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Plum Wine
Bottles of homemade plum wine link two worlds, two eras, and two lives through the eyes of Barbara Jefferson, a young American teaching at a Tokyo university. When her surrogate mother, Michi, dies, Barbara inherits an extraordinary a tansu chest filled with bottles of homemade plum wine wrapped in sheets of rice paper covered in elegant calligraphy—one bottle for each of the last twenty years of Michi’s life.
Why did Michi leave her memoirs to Barbara, who cannot read Japanese? Seeking a translator, Barbara turns to an enigmatic pottery artist named Seiji, who will offer her a companionship as tender as it is forbidden. But as the two lovers unravel the mysteries of Michi’s life, a story that draws them through the aftermath of World War II and the hidden world of the hibakusha, Hiroshima survivors, Barbara begins to suspect that Seiji may be hiding the truth about Michi’s past—and a heartbreaking secret of his own.
Why did Michi leave her memoirs to Barbara, who cannot read Japanese? Seeking a translator, Barbara turns to an enigmatic pottery artist named Seiji, who will offer her a companionship as tender as it is forbidden. But as the two lovers unravel the mysteries of Michi’s life, a story that draws them through the aftermath of World War II and the hidden world of the hibakusha, Hiroshima survivors, Barbara begins to suspect that Seiji may be hiding the truth about Michi’s past—and a heartbreaking secret of his own.
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 18, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 293 reviews
January 4, 2008
This book is like an oatmeal breakfast: solid, slightly sweet, filling and "good for you." In that sense it wasn't very adventurous or riveting--just got the job done. The pace clipped along, the dialogue sounded authentic and the story about Hiroshima survivors was one I haven't encountered too often (although, I'm not overly familiar with stories framed in Japan). However, it's not the type of book I'm going to lend to somebody because honestly, nobody every says, "hey, wanna go out for oatmeal?" You'll eat it because it's has better flavor than Cream of Wheat, but when you go out to eat you're going to order some Amy Tan Omelette or even a Haruki Murakami Breakfast Burrito; something with some soaring and plummeting and characters you love and ones you love to hate.
February 21, 2008
While I loved the peek into Japanese culture in the 20 years after the bombing of Hiroshima, I just couldn't seem to like the characters and found them too flat. I wanted to go back in time so I could hand her the book "He's Just Not Into You!" Their whole relationship seemed so dysfunctional. Because I wasn't terribly excited about the main characters' relationship (which was a main focus of the book) I just couldn't get into it.
I did, however, feel like I got a lot of new insights as to the victims of the Hiroshima bombing and the culture following WWII of Japan. Those parts where the best parts of the book, and I wish had been the main focus.
I did, however, feel like I got a lot of new insights as to the victims of the Hiroshima bombing and the culture following WWII of Japan. Those parts where the best parts of the book, and I wish had been the main focus.
April 25, 2015
Chosen by my book club, I had high hopes for this book reading the blurb, but, ultimately was disappointed. The author had the core of a very good idea, but just didn't follow it up. It could have been much better if the main character had not been the complete focus of the book, but rather the vehicle though which we get to learn about the life of her friend who survived Hiroshima.
November 29, 2015
Rating Clarificaton: 3.5 Stars
"From your lips I came to understand the language of the plum wine."
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I am aware that many people greatly disliked it, and I can honestly understand why opinions are so divided. The novel's heroine is a bit flat and annoying, the premise on the blurb is a bit misleading, and the writing could be kind of melodramaticor really, really melodramatic, in the case of the ending. Yet, even with all of its faults, I adored this book. I flew through it in just two days, unable to put it down. Here are a few reasons why.
Setting:
Admittedly the biggest reason I liked this book was the setting. I love Japan and Japanese culture. I was really interested by all of the new phrases and Japanese customs that I learned about in this book. I also liked seeing how an outsider feels and reacts in a foreign country and how odd and strict some Eastern customs can seem to us Westerners. I also thought that the idea of a novel set in Japan during Vietnam with references to World War II was really original, and I liked the way the author mixed the pasts together. I know a lot of people wanted more of the novel to take place in World War II, and I agree that this may have been interesting. However, I found the way the Japanese reacted to the Vietnam War and how unsure Barbara felt about the war to be very interesting as well.
Characters
I know that the characters are some people's problem with the book, and as stated above I can understand why. They annoyed me a bit too, especially near the end of the novel. Yet, even when they frustrated me I found them compelling. I am very much a character reader and this is the mark of a good book to me: do I care at all for the characters? In this case, the answer was a resounding yes. I cared thoroughly about all of the characters from Barbara to Michi to Seiji to Mrs. Ueda to Rie. I wanted to know how all of their stories were going to unfold.
Symbolism:
I really enjoyed the symbolism involved with the foxes and the plum wine. I felt it was beautifully written. Here is my interpretation of the main symbols.
Plot
I loved the way that present and past were interwoven so expertly and how they tied together. I liked hearing about both Vietnam and World War II from a Japanese perspective. I thought that the romance was also very engaging, and I really felt for both of the main characters. However, I do have a quick bone to pick with the ending, which is the reason this book went from four to 3.5 stars. Other than that little complaint, I found the plot to be really amazing.
So, in short, I understand why this book generally isn't rated very highly, but I just don't care.
"From your lips I came to understand the language of the plum wine."
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I am aware that many people greatly disliked it, and I can honestly understand why opinions are so divided. The novel's heroine is a bit flat and annoying, the premise on the blurb is a bit misleading, and the writing could be kind of melodramatic
Setting:
Admittedly the biggest reason I liked this book was the setting. I love Japan and Japanese culture. I was really interested by all of the new phrases and Japanese customs that I learned about in this book. I also liked seeing how an outsider feels and reacts in a foreign country and how odd and strict some Eastern customs can seem to us Westerners. I also thought that the idea of a novel set in Japan during Vietnam with references to World War II was really original, and I liked the way the author mixed the pasts together. I know a lot of people wanted more of the novel to take place in World War II, and I agree that this may have been interesting. However, I found the way the Japanese reacted to the Vietnam War and how unsure Barbara felt about the war to be very interesting as well.
Characters
I know that the characters are some people's problem with the book, and as stated above I can understand why. They annoyed me a bit too, especially near the end of the novel. Yet, even when they frustrated me I found them compelling. I am very much a character reader and this is the mark of a good book to me: do I care at all for the characters? In this case, the answer was a resounding yes. I cared thoroughly about all of the characters from Barbara to Michi to Seiji to Mrs. Ueda to Rie. I wanted to know how all of their stories were going to unfold.
