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Of Nightingales That Weep
As a member of the emperor's court, the beautiful daughter of a samurai warrior is caught in the fight between the Genji and Heike feudal clans
170 pages, Library Binding
First published January 1, 1974
13 people are currently reading
672 people want to read
About the author
Katherine Paterson
164 books2,386 followersKatherine Womeldorf Paterson is an American writer best known for children's novels, including Bridge to Terabithia. For four different books published 1975–1980, she won two Newbery Medals and two National Book Awards. She is one of four people to win the two major international awards; for "lasting contribution to children's literature" she won the biennial Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing in 1998 and for her career contribution to "children's and young adult literature in the broadest sense" she won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award from the Swedish Arts Council in 2006, the biggest monetary prize in children's literature. Also for her body of work she was awarded the NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature in 2007 and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal from the American Library Association in 2013. She was the second US National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, serving 2010 and 2011.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 99 reviews
May 30, 2014
I didn't know how I would feel about this book. It definitely showed a lot of promise to me, since I am interested in ancient Japanese culture and this is by the author of 'Bridge to Terebithia' which is a great book. The description seemed to lack, but I thought it would be worth a try.
What I got was a boring, confusing, and downright just not very pleasant book.
The main thing that killed the book for me was the characters. They were really flat and lifeless. They had no personality whatsoever, especially the romantic interest of Takiko. None of them sparked any interest in me.
The only personality trait I could find that seemed to reside in all the characters was shallowness. EXTREME AMOUNTS OF SHALLOWNESS. A great majority of the book felt like Takiko giggling with her friends about people being ugly and stuff like that. I could forgive this if only like... one or two of the characters were like this... but all of them were. It just got tedious.
Then the romance... oh boy.
This might just be my view as I am not a believer of 'love at first sight' (literally the only reason Takiko wants to be with him is because he is hot), but the romance between them is really sporadic and really random. It had no build up, no characterization, and no dialogue.It makes no sense why they would want to be in the others company or why they would fall in love.
And yes, I know at the end he denies her for not being hot enough which proves how shallow the love was to begin with... but I don't know. I just couldn't get behind it. Everything about the romance was rushed.
Why should I care about two characters that I don't know anything back and who haven't done anything particularly likable.
Not to mention, this book is confusing as hell. There was a lot of political talk and them moving around random location and its written in such a way where I had to keep going back and rereading just to catch back up. I basically had to wing it with the political stuff. There were too many names mentioned for me to remember who was who and they never really gave us that much insight on it.
Everything in this book felt rushed and emotionless.
I will admit, the plot near the end went somewhere I didn't really expect it to go with everyone dying, but again, it was just glanced over. Takiko didn't even seem to care that her mother or stepbrother and basically everyone she cared about dying around her. She just brushes it off, which is an unrealistic emotional reaction.
And then the ending was just her marrying her step-father...which was just gross. I mean, I know that stuff like that happened back in the day... but again, it had no build up and it felt just added in....and I simply wasn't a fan.
I say, skip this book.
What I got was a boring, confusing, and downright just not very pleasant book.
The main thing that killed the book for me was the characters. They were really flat and lifeless. They had no personality whatsoever, especially the romantic interest of Takiko. None of them sparked any interest in me.
The only personality trait I could find that seemed to reside in all the characters was shallowness. EXTREME AMOUNTS OF SHALLOWNESS. A great majority of the book felt like Takiko giggling with her friends about people being ugly and stuff like that. I could forgive this if only like... one or two of the characters were like this... but all of them were. It just got tedious.
Then the romance... oh boy.
This might just be my view as I am not a believer of 'love at first sight' (literally the only reason Takiko wants to be with him is because he is hot), but the romance between them is really sporadic and really random. It had no build up, no characterization, and no dialogue.It makes no sense why they would want to be in the others company or why they would fall in love.
And yes, I know at the end he denies her for not being hot enough which proves how shallow the love was to begin with... but I don't know. I just couldn't get behind it. Everything about the romance was rushed.
Why should I care about two characters that I don't know anything back and who haven't done anything particularly likable.
Not to mention, this book is confusing as hell. There was a lot of political talk and them moving around random location and its written in such a way where I had to keep going back and rereading just to catch back up. I basically had to wing it with the political stuff. There were too many names mentioned for me to remember who was who and they never really gave us that much insight on it.
Everything in this book felt rushed and emotionless.
I will admit, the plot near the end went somewhere I didn't really expect it to go with everyone dying, but again, it was just glanced over. Takiko didn't even seem to care that her mother or stepbrother and basically everyone she cared about dying around her. She just brushes it off, which is an unrealistic emotional reaction.
And then the ending was just her marrying her step-father...which was just gross. I mean, I know that stuff like that happened back in the day... but again, it had no build up and it felt just added in....and I simply wasn't a fan.
