depiction of life on the plantation. The segregation encouraged by the luna (plantation bosses) shows us how the different racial communities were often pitted against one another to the benefit of the corporations milling the cane. It is fascinating and realistic to see the way the various races were pitted against one another, methods that resonate in today's political world.
Segregation by debt is also depicted well, the deliberate system of keeping the poor in their place. Kiyoshi's family are trapped in their lives by massive debt and bitterly low wages. It is no wonder Tosh feels suffocated, as if he is in a prison. And that is how it sometimes feels. With the bombing of Pearl Harbor, we as readers know that the internment of Japanese Americans is coming, but in many ways Kiyoshi's family has already been imprisoned from the time of their arrival in Hawai'i by the colonial system.
The bombing of Pearl is handled briefly, giving us the sense of what it must have been like being on a plantation so far away from the actions in the harbor. The event seemed so far away, but had such an impact upon their lives. This is all done subtly, but allows Murayama to explore the effect on the nisei boys. And that reaction is not standard text-book. The reactions are wonderfully varied, reflecting the complexity of emotions in the boys.
Now, I don't want to give the impression that this story is all sturm and drang, some sort of melodrama. It is utterly realistic, but it is peppered with humor and simple beauty. And best of all, within the family, there are no good guys or bad guys. Just a family, trying to make its way.
I highly recommend this book, not only for it's realistic portrayal of plantation life in Hawai'i and of the nisei experience, but for the emotional truth that underlies it all....more
Anyone who knows me knows that I have a strong connection to the Hawaiian Islands and a strong curiosity to read the stories by Hawaiian authors. I'm Anyone who knows me knows that I have a strong connection to the Hawaiian Islands and a strong curiosity to read the stories by Hawaiian authors. I'm not so much interested in the exoticism of the islands as I am the real, true life stories. So when author Lavina Ludlow (novel forthcoming from Casperian Books) suggested the work of Lois-Ann Yamanaka, I was more than willing to dive in.
Now, when authors are new to me, I do not search out any reviews or biographical information before hand as I don't want to color my perception of their work, positively or negatively. So when I looked at the list of Yamanaka's work, this novel was the first listed and so I went with it. And am I glad I did.
Wild Meat and the Bully Burgers is set in and about Hilo, Hawai'i (the big Island) in the 1970s. Our lead is the appealing Lovey (interestingly, one letter shy of Lovely), a relatively plain girl from a working class Hawai'i. As the blurb says, her Hawai'i is not the Hawai'i of picture post cards. Her family are barely surviving financially, unable to afford the comforts that the haole (white) islanders and many of those with whom Lovey goes to school have. This instills in Lovey a somewhat covetous personality. Like all children, she wants to fit in, be smart and popular and have the coolest things. And her attempts to fit in always seem to backfire, reminding her of her "place" in life.
While Lovey is our main character, most all of her interactions within the novel take place with her friend Jerry, a young man with a seemingly unending positive outlook and as much of an outcast as Lovey. Likewise, her father, a nisei (second generation Japanese American), is an important part of their life, their relationship at times wonderfully close and at other times strained by Lovey's desire to be more than who she is.
At its heart, this novel is a coming-of-age book, the journey of a young girl who is just beginning to grow up and realize what really is important in life. But what this story also is is the story of a young woman and the men in her life...Jerry and her father. While her mother, grandmother, aunty and sister are indeed in her life, the focus always returns to Jerry or her father. While I would have enjoyed seeing more of Lovey's relationship with the women in her life, the richness of her interactions with the men in her life is outstanding and full. One (especially one of the male gender) comes away with a strong understanding of the bond between father and daughter. And blessedly, Yamanaka makes that relationship utterly realistic.
Lovey's relationship with Jerry is wonderfully imbued with a strong sense of what friendship is. As in reality, sometimes the two can't stand one another. They fight and get jealous of one another, but in the end, they always end up together. Truly wonderful.
One of the things about Jerry that was missing for me is the implication that Jerry was gay. The blurb indicates that Jerry is effeminate, implying homosexuality. I didn't particularly see this to be true. Yes, he does play Barbies with Lovey, his interest are a bit off the beaten path compared to other boys, and both he and Lovey are constantly call derogatory names for gays by the "cool kids," but he never read as particularly effeminate or gay to me. In some respects, I would have like to have seen that dealt with more, but when I came away from the novel I realized that whether Jerry was or wasn't gay didn't matter. Because it didn't matter to Lovey. The only thing that mattered was their friendship. I walked away finding that refreshing.