Symbolism:
I really enjoyed the symbolism involved with the foxes and the plum wine. I felt it was beautifully written. Here is my interpretation of the main symbols.
Plot
I loved the way that present and past were interwoven so expertly and how they tied together. I liked hearing about both Vietnam and World War II from a Japanese perspective. I thought that the romance was also very engaging, and I really felt for both of the main characters. However, I do have a quick bone to pick with the ending, which is the reason this book went from four to 3.5 stars. Other than that little complaint, I found the plot to be really amazing.
So, in short, I understand why this book generally isn't rated very highly, but I just don't care.
October 7, 2009
I found this book at a library sale. I enjoy getting books I have never heard of at library sales, maybe partly because of the risk involved. It sounded good: a suspense novel about a young American woman teaching in Japan. Lee Smith called it “memorable” on the cover. I like reading about foreign settings. I myself applied to teach for a year in Japan once, and ended up teaching for a year in France.
In this book review I must be diligent to apply John Updike’s six rules for reviewers, which are well worth reading and following.
Plum Wine is not the book I hoped it would be. It has many merits, such as describing the effects of the atomic bomb on the people who lived in Hiroshima. I learned more than I knew about that particular experience.
The premise is intriguing: a woman who dies mysteriously and bequeaths her scroll-diaries to the American teacher Barbara, who then has to make sense of the gift. It is cute to read about the Japanese people’s efforts to pronounce her name—”Balabala.” But is the book as good as it could be, given what it is? It is hard to pin down what is lacking.
Some of the things that annoy me most about the book are actually very true to life. I was frustrated with the main character because she makes only the most meager, half-hearted efforts to learn Japanese, even though her failure to do so isolates her and magnifies all her problems. However, this seems to be very common among short-term American expatriates.
She has a superficial relationship with the people around her and doesn’t seek their guidance in very important matters. But I experienced a similar estrangement when I lived in France. It was hard for me to obtain guidance from the French people I knew. Whether it is caused by pride or by cultural barriers, this is realistic.
Barbara develops an intense devotion to a Japanese lady she seems to have known only very slightly. This seems contrived to the reader, but it is true that when you are all alone in a foreign country, you can become strongly attached to the people you are thrown together with, especially the other expatriates, without knowing much about their identity back home. We cannot blame the main character for caring deeply about someone she didn’t know very well.
Maybe the most unpleasant thing for me was reading about her unhealthy relationship with a Japanese man. Here Barbara is beginning to get to know Seiji better:
Of course he turns out to be exactly the kind of cad you sense he is in this passage, and the innocent American girl walks right into his trap. I suppose the story has been repeated over and over again around the world for centuries. It is true and lifelike, I am sure. But I felt like I was taken to a foreign country and then kept in a small room, taken out rarely to see only a few blurry scenes of that world.
In this book review I must be diligent to apply John Updike’s six rules for reviewers, which are well worth reading and following.
Plum Wine is not the book I hoped it would be. It has many merits, such as describing the effects of the atomic bomb on the people who lived in Hiroshima. I learned more than I knew about that particular experience.
The premise is intriguing: a woman who dies mysteriously and bequeaths her scroll-diaries to the American teacher Barbara, who then has to make sense of the gift. It is cute to read about the Japanese people’s efforts to pronounce her name—”Balabala.” But is the book as good as it could be, given what it is? It is hard to pin down what is lacking.
Some of the things that annoy me most about the book are actually very true to life. I was frustrated with the main character because she makes only the most meager, half-hearted efforts to learn Japanese, even though her failure to do so isolates her and magnifies all her problems. However, this seems to be very common among short-term American expatriates.
She has a superficial relationship with the people around her and doesn’t seek their guidance in very important matters. But I experienced a similar estrangement when I lived in France. It was hard for me to obtain guidance from the French people I knew. Whether it is caused by pride or by cultural barriers, this is realistic.
Barbara develops an intense devotion to a Japanese lady she seems to have known only very slightly. This seems contrived to the reader, but it is true that when you are all alone in a foreign country, you can become strongly attached to the people you are thrown together with, especially the other expatriates, without knowing much about their identity back home. We cannot blame the main character for caring deeply about someone she didn’t know very well.
Maybe the most unpleasant thing for me was reading about her unhealthy relationship with a Japanese man. Here Barbara is beginning to get to know Seiji better:
“Would you be interested to see my new work?”
She followed him into the pottery. There were several pieces laid out on a table. All of them had a jagged, unfinished look, a primal quality. “I have made by hand instead of on wheel,” he said as she touched the sharp edges.
“They’re powerful,” she said. “Strongly emotional.”
“Perhaps because I think of you as I make them,” he said. She took his hand and kissed it; he’d never expressed his feelings so openly before.
Of course he turns out to be exactly the kind of cad you sense he is in this passage, and the innocent American girl walks right into his trap. I suppose the story has been repeated over and over again around the world for centuries. It is true and lifelike, I am sure. But I felt like I was taken to a foreign country and then kept in a small room, taken out rarely to see only a few blurry scenes of that world.
February 25, 2015
I thoroughly enjoyed this read. It's set in the 60's and is written in the point of view of a Tokyo university teacher, an American newbie to Japan, named Barbara. She lives in Hiroshima and while she pursues a mystery she also slowly uncovers the human legacy of the horrific day the bomb was dropped.
Barbara receives a shocking bequest. After a colleague, who'd welcome and supported her in the university job, suddenly dies, Barbara receives, at her mentor's stipulation, a chest filled with bottles of homemade plum wine. When she unwraps the rice paper wrapped around a bottle, Barbara discovers calligraphy covers it. Each subsequent bottle also--one writing for each of the last two decades of her friend's life. Barbara's quest to understand these writings and why them came to her usher her into a new world.
To portrayals of Japan, I bring a critic's eyes, evaluating it by my own knowledge of that land and culture since I have close ties there and lived a six year stint there. Davis-Gardner's portrayal of the Japanese way of thinking and relationships delighted me with its accuracy and warmth. Its descriptive language brought back my admiration for the Japanese aesthetic and sated my hunger for evocative language. Playful passages triggered my laughter. Suspense kept me excitedly reading onwards: what would the writing on these plum wine bottles reveal? And how will Barbara's infatuation with a young Japanese man play out?