I say, skip this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 22, 2024
I've NEVER reviewed this book?! I was freaking OBSESSED with this book in junior high! I could probably recite it from memory!
It's a lush historical tale, and just . . . sometimes I think of the cup with the nightingale under the lid and the words, "Is that the little god's name?" and just . . . chills.
It's a lush historical tale, and just . . . sometimes I think of the cup with the nightingale under the lid and the words, "Is that the little god's name?" and just . . . chills.
March 24, 2017
I extremely disliked this book, and I feel that the plot could have been portrayed in a much better way. The main character was extremely unrelatable, as she appears to be too perfect, all the while she is severely stubborn and ungrateful. I receive the impression that the author tried to force the reader into making Takiko their favorite character by making her appear as the ideal daughter. The sudden shift of Takiko's personality near the latter portion of the book (as to convey the fact that she is a "perfect" child) causes her to appear stubborn (in a negative respect), inconsiderate, and, ultimately, unreal.
Aside from Takiko's irrational personality, the author's style is too straightforward and bland for a story with an adventurous plot. Paterson wrote sentences that were too simple and short. It is understandable that short sentences can be utilized in a writing piece to foreshadow or interest the reader. However, Paterson uses short sentences in such a manner that they do not flow or capture my interest. Moreover, when she does use similes or metaphors to describe something in the book, they are either stated repeatedly or too unrelated to immediately visualize in order for the simile or metaphor to enhance the book. Overall, the similes and metaphors were poorly written.
Furthermore, the author unnecessarily describes insignificant parts of the story, while the main plot and characters were minimally described. Characters in this book were not well developed and their intentions and mindsets were not elaborated. Their personalities were dull and did not contrast; due to the lack of character development, the majority of characters in the book appeared to act and think the same way as others. Paterson could have limited her descriptions of objects or insignificant aspects of the settings and instead explained the characters. Conclusively, the book was unsatisfactory, particularly due to the scarceness of flaws in characters and the lack of description of the plot.
Aside from Takiko's irrational personality, the author's style is too straightforward and bland for a story with an adventurous plot. Paterson wrote sentences that were too simple and short. It is understandable that short sentences can be utilized in a writing piece to foreshadow or interest the reader. However, Paterson uses short sentences in such a manner that they do not flow or capture my interest. Moreover, when she does use similes or metaphors to describe something in the book, they are either stated repeatedly or too unrelated to immediately visualize in order for the simile or metaphor to enhance the book. Overall, the similes and metaphors were poorly written.
Furthermore, the author unnecessarily describes insignificant parts of the story, while the main plot and characters were minimally described. Characters in this book were not well developed and their intentions and mindsets were not elaborated. Their personalities were dull and did not contrast; due to the lack of character development, the majority of characters in the book appeared to act and think the same way as others. Paterson could have limited her descriptions of objects or insignificant aspects of the settings and instead explained the characters. Conclusively, the book was unsatisfactory, particularly due to the scarceness of flaws in characters and the lack of description of the plot.
April 28, 2017
The book was terrible. Takiko was unrelatable, stubborn, and ungrateful. Goro traveled for days to see her and try to convince Takiko to come home because her mother was ill but she put her own needs in front of them. Furthermore she was really annoying and too perfect. This book is the worst I've ever read and I do not recommend it to anyone.
October 16, 2012
I understand that this book was written in YA's infancy, when it did not know if it wanted to be a more advanced children's section, or a watered down adult section: so this little novella flickers schizophreniacally between both. At times the the descriptions and dialogue will border on juvenile, while at other times it presents ideas and concepts that are even hard for adults like rape and suicide and child murder.
The main character while at times likable in her determination, is usually bland or selfish. The story on the whole is a rags-to-riches-to-rags story, reminiscent of Memoirs of a Geisha. It deals with the wars with Japan very soullessly, even the destruction that was wreaked.
In the end it would have been an alright book, even with it's terribly weak love story, except for one thing: in the end the girl marries and gives birth to the baby of her step father because her mother and step brother are dead. EW!!!
The main character while at times likable in her determination, is usually bland or selfish. The story on the whole is a rags-to-riches-to-rags story, reminiscent of Memoirs of a Geisha. It deals with the wars with Japan very soullessly, even the destruction that was wreaked.
In the end it would have been an alright book, even with it's terribly weak love story, except for one thing: in the end the girl marries and gives birth to the baby of her step father because her mother and step brother are dead. EW!!!