In this novel, Yamanaka touches on a lot of issues. Classism. Racism. The loss of cultural heritage and homeland. But she deals with hem subtly and always in context of the story. We absolutely feel for Lovey when she is made fun of. We get angry at her when she picks on others from a different cultural background. Our heart aches when her father tells how his own father never saw Japan again before he died. It is all beautifully done.
Yamanaka also captures the spirit of the island. She doesn't do this by describing details of the locales, but rather by the use of Hawaiian Creole (pidgin) in the dialog and the prose. The result is a vivid portrayal of time and place that feels like home for us non-Hawaiian readers, yet is different enough so that we know we aren't in our own home. Likewise, Yamanaka brings emotional truth to the story, a universality that draws us to each of the characters. In the end, while we know we aren't a teen Japanese American girl, we understand and can empathize with all she is going through.
For those readers who grew up in the 70s, there is a lot here that will let you take a stroll down memory lane and which helps to provide the emotional connection to the characters. Yamanaka gets all the details right, from Bobby Sherman to wax coke bottle candies.
Perhaps the best thing about this novel is that while Lovey is covetous of those around her, her life is allowing her to build something more precious than the right clothes or the right tape recorder...she's building memories that will last forever.
I can not imaging coming-of-age novels getting any better than this and I can not recommend this book more strongly....more
For those interest, after being long out of print "Mahape a ale Wala'au" is available as part of the collection Talk Story Three Tales of Hawaii.For those interest, after being long out of print "Mahape a ale Wala'au" is available as part of the collection Talk Story Three Tales of Hawaii....more
What is so remarkable about Alexander Chee’s debut novel Edinburgh is that he does what is so very difficult to do: he takes what is ugly and despicabWhat is so remarkable about Alexander Chee’s debut novel Edinburgh is that he does what is so very difficult to do: he takes what is ugly and despicable and creates a compelling, utterly truthful and, yes, an even beautiful story of it. By interweaving his prose with Korean folklore, Chee imbues the novel with an almost dreamlike state, one where the dream is equal parts part nightmare and a rose-tinted remembrance of a childhood gone too quickly.
Aphias Zee (nicknamed Fee) is a 12-year-old singer in a Maine boys’ choir where it is revealed that the choir director, Big Eric, is selectively choosing boys from the group, grooming them and then subjecting them to frequent sexual abuse. As the book progresses we see the relationship Fee has with the other boys in the group and his especially strong connection with one of Big Eric’s favorite boys, Peter. We are drawn in and feel the pain Fee does when he sees what the choir director is doing, understanding it for what it is, but not being able to distance the sexual abusers’ horrible acts from his own emerging homosexuality and his own attraction to Peter.
But what Fee--who is a mix of Korean and Scottish parentage--also cannot reconcile for himself is the fact that he isn’t like Peter, he isn’t fair-haired and therefore isn’t one of Big Eric’s favorites. In this way, Chee explores two fascinating and remarkable aspects of Fee’s life: the complexity and emotionally confusing relationship the abused can sometimes have with their perpetrator, as well as the devastating feeling of being an outsider, of being a young child who doesn’t look like the majority of others. It is a fascinating dance that Chee performs and he does it subtly, with characters and prose that are rich and full and deeply human.
Years later, when Fee is grown--having barely survived a deeply self-destructive period--the unease of his youth hands like a storm cloud over his present. He begins teaching at a prep school where he encounters an appealing student named Warden. With this turn of events, Chee brilliantly weaves in an impending sense of danger that permeates the latter half of the book. We worry for the grown Fee. We feel for Warden. The result is a deeply complex set of emotions the reader is put through: we dread Fee’s attraction to Warden; we sense Fee’s deep need to pay a penance for a sin he did not commit; we know the danger if Fee goes down the wrong path; we understand the guilt Fee carries for surviving what others did not. It is a brilliant balancing act, showing us with complete, subtle honesty how the effect of sexual abuse upon a child can sometimes linger long into adulthood.
Edinburgh is not an easy read. Those who have survived such childhood traumas may especially have a difficult time with it, but the story and the dynamics between the characters are truthful, sometimes beautiful and other times terribly ugly, and the novel is--when all is said and done--masterfully written and flawlessly executed. A fascinating, compelling and moving work that should not be missed. ...more
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