The protagonist rang true to me, her longings, curiosity and missteps. The loneliness and confusion that overwhelms her I also experienced. The author portrays well what it's like to live in a foreign land, especially where the ideals and the values lived by differ from the typical Westerner's. Work takes priority over relationships. A man's relationship his mother taking priority over a spouse or lover. And,in a world unknown to us Americans, the reader experiences through Barbara's encounters, the shame and sadness experienced by survivors of Hiroshima.
Barbara receives a shocking bequest. After a colleague, who'd welcome and supported her in the university job, suddenly dies, Barbara receives, at her mentor's stipulation, a chest filled with bottles of homemade plum wine. When she unwraps the rice paper wrapped around a bottle, Barbara discovers calligraphy covers it. Each subsequent bottle also--one writing for each of the last two decades of her friend's life. Barbara's quest to understand these writings and why them came to her usher her into a new world.
To portrayals of Japan, I bring a critic's eyes, evaluating it by my own knowledge of that land and culture since I have close ties there and lived a six year stint there. Davis-Gardner's portrayal of the Japanese way of thinking and relationships delighted me with its accuracy and warmth. Its descriptive language brought back my admiration for the Japanese aesthetic and sated my hunger for evocative language. Playful passages triggered my laughter. Suspense kept me excitedly reading onwards: what would the writing on these plum wine bottles reveal? And how will Barbara's infatuation with a young Japanese man play out?
The protagonist rang true to me, her longings, curiosity and missteps. The loneliness and confusion that overwhelms her I also experienced. The author portrays well what it's like to live in a foreign land, especially where the ideals and the values lived by differ from the typical Westerner's. Work takes priority over relationships. A man's relationship his mother taking priority over a spouse or lover. And,in a world unknown to us Americans, the reader experiences through Barbara's encounters, the shame and sadness experienced by survivors of Hiroshima.
July 24, 2012
Set in Japan in the 1960's, this story follows an American woman who is teaching English. She inherits a set of plum wine bottles from a colleague who passes away, and must unfold the mystery surrounding that colleague. In the meanwhile, she has a love affair and learns about the after-effects of the atomic bombings at the end of WWWII. I loved this book! Of course, I love historical fiction. This book taught me a lot about post-WWII Japan, but it was filled with interesting characters and a great story. The cultural references are deep and seem to be thoroughly-researched. You may not enjoy the ending of the story, but it seemed truthful. The protagonist is a strong, intelligent woman, given the setting of the 60's. I highly recommend it to any of my friends who enjoy historical fiction.
June 16, 2014
I really, really enjoyed this book. It was such a great find for me, being that I go nuts for stories about Japan, especially about Americans in Japan. This one took place in the 1960's. The main character, Barbara, gets involved with Seiji, a potter who survived the Hiroshima bombing. It's very romantic (and I bet I would totally pull a Barbara in the same situation), but despite some pretty solid clues from Sieji that he will ultimately flake out on Barbs, she keeps on falling in love with her tragically romantic potter. I just loved all the Japanese stuff, it was all so believable, not corny at all. I did want to smash a pottery bowl over Seiji's head by the end of this story, though. I admire Barbara's restraint.
July 17, 2014
I found the cultural aspects of this book very interesting. I found anything that had to do with Japan was well researched and beautifully written, wonderful descriptions of the country and its customs. I found out things I did not know. I did not like the main character, Barbara. A lot of the elements to her character were either unbelievable or undeveloped. I was hoping for more about her own mother/daughter relationship. It just felt like there were parts missing.
January 3, 2022
This audiobook was great.
I see many people gave the book low stars but the narrator kept my interest, probable in a way I wouldn't have if I read it. The Japanese culture was interesting.
Without saying much more, I will just say.... that ending!!!! I wanted something different!
I see many people gave the book low stars but the narrator kept my interest, probable in a way I wouldn't have if I read it. The Japanese culture was interesting.
Without saying much more, I will just say.... that ending!!!! I wanted something different!
October 22, 2022
I was initially put off that the narrator was an American living in Japan 20(ish) years after the end of WWII because it was through her that the readers receive a picture of Japan and the people who live there. This “Japan” seemed ersatz a copy of the original, a thin description resulting from our narrator’s naïveté. I wondered if this outsider’s perspective is really just the author’s limited perspective, and it may be, but it now seems to me that seeing the world, presented through this narrator’s senses, emphasizes the difficulty of understanding experiences other than our own. We may come to some understanding, whether it’s of Japanese language, calligraphy, original sin, plum wine, the experience of war, the lives of hibakusha, but there’s always more to it. Sometimes there is so much more to it that we are prevented from gaining a deeper understanding or connecting with people who have that lived understanding. That feels like a theme of the book, so the framing as a romance and a mystery works pretty well. The book is enjoyable, but everyone and everything seems to be held at a distance which resisted my complete engagement in the book. Some readers might see that as a fault of the narration. I suppose I just choose to see that as the intended experience
May 26, 2023
An interesting topic. I have read very little about Hiroshima so I learned a lot about the stigma Japanese society associated with those who survived. How tragic. Not the best writing however.
April 5, 2019
Fascinating idea with a somewhat uneven execution. Please read the synopsis before reading this review!
This book is nicely-written, rather spare, with some lovely descriptive sections scattered throughout.
It makes you feel as though something much, much more interesting than its main storyline is happening, just around a corner, if ONLY Barbara would just turn around!
Seriously. I couldn't put the book down, but I did not at all enjoy the romance between Barbara and Seiji. I rushed through those parts to get to the real meat of the story, which was Michiko's autobiography, the history of world war 2-era Japan, and, of course, the Event: the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima.
There are huge, looming questions the narrative does not satisfactorily answer. Why would a Japanese woman leave a family heirloom chest that her father built, and its contents--wines made by her grandmother, mother, and herself--to a foreigner, let alone to a white American woman? The wines, by the way, are wrapped in papers, which Michiko has written her autobiography and family history on. So, in other words, a treasure trove of deep emotional significance.
But then why would Michiko leave such things to Barbara, who does not speak or read Japanese?
Why does the narrative have to continually remind us the two were close? Because the story TELLS us that constantly. Because apparently, Michiko didn't tell Barbara much about herself--not that she had a daughter who was mentally handicapped, nor that her daughter's health issues were caused by radiation exposure, and certainly not that she, herself, had survived the bombing of Hiroshima. I ended up drawing the conclusion that this was a somewhat lopsided friendship; maybe Barbara liked telling Michiko everything, but either never asked for any information in turn, or never listened, if Michiko tried to tell her anything.