August 11, 2023
Despite me saying I read it, I've only finished about half of the book because I could physically not continue reading. This book is not good, in my opinion. I started this book at the doctor, and I had to wait for a solid like 25 minutes. This book was my only entertainment. I had nothing else to do. And yet, I put the book down. I continually tried to read it but put it back down after a page. I chose to sit and stare at the ceiling rather than read the book. The plot is fine I suppose but the writing does not live up to my expectations. The back of the book also doesn't match the story, either. It's misleading. For me, it was extremely hard to follow what was happening. They threw in a random character with a bunch of detail that I didn't need. I didn't understand anything that was going on, and if I truly want to enjoy this book, I have to focus. You can't 'skim' like I usually do. You have to read every word and process it before moving on. I do not like this book, and I haven't even read the whole thing. Maybe everything wraps up in a genius ending that includes everything, but I don't see how. I would not recommend.
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May 1, 2017Welp, after decades of planning to pick this up, I finally did. I'm not at all sure what I think of it. Hard to say anything without lots of spoilers, so I'll just say I'm conflicted and not ready to leave a star rating...
Update 5/1/17: I think this book was one of the first consciously aimed at the YA genre, and as such, it was still figuring out what it was doing as YA. It really doesn't work for me. The character are mainly shallow, which I guess is part of the point of the book? While character development does happen in our main character, it occurs in the last three chapters and I don't really believe it, and that ending still disturbs me. So no star rating from me, but if you're not sure about whether or not to read this, I'd suggest a pass. If you're still curious, by all means check it out.
Update 5/1/17: I think this book was one of the first consciously aimed at the YA genre, and as such, it was still figuring out what it was doing as YA. It really doesn't work for me. The character are mainly shallow, which I guess is part of the point of the book? While character development does happen in our main character, it occurs in the last three chapters and I don't really believe it, and that ending still disturbs me. So no star rating from me, but if you're not sure about whether or not to read this, I'd suggest a pass. If you're still curious, by all means check it out.
June 3, 2014
I truly did not like this book. The characters were shallow and hard to relate to. The plot was both confusing and boring. The love between Hideo and Takiko was the second worst thing in the book. No development, no real interaction, and an unsatisfactory end made the love story (which was made out to be one of the main themes of the book)a mere side note worthy of only a handful of pages. However, the worst part was the ending when Takiko married Goro, her stepfather. First of all, despite being historically feasible, the whole situation was gross. Second, there was no precedent for the relationship! The relationship went: Takiko being frightened of Goro because of his looks ---> Takiko thinking of Goro as a father figure ---> Goro hating Takiko (for not abandoning a sick little boy to go to her perfectly fine and healthy mother which inadvertently led to the Mother and stepbrother dying from the plague) ---> Goro and Takiko living and acting like a father and daughter would ---> Takiko having Goro's baby. Does anyone else feel like there is something out of place? The change in dynamic was too abrupt and not in keeping with what we had already seen earlier in the book to be plausible. This book had a lot of potential! It could have been a rousing love story, a story about change and self-discovery, a story about loyalty and commitment, or even a story about familial love and duty. But, in the end, this book was none of these. It failed to live up to its potential.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 5, 2020
What a beautiful story about how difficulties can change beauty is and also one's perspective of beauty. The ending did get me completely by surprise and words cannot describe how wonder that feel is after reading so many books. The moral of the story is to look at the beauty and courage within and not be deceived by fools gold. Takiko went through many struggles and made many mistakes but she learns along the way how to be a beautiful person inside. She lived during the Gempei Era of Feudal Japan and her father was a samurai she looked up to for being beautiful, famous and brave. Takiko learns about loyalty, family and romantic love and grows as an individual.
September 15, 2018
This book is horrible, one of the worst I’ve ever had the misfortune to read. My review was almost 11 ½ pgs of pure rant and trying to cut it down was so much to contend with, I couldn’t even touch it for over 2 yrs. This is so atrociously bad, I wish I’d never laid eyes on it. I’ve never read such crap in all my life.
I expected this to be one of the greats, a must-read, &like Mulan. I instantly didn’t like Takiko. The author tried her hardest to make her bad, and when an author tries that hard, it’s going to work. She ensured that I HATED her. She is one of, if not the, worst characters I’ve ever read. Everything the author had her do and say was reprehensible. It’s like she wanted us to hate her. I can’t believe this was written much less published.
Takiko is 11. She thinks her maid’s stupid and all servants are stupid (they did talk crap about her dad, but still). She’s boastful and cocky. She pointed out her aunt (an adult) had no talent and never would, like she’s superior. She’s a masterful artist, couldn’t stand to be instructed by her aunt, who she considered a beginner.
Her dad was going off to war and she didn’t show 1 ounce of worry. She swelled with pride, got tired of him talking when he should be riding off to battle. Most kids would be worried about their dad getting killed, but not her. She thinks of what she can gain. The servants would admire her then. All she cared about was herself.
