Friday 56 & #BookBeginnings: Obasan


For Book Beginnings:
9:05p.m. August 9, 1972.
The coulee is so still right now that if a match were to be lit, the flame would not waver.
- p. 12

For Friday 56:
The time comes when Momotaro must go and silence falls like feathers of snow all over the rice-paper hut. Inside the hands are slow. Grandmother kneels at the table forming round rice balls, pressing the sticky rice together with her moist fingertips. She wraps them in a small square cloth and, holding them before her in her cupped hands, she offers him the lunch for his journey. There are no tears and no touch. Grandfather and Grandmother are careful, as he goes, not to weight his pack with their sorrow.
- p. 56
Synopsis: A powerful and passionate novel, Obasan tells, through the eyes of a child, the moving story of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War. Naomi is a sheltered and beloved five-year-old when Pearl Harbor changes her life. Separated from her mother, she watches bewildered as she and her family become enemy aliens, persecuted and despised in their own land. Surrounded by hardship and pain, Naomi is protected by the resolute endurance of her aunt Obasan and the silence of those around her. Only after Naomi grows up does she return to question the haunting silence.

Obasan means "aunt" in Japanese. I've only just started this and am already enjoying the writing, the sense of family, and the period of Canadian history that it focuses on.


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10 comments

  1. Ooh this one sounds like a good one. I have a feeling that it's pretty sad.

    My Post

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  2. I am adding this to my TBR pile. I am intrigued by both the quotes...

    Here is my Book Beginning post!

    AND

    Here is my Friday 56

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  3. I like the sound of this one and the writing style. My Friday post: http://www.bookclublibrarian.com/2014/02/friday-focus-friday-56-book-beginnings_21.html

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  4. I do love reading about this time period, and a narrative in the child's viewpoint sounds good. Thanks for sharing, and here's MY FRIDAY POST

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  5. This sounds like a good story. I enjoyed Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, so I'm sure I'd appreciate this book too.
    Here's the link to my Friday post: CAKE.

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  6. I love descriptive memoirs. Look forward to your thoughts.

    Happy weekend!

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    1. I got a copy of this for dollar at a fundraiser and someone saw me reading the backcover and said: YOU NEED TO READ IT! :)

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  7. What a sad and compelling Friday 56! I would definitely keep reading. This author knows how to write sorrow and emotion!

    Linking from Freda's Voice,
    RJ

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    1. The author definitely has a way with words. Quite stark and a little chilling. And I've only just started!

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  8. I have seen this book around different blogs. THANKS for sharing. It looks good.

    I am including an entire review and giveaway for my book beginning since I haven't read anything new for the past two weeks. :)

    Elizabeth
    Silver's Reviews
    My Book Beginnings

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© guiltless readingMaira Gall