The "romance" between Barbara and Seiji, the love interest, made me deeply anxious. Seiji is dishonest with Barbara almost from the start; red flags start cropping up around him almost immediately. When Seiji becomes petulant and starts trying to tell her which pages he wants to translate, Barbara goes to a more reputable translator, and learns some interesting things. Still, Barbara pushes on with asking Seiji to translate the pages, as a way to get close to him, and to avoid hurting his feelings...even going so far as to have him re-translate things the honest, reliable translator has already done.
When he suggested she move the tansu into the apartment he rented for them to be alone in (!!!) I was actively freaking out. The book is set in the 1960s; you didn't just casually shack up back then.
But while I was wringing my hands over her reputation and her job, and why he was trying so hard to get the tansu and its contents out of her apartment and away from her, she was blithely tripping off to work, thinking about grading her students' papers and how to slip away from her neighbors and her bosses to go fool around with him!
Of course she discovers that Seiji has been only selectively translating things, omitting things at-will because he thinks she doesn't need to know them. I have no idea why the author made the characters get back together after she made that discovery; Seiji is always standoffish, secretive, and often domineering--even Barbara points this out! Even after getting an explanation for his behavior, it only solidified my dislike of him. Why Barbara, a woman who seems desperate for emotional connection, would continue to lavish energy on a man as closed-off and dishonest as Seiji is beyond me.
Meanwhile, there is a rich cast of secondary female characters, all waiting for exploration. I hoped that the Seiji episode would end, and there would be more exploration of the interesting female characters mentioned. The students Hiroko, Junko, and Rie were all fascinating; Junko with her tragic romantic arc is deserving of a real subplot, and not just the few scraps of notes the author leaves her. Rie's story would stand as an excellent book on its own, and her chapters in the story were exciting--I always wanted more.
Her interactions with Rie, in regards to the Vietnam war, were also fascinating. But Barbara, by that point too buried in her feelings of hurt after her breakup with Seiji, either can't, or won't, even ask questions about the war and what Rie knows about it. Again, this just served to make her seem rather vacuous and ridiculous.
She gingerly tiptoes around the issue even when it LITERALLY runs into her--there's a scene with two American soldiers on leave in Japan, from the fighting in Vietnam. It goes nowhere, but to serve as a reminder that there is an entire world contained in the narrative--or rather, obscured by it. At this point I started feeling like there really was another, more interesting story there, one I was only being allowed to see in tiny glimpses through the story as it was.
The genuinely frustrating thing is, when the novel isn't trying to be a secretive romance between a naive teacher and an artist with a secret, it has some really lovely descriptive moments. These come as islands of respite in a narrative that otherwise draws you along on its anxious quest to do...something. You will pass through these sections, and miss them when they are gone.
By contrast, when Seiji returned, I felt nothing but annoyance; her forgiving him did not make sense, nor did her continuing a relationship with him after figuring out how he and Michiko were connected.
I'd begun to question whether he ever had genuine feelings for her. His insistence that he was unable to love, along with his family--and literally EVERYONE ELSE--constantly warning Barbara about him, made me seriously dislike him. I felt more frustrated by their relationship than anything else. I think we were meant to see her as having a contrary nature, with her stubborn choice to continue seeing him, despite everyone's warnings; but it really just made her seem kind of like an airhead who ignored danger signals about a man just because he was a Tortured Artist With a Dark, Secret Past.
Of course, she finds out he's been modifying and even destroying some of Michiko's papers, and that's when she finally seems to come to her senses. But by that point I felt everything had been ruined; who knows how much of Michiko's life story he burned or tore up or threw away, because it brought back up painful memories for him, or because he was embarrassed or ashamed? We don't know! What we DO know is, at one point, late in the story, there's a memorial lantern boat festival, and Barbara realizes--too late to do anything--that he has put more of Michiko's papers into her memorial lantern to burn. Does Barbara get angry and confront Seiji about this? Nah. Just remarks, "You never told me..." and watches the lantern boat float away on the water.
The narrative presents Seiji's dishonesty with a sort of defeated gesture, as if to imply that Barbara didn't put her foot down or completely leave him because she can't. Because of Plot. Or something.
The end of the story also dragged out in a way that I felt didn't help. Why did they meet that final time? It wasn't satisfying at all, and resolved nothing.
As I said earlier, though--you get the feeling, throughout the book, that if Barbara had just turned around and done anything else besides running after Seiji, something better might have happened. I wish the romance had been one chapter and done; it would have greatly improved the story.
This book is nicely-written, rather spare, with some lovely descriptive sections scattered throughout.
It makes you feel as though something much, much more interesting than its main storyline is happening, just around a corner, if ONLY Barbara would just turn around!
Seriously. I couldn't put the book down, but I did not at all enjoy the romance between Barbara and Seiji. I rushed through those parts to get to the real meat of the story, which was Michiko's autobiography, the history of world war 2-era Japan, and, of course, the Event: the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima.
There are huge, looming questions the narrative does not satisfactorily answer. Why would a Japanese woman leave a family heirloom chest that her father built, and its contents--wines made by her grandmother, mother, and herself--to a foreigner, let alone to a white American woman? The wines, by the way, are wrapped in papers, which Michiko has written her autobiography and family history on. So, in other words, a treasure trove of deep emotional significance.
But then why would Michiko leave such things to Barbara, who does not speak or read Japanese?
Why does the narrative have to continually remind us the two were close? Because the story TELLS us that constantly. Because apparently, Michiko didn't tell Barbara much about herself--not that she had a daughter who was mentally handicapped, nor that her daughter's health issues were caused by radiation exposure, and certainly not that she, herself, had survived the bombing of Hiroshima. I ended up drawing the conclusion that this was a somewhat lopsided friendship; maybe Barbara liked telling Michiko everything, but either never asked for any information in turn, or never listened, if Michiko tried to tell her anything.
The "romance" between Barbara and Seiji, the love interest, made me deeply anxious. Seiji is dishonest with Barbara almost from the start; red flags start cropping up around him almost immediately. When Seiji becomes petulant and starts trying to tell her which pages he wants to translate, Barbara goes to a more reputable translator, and learns some interesting things. Still, Barbara pushes on with asking Seiji to translate the pages, as a way to get close to him, and to avoid hurting his feelings...even going so far as to have him re-translate things the honest, reliable translator has already done.
When he suggested she move the tansu into the apartment he rented for them to be alone in (!!!) I was actively freaking out. The book is set in the 1960s; you didn't just casually shack up back then.
But while I was wringing my hands over her reputation and her job, and why he was trying so hard to get the tansu and its contents out of her apartment and away from her, she was blithely tripping off to work, thinking about grading her students' papers and how to slip away from her neighbors and her bosses to go fool around with him!
Of course she discovers that Seiji has been only selectively translating things, omitting things at-will because he thinks she doesn't need to know them. I have no idea why the author made the characters get back together after she made that discovery; Seiji is always standoffish, secretive, and often domineering--even Barbara points this out! Even after getting an explanation for his behavior, it only solidified my dislike of him. Why Barbara, a woman who seems desperate for emotional connection, would continue to lavish energy on a man as closed-off and dishonest as Seiji is beyond me.
Meanwhile, there is a rich cast of secondary female characters, all waiting for exploration. I hoped that the Seiji episode would end, and there would be more exploration of the interesting female characters mentioned. The students Hiroko, Junko, and Rie were all fascinating; Junko with her tragic romantic arc is deserving of a real subplot, and not just the few scraps of notes the author leaves her. Rie's story would stand as an excellent book on its own, and her chapters in the story were exciting--I always wanted more.
Her interactions with Rie, in regards to the Vietnam war, were also fascinating. But Barbara, by that point too buried in her feelings of hurt after her breakup with Seiji, either can't, or won't, even ask questions about the war and what Rie knows about it. Again, this just served to make her seem rather vacuous and ridiculous.
She gingerly tiptoes around the issue even when it LITERALLY runs into her--there's a scene with two American soldiers on leave in Japan, from the fighting in Vietnam. It goes nowhere, but to serve as a reminder that there is an entire world contained in the narrative--or rather, obscured by it. At this point I started feeling like there really was another, more interesting story there, one I was only being allowed to see in tiny glimpses through the story as it was.
The genuinely frustrating thing is, when the novel isn't trying to be a secretive romance between a naive teacher and an artist with a secret, it has some really lovely descriptive moments. These come as islands of respite in a narrative that otherwise draws you along on its anxious quest to do...something. You will pass through these sections, and miss them when they are gone.
By contrast, when Seiji returned, I felt nothing but annoyance; her forgiving him did not make sense, nor did her continuing a relationship with him after figuring out how he and Michiko were connected.
I'd begun to question whether he ever had genuine feelings for her. His insistence that he was unable to love, along with his family--and literally EVERYONE ELSE--constantly warning Barbara about him, made me seriously dislike him. I felt more frustrated by their relationship than anything else. I think we were meant to see her as having a contrary nature, with her stubborn choice to continue seeing him, despite everyone's warnings; but it really just made her seem kind of like an airhead who ignored danger signals about a man just because he was a Tortured Artist With a Dark, Secret Past.
Of course, she finds out he's been modifying and even destroying some of Michiko's papers, and that's when she finally seems to come to her senses. But by that point I felt everything had been ruined; who knows how much of Michiko's life story he burned or tore up or threw away, because it brought back up painful memories for him, or because he was embarrassed or ashamed? We don't know! What we DO know is, at one point, late in the story, there's a memorial lantern boat festival, and Barbara realizes--too late to do anything--that he has put more of Michiko's papers into her memorial lantern to burn. Does Barbara get angry and confront Seiji about this? Nah. Just remarks, "You never told me..." and watches the lantern boat float away on the water.
The narrative presents Seiji's dishonesty with a sort of defeated gesture, as if to imply that Barbara didn't put her foot down or completely leave him because she can't. Because of Plot. Or something.
The end of the story also dragged out in a way that I felt didn't help. Why did they meet that final time? It wasn't satisfying at all, and resolved nothing.
As I said earlier, though--you get the feeling, throughout the book, that if Barbara had just turned around and done anything else besides running after Seiji, something better might have happened. I wish the romance had been one chapter and done; it would have greatly improved the story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 20, 2008
American teacher teaching at a university in Japan is left a chest by her seragate mother, a fellow teacher who died.
The chest contains 20 bottles of homemade plum wine, each bottle wrapped in sheets of rice paper "covered w/ elegant
calligraphy" each bottle dated - one for each of the last 20years. American teacher searches for someone to translate
the writings....finds a man who makes pottery. They fall in love..........
I could not like either of them....shallow people, shallow relationship. The other character did not grab me. I sometime did that "tttsssss sound thru my teeth. The dialogue is simple and choppy. Her stuggle to use a Japanese
speaking English...is sometimes like watching an elementary
school play.
Touching on Japanese culture, the before, during and after
Hiroshima and the after effects gave rich material, however,
not well written. I only finished the book, because it was a book club book, and I want to see if I missed anything.
*book club RESULTS of approx. 12 people about half enjoyed the book some thought the romance lovely, liked the characters.. The discuss was interesting...the meaning of the foxes....a lot of discussion of War...and using the Atom bomb..We all shared a bottle of plum wine.
The chest contains 20 bottles of homemade plum wine, each bottle wrapped in sheets of rice paper "covered w/ elegant
calligraphy" each bottle dated - one for each of the last 20years. American teacher searches for someone to translate
the writings....finds a man who makes pottery. They fall in love..........
I could not like either of them....shallow people, shallow relationship. The other character did not grab me. I sometime did that "tttsssss sound thru my teeth. The dialogue is simple and choppy. Her stuggle to use a Japanese
speaking English...is sometimes like watching an elementary
school play.
Touching on Japanese culture, the before, during and after
Hiroshima and the after effects gave rich material, however,
not well written. I only finished the book, because it was a book club book, and I want to see if I missed anything.
*book club RESULTS of approx. 12 people about half enjoyed the book some thought the romance lovely, liked the characters.. The discuss was interesting...the meaning of the foxes....a lot of discussion of War...and using the Atom bomb..We all shared a bottle of plum wine.
July 8, 2017
Finishing this book was a challenge. I put it down several times, either because it was infuriating me or boring me.
The romance between Barbara and Seiji was messed up and disfunctional, but their relationship was the main focus of the plot. I don't care what he went through, Seiji was a selfish jerk who used her to cover up his selfish jerkiness. I wasn't too fond of Barbara, either. Yeah, Michi left the tansu chest to her, but I think Barbara took the polite reach of her inheritance a tad far. She was trying to unravel a history that was not her own, in a cultural she 'felt close to,' but ultimately did not understand. It bugged me that she just kept pushing, demanding answers.
The novel wasn't a total waste, though. I feel like I learned things about the hibakusha, survivors of Hiroshima, that I wasn't aware of before. In the sections that pertained to that, there was genuine emotion. Also, minor characters like Rie and Junko were touching; Rie's thesis on original sin actually made me think and poor Jukno with her short story come to life; but little time was devoted to them.
Overall, I had trouble connecting to the main character; I didn't care about Barbara or what happened to her. I read to the end because I hate not finishing books.
The romance between Barbara and Seiji was messed up and disfunctional, but their relationship was the main focus of the plot. I don't care what he went through, Seiji was a selfish jerk who used her to cover up his selfish jerkiness. I wasn't too fond of Barbara, either. Yeah, Michi left the tansu chest to her, but I think Barbara took the polite reach of her inheritance a tad far. She was trying to unravel a history that was not her own, in a cultural she 'felt close to,' but ultimately did not understand. It bugged me that she just kept pushing, demanding answers.
The novel wasn't a total waste, though. I feel like I learned things about the hibakusha, survivors of Hiroshima, that I wasn't aware of before. In the sections that pertained to that, there was genuine emotion. Also, minor characters like Rie and Junko were touching; Rie's thesis on original sin actually made me think and poor Jukno with her short story come to life; but little time was devoted to them.
Overall, I had trouble connecting to the main character; I didn't care about Barbara or what happened to her. I read to the end because I hate not finishing books.
April 6, 2012
The heroine of this book is an American woman living in Japan. The story depicts her life there, her relationship with a Japanese woman who recently passed away, and her relationship with a common friend. I found the story related to the ritual of the plum wine, and passing of the histories from mothers to daughters very delicate and beautiful. I love traditions and learning about this one was marvelous. The heroine finds out about this tradition while through a gift the dead woman leaves her. While all the female characters in this book (even the dead ones) were warm, fully alive characters, with lives and histories, the main male character in this book, Seiji, left a lot to be desired. His character was a lot flatter, I found him impersonal and unlikeable. Unfortunately our heroine doesn't think so, even though from the beginning he seems almost rude to her. As the book progressed I disliked him even more...and then I started to dislike her for not seeing that this man was hiding a secret (one not hard to guess)and how badly the relationship was going to end.
January 22, 2016
This Asian-American love story takes place during the 1960s and is something of a mystery / romance. Barbara Jefferson, from North Carolina, is teaching at a university in Tokyo. She is mourning the loss of her surrogate mother who left her a trunk of plum wine. Each bottle of wine is wrapped in a sleeve of rice paper that contains beautiful calligraphy messages. Barbara needs a translator to read the wine bottle messages and she meets a potter who translates and agrees to work with her. The Japanese man who agrees to help her is a survivor of Hiroshima's atomic bombing. As the two grow closer, while working together on these messages, a serious relationship develops. There are secrets and lies that damage trust and times I wanted to warn Barbara about getting too involved. This is a good story for group discussion, historical study and learning about traditions in Japanese culture. Not the traditional romance.
September 2, 2013
As I am "weeding" books I came across one where I had written in the cover the year read and my review. This book introduced me to the concept of aware (with an accent over the e) meaning "graceful sorrow". This novel deals with the horrific legacy of Hiroshima. There were numerous themes that would make for good discussion in a book group. Initially I struggled with the ranking and wanted to give it a 3.5. So much for indecisiveness.
September 7, 2009
I really enjoyed the stark reality of the romance in this book. It captured emotions while not putting love on a pedestal. The backgrounds of the aftermath of Hiroshima and the Japanese culture were both intriguing and I would recommend it to anyone who likes a good story.
February 21, 2010
very good story, learned alot about hiroshima and japanese custom. i had mostly been reading chinese genre and this was a different view. highly recommend this book!!
Read
September 20, 2020Quite a wonderful read.
March 9, 2020
Well-researched, beautifully written story set in Japan about a young woman traveling in the historical footsteps of her mother who trekked through Japan as a foreign correspondent prior to World War II. Our heroine, Barbara Jefferson, is an American teacher abroad in Japan in 1966. We meet her on the day she receives a 'bequeathal' from a fellow professor, Michiko "Michi" Nakamoto, who has recently died. This inheritance serves as the focal point of the novel--all characters are revealed or exposed by the contents of the Tansu. Even the simple act of accepting the box comes with the understanding that it is to be honored in its placement in Barbara's room:
"Barbara settled the wine chest against the south wall of the bedroom so that it would be near her head when she slept. She adopted the Japanese superstition that only the dead sleep facing north." P. 10
The simple wooden box contains more than the Plum Wine for which the book is named; each bottle contains the hopes and sorrows wrapped with annual letters written from mother to daughter recording family dramas through the decades before and after the tragedy of Hiroshima.
There are many bottles, dated from 1930 to 1965--a year before the beginning of this story. There is a gap in the alcoholic histories:
"Barbara drew the curtains and sat beside the tansu. The wines were arranged in reverse chronological order, right to left, like a Japanese text. There were no wines for the years 1943-1948; the gap was filled with crumpled paper. The oldest wine in the bottom was dated 1930. Michi-san had been in her early forties when she died; she would have been quite a young girl in 1930, too young to make wine."
The many threads of story line bounce between the 'current day' of 1966 Japan where Barbara unwraps her puzzles to learn about the family history of her departed friend, a past revealed by the letters. Along this journey, we are vaguely introduced to three of Barbara's students, with secrets of their own. But these are bit players on the stage that is the box of plum wine narratives.
Barbara is grieving her friend and eager to explore the letters, however she is unable to read Kanji--the Japanese pictographic calligraphy--and she meets a man, Seiji Okada, at "Michi Nakamota's funeral. He introduces himself as a former pupil of Sensei Nakamoto and when he learns of the letters Barbara has, he offers to help her translate them.
part of the novel sings of the mystery of a grandmother--accused of being a Kitsune for giving birth to a daughter in an unlucky year. Allow me to explain the significance of that allegation.
Barbara also has one item brought with her from America that bears a similarly significant history--a Japanese artwork depicting a Kitsune--a folkloric character of a woman with the head of a fox:
"When Michi had first seen the painting--a woman in a kimono with flowing hair and the head of a fox--she exclaimed, "Where have you found this?" Barbara explained that it was given to her mother by a Japanese man who said she must be a fox in human form, she was so bewitching with her long blond hair.
"This is an interesting coincidence," Michi said. "My mother claimed an ability to comprehend the language of foxes. There are many stories of fox women in Japan. I think this one illustrates the fox woman leaving her child." p. 11
As the novel progresses, we learn that being a fox woman is not complimentary--it is used to describe sly women, women who practice deceit, or who aren't entirely human in nature. It is very easy in superstitious households to spread rumors of who is a Kitsune and should be banished or worse as a consequence. There is a charm to the way in which the mystical intertwines with the historical--and a blur at the edges of understanding between Western sensibility and old-world Japanese beliefs.
"Barbara settled the wine chest against the south wall of the bedroom so that it would be near her head when she slept. She adopted the Japanese superstition that only the dead sleep facing north." P. 10
The simple wooden box contains more than the Plum Wine for which the book is named; each bottle contains the hopes and sorrows wrapped with annual letters written from mother to daughter recording family dramas through the decades before and after the tragedy of Hiroshima.
There are many bottles, dated from 1930 to 1965--a year before the beginning of this story. There is a gap in the alcoholic histories:
"Barbara drew the curtains and sat beside the tansu. The wines were arranged in reverse chronological order, right to left, like a Japanese text. There were no wines for the years 1943-1948; the gap was filled with crumpled paper. The oldest wine in the bottom was dated 1930. Michi-san had been in her early forties when she died; she would have been quite a young girl in 1930, too young to make wine."
The many threads of story line bounce between the 'current day' of 1966 Japan where Barbara unwraps her puzzles to learn about the family history of her departed friend, a past revealed by the letters. Along this journey, we are vaguely introduced to three of Barbara's students, with secrets of their own. But these are bit players on the stage that is the box of plum wine narratives.
Barbara is grieving her friend and eager to explore the letters, however she is unable to read Kanji--the Japanese pictographic calligraphy--and she meets a man, Seiji Okada, at "Michi Nakamota's funeral. He introduces himself as a former pupil of Sensei Nakamoto and when he learns of the letters Barbara has, he offers to help her translate them.
part of the novel sings of the mystery of a grandmother--accused of being a Kitsune for giving birth to a daughter in an unlucky year. Allow me to explain the significance of that allegation.
Barbara also has one item brought with her from America that bears a similarly significant history--a Japanese artwork depicting a Kitsune--a folkloric character of a woman with the head of a fox:
"When Michi had first seen the painting--a woman in a kimono with flowing hair and the head of a fox--she exclaimed, "Where have you found this?" Barbara explained that it was given to her mother by a Japanese man who said she must be a fox in human form, she was so bewitching with her long blond hair.
"This is an interesting coincidence," Michi said. "My mother claimed an ability to comprehend the language of foxes. There are many stories of fox women in Japan. I think this one illustrates the fox woman leaving her child." p. 11
As the novel progresses, we learn that being a fox woman is not complimentary--it is used to describe sly women, women who practice deceit, or who aren't entirely human in nature. It is very easy in superstitious households to spread rumors of who is a Kitsune and should be banished or worse as a consequence. There is a charm to the way in which the mystical intertwines with the historical--and a blur at the edges of understanding between Western sensibility and old-world Japanese beliefs.
February 16, 2025
The story takes place in Japan during the 19602. Barbara is an American who has come to teach English in Japan partly because her mother worked as a journalist in Japan during WWII. Soon after her arrival in Japan, Barbara developed a strong filial bond towards a Japanese woman, Michiko. The book starts after Michiko's sudden death leaves Barbara in possession of a portable cupboard full of jars of plum wine, each of which is wrapped in paper. Since she cannot read Japanese, Barbara finds a local, Seiji, who is a potter by trade, to translate these strange manuscripts. Their mutual attraction results in an affair which they have to keep secret as it is frown upon by Barbara's employers, and Japanese society in general. But Barbara soon realizes that Seiji is very selective in what he chooses to translate, and behind his back she has the passages he omits translated by somebody else. Through these texts, Barbara discovers that she knew almost nothing about Michiko. The texts cover not only Michiko's own life but also her mother's and her grand-mother's. The most salient fact about Michiko herself is that she was in Hiroshima the day the atomic bomb fell, and as a result the baby she was carrying at the time was born severely handicapped. Michiko's death followed her daughter's, and could have been a suicide. Michiko and Seiji, also a Hiroshima survivor, were in a relationship but Seiji was too much of a coward to marry her given the stigma attached to all the atomic bomb victims. I never knew that Japanese society had treated them as pariahs but in fact I wasn't too surprised since I was aware that lepers and even twins were ostracized in Japan until fairly recently. Japan is a wonderful country in many ways but full of discriminations against all sorts of vulnerable people.
Anyway, this author does a good job of showing how a sensitive American tries to come to terms with the legacy of the American bombing of Hiroshima while following the unfolding of America's ghastly involvement in Vietnam. I wasn't captivated by the obviously ill-fated love affair between Barbara and Seiji, but found it was a reasonably clever mechanism for the writer to convey her findings on Japanese culture and the causes for misunderstandings between Westerners and Japanese people.
Anyway, this author does a good job of showing how a sensitive American tries to come to terms with the legacy of the American bombing of Hiroshima while following the unfolding of America's ghastly involvement in Vietnam. I wasn't captivated by the obviously ill-fated love affair between Barbara and Seiji, but found it was a reasonably clever mechanism for the writer to convey her findings on Japanese culture and the causes for misunderstandings between Westerners and Japanese people.
February 14, 2020
When someone recommends and lends me a book, I feel obligated to read it. Plum Wine was lent to me by a friend and I am seeing her next week. I almost gave up around page 100, but continued. While the story got a little more interesting after that, I was not crazy about the book. The story moved slowly and I did not really care about the characters. In addition, there were many unfamiliar Japanese words. Most of the time I didn't care enought to stop and look them up, but just guessed at the meaning. In addition, various characters are referred to by multiple names and it was sometimes difficult for me to discern between the characters.
Plum Wine is the story of Barbara, an American teaching in Tokyo. Her friend, and "Japanese mother", Michi suddenly dies, leaving Barbara a chest filled with plum wine made each year. Each bottle of wine is wrapped in a document, written at the beginning of the year, documenting Michi's year. Barbara turns to a family friend of the deceased, to whom she is attracted, to help her with the translation of the documents. I thought that the story meandered and much was not resolved.
My friend told me that the author, Angela Davis-Gardner, was the 1960's political activist. Curiosity about That Angela Davis prompted my friend to buy the book. However, looking at the author's website, I see that this is incorrect. Angela Davis-Gardner is a different person. Should I tell my friend?
Plum Wine is the story of Barbara, an American teaching in Tokyo. Her friend, and "Japanese mother", Michi suddenly dies, leaving Barbara a chest filled with plum wine made each year. Each bottle of wine is wrapped in a document, written at the beginning of the year, documenting Michi's year. Barbara turns to a family friend of the deceased, to whom she is attracted, to help her with the translation of the documents. I thought that the story meandered and much was not resolved.
My friend told me that the author, Angela Davis-Gardner, was the 1960's political activist. Curiosity about That Angela Davis prompted my friend to buy the book. However, looking at the author's website, I see that this is incorrect. Angela Davis-Gardner is a different person. Should I tell my friend?
January 12, 2021
This story seems to have two threads going through it: one in Barbara's life with Seiji and one, more interesting thread, detailing Michi's life and her family. I found Barbara to be boring and stuck in place However, I found I was quite interested in the parts detailing the impact of the nuclear bomb and the effects it had on the survivors of that event. The most absorbing parts of this book were the translated texts, which I loved reading through, and Barbara's interactions with literally anybody but Seiji. I also do quite enjoy the symbol of a fox lady and foxes woven through the book.
One final note: the reader in this book is reminded at every corner this book is set in Japan, almost to an absurd amount. This may sound like a ridiculous gripe for a book set in Japan and concerning Japanese history but surely not every tree in Japan is a plum/cherry blossom/pine tree (and not every Japanese person survives on a diet of tea & rice). However, while I felt hit over the head with the "exotic-ness" of the setting at every turn, this also did lead to some gorgeously scenic passages about nature.
One final note: the reader in this book is reminded at every corner this book is set in Japan, almost to an absurd amount. This may sound like a ridiculous gripe for a book set in Japan and concerning Japanese history but surely not every tree in Japan is a plum/cherry blossom/pine tree (and not every Japanese person survives on a diet of tea & rice). However, while I felt hit over the head with the "exotic-ness" of the setting at every turn, this also did lead to some gorgeously scenic passages about nature.
May 16, 2021
I very much enjoyed the historical backdrop of this story and learning more about the Michi's family history, however, I could never get fully invested in the romance between Barbara and Seiji, which is why I am giving it three stars. To me, it just felt like their relationship was never fully fleshed out. Barbara loves Seiji, yes, and finds him very attractive, but there just didn't appear to be much emotional depth written into the relationship which is unfortunate because their relationship last for several months and we spend a lot of time with these two characters.
Ultimately, it felt like a large theme of this story was mother-daughter love and generational trauma. However, I feel like this theme was not explored to it's full extent, as much of the focus of the book is on the romance between Barbara and Seiji. I think I would have enjoyed this book much more if the majority of the book was focused on Barbara's relationship with Michi (with more flashbacks showing their time together) and her relationship with her own mother, with Barbara ultimately coming to peace with Michi's death and her own mother's aloofness.
Overall though, this was an easy read with good pacing and nice dialogue.
Ultimately, it felt like a large theme of this story was mother-daughter love and generational trauma. However, I feel like this theme was not explored to it's full extent, as much of the focus of the book is on the romance between Barbara and Seiji. I think I would have enjoyed this book much more if the majority of the book was focused on Barbara's relationship with Michi (with more flashbacks showing their time together) and her relationship with her own mother, with Barbara ultimately coming to peace with Michi's death and her own mother's aloofness.
Overall though, this was an easy read with good pacing and nice dialogue.
November 7, 2019
Three Stars, but three good stars. This book is not exceptionally well written - very short, staccato sentences and lots of gaps in the storytelling. However, the setting, the myriad of Japanese traditions and myths and ways of living revealed are so interesting! This almost reads like a translation gone flat. I felt like there could have been much more fleshing out of the story - the relationship of Barbara and her own mother for example. It just sort of scratched the surface on what could have been much more emotional. Also, a very abrupt ending. Maybe the style was meant to augment the formal nature of the Japanese and their culture - maybe it was fitting. The mystery of why Barbara's new boyfriend was so distant was disappointing and in what transpired later. But, if you are interested to learn about the fox, about what the frog really is saying, about extreme loyalty and guilt, this might be of interest. Now, I am off to find a glass of wine!!! Just not made of plums.......
September 21, 2017
The painful story of three generations of Japanese women before and after the atom bomb dropped on them made for a page-turner that was so well written it just flowed like the plum wine passed down through these women's lives to an American there in 1966, and there only temporarily. Barbara is happy for the chest of plum wine in bottles wrapped in rice paper holding Michi's diary on the underside that Michi left to her before unexpectedly dying in the night. For from that rice paper, Barbara learns what being gossiped about as a "fox-woman" can do to a whole family's life, how a daughter can yearn, how a mother can long, how love blossoms over and over, and how lives are shaped by events. I was powerfully moved by this book, so well written and with so many powerful events and insights and such beautiful descriptions of the Japan I miss so much. A re-read for sure!
September 11, 2020
The premise of this book looked very promising. I kept reading hoping that the 'secrets' and 'mystery' would be worth the wait. It was interesting, but this story could have been told in about half the pages. The main character is so co-dependent you want to yell at her most of the time, and the 'love-interest' is clearly a damaged individual, for good reason, but not relationship material and obviously so. I just couldn't buy in to it. In fact the story dragged due to several instances of his 'no-show' behavior. Felt a little soap opera-ish in the "make them wait" sort of way.
However, I did like it enough to finish and learned some interesting aspects of life for survivors of Hiroshima - for example hiding that they were there, and that they feel ashamed. Pretty different from a Western mind-set in my opinion.
Oh, and enough about foxes already.
However, I did like it enough to finish and learned some interesting aspects of life for survivors of Hiroshima - for example hiding that they were there, and that they feel ashamed. Pretty different from a Western mind-set in my opinion.
Oh, and enough about foxes already.
June 2, 2017
This was a slow-paced novel, but still held my attention. I believe it's the first novel I've ever read about Hiroshima bombing survivors, and the author takes an interesting perspective. The main character is a young American woman who is teaching English in Japan during the late sixties, about twenty years after the bombing and during the early years of American involvement in Vietnam. This makes for some interesting parallels and conflicts. The main character seems to be as much of a conduit for telling the stories of the Hiroshima survivors as a character herself, and although this distanced me somewhat from the Hiroshima survivors' stories, it also felt authentic. I didn't love this book, but I appreciated it very much.
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