Her dad dies, and she says she wanted him to go and be a hero and killed him. Then later she decides she hasn’t, she’d only wanted what he wanted. Way to absolve yourself of all guilt. And a mature thought for an 11 yo..
Her aunt found a distant relative, a potter, for her mom to marry. Her mom told Takiko the news, but she’s bored because she’s not the center of attention. She’s eager to be on her way and delighted they’re leaving, doesn’t want to live with her aunt. She didn’t even care that her mom had to marry an ugly man so soon after her husband was killed in battle. Her aunt kept hugging and kissing her before she left and Takiko was impatient. She sucked.
She considers her step-dad, Goro, to be a brown creature. He’s no taller than her, has arms that hang down to his knees, eyes like slits in a face as brown as a chestnut. He’s part Korean. He says what a pretty child and goes to touch her hair and Takiko the brat shrinks away, saying “No. Don’t let it touch me” as if he’s a monster and not a person.
Her mom was stern and cold with her after, and Takiko thought she was doomed to hell, that her mom belonged to the devil or that he’s the devil and bewitched her mom. She refused to speak to the servants, because they’re part of the terrible household, and doesn’t want to eat. Her childishness ruined the story.
Goro came up to her once and she cringed. The day of the celebration Takiko bowed to him and apologized for her rudeness and called him father. He said there’s nothing to forgive—what isn’t true—and she fled to the kitchens. She should have been grateful he was so nice. She didn’t deserve it.
Goro came to her room the night of her bro’s birth, worrying that it’s going to be like him and he said if it is he’ll want to kill it. I was absolutely astounded that the author had him go so far as to say he’d want to kill his baby. Takiko thought her handsome samurai dad never got an heir, but Goro got a beautiful son so fast and it’s unfair.
He taught her pottery and when she didn’t do good he laughed and she pouted and told him not to laugh at her. He praised her work over the next months and it annoyed her because “it confirmed her fears that the pottery was less than good” because he didn’t praise her music like that. Poor u.
Takiko’s body begins to change and she’d watch her mom nursing and “something like tenderness would stir in her own young breasts.” Ew. That’s nasty. This suddenly turned into sex. ed class.
Takiko considered Ichiro to be a brat of a man-child. Funny coming from her. He goes missing and Goro finds him near the river. In crazy behavior Goro calls him a silly little fool and hits Ichiro’s legs with a switch. He tears up, but it was bad to call him a fool.
All of a sudden she’s 13 and the merchant, Kamaji, noticed how beautiful she is. He tells them they should take her to court because such beauty and talent are of the Gods. Takiko’s flattered. “If she had such beauty and such talent, wasn’t it right that she should share it?” Give her a bigger ego. Just what we needed.
She’s jealous of her brother &bored but the main reason she wants to go is because she eagerly accepts his words and needs to have it acknowledged and praised.
“But who liked her because her hair shone and her breasts made a gentle sloping line under her garments?” She needs admiration, solely for her looks, not praise from Fusa and Goro for being clever and eager, not from her mom, but from boys who’ll notice these things, and who would notice that around here? “Fusa’s clottish nephews?” Judgmental and conceited.
At the palace there was a man in the shadows who said “I find her chilled and trembling on the forest floor and fain would bear her gentle to my nest.” And Takiko, suddenly this knowing, sexual being at 13, blushed and shook. “The meaning of the couplet was self-evident, even a person as naïve to court life as she understood the poet’s intent.”
Takiko was at the temple to pray and he was there, in a monk’s robe but samurai’s top knot. He put a hand on her knee, called her a nightingale, and his hand burned through 12 layers of garments, her heart crashed through her breast and her throat was dry. Quite a reaction. I had no patience for her blossoming sexuality. He gave her a message for the princess and Takiko realized he’s an enemy Genji spy&the princess’ lover. That sucks. But she wants him to touch her. He has a warm, mannish odor of clean skin. She’s only 13. And why would she want to get with a man who’s having sex with someone?!
Takiko thinks of him, her enemy, her mistress’s lover, and felt it was a shame she didn’t even know his name! Do find out what the name of the man your mistress is sleeping with. Maybe you can share him. And she cries. Wth. YOU JUST MET HIM. It’s the 2nd time they met, the first that she’s even seen him. This was so freaking stupid.
Princess Aoi told Takiko not to love a man because love is cruel. And Takiko, the idiot, thought it was too late because she already loves, &knows how cruel it is. Make me laugh! And Takiko is just glad Aoi gave her his name, Hideo!
She wanted to leave because she’s jealous of Aoi, but she didn’t want to because she might not hear of Hideo. Instant love from a 13 yo for someone else’s man.
The Genji are coming and they flee. She’s stupid enough to be excited, like the enemy attacking the city isn’t a bad thing. In the carriage she has ample time to think of “giving herself up completely to her passion” with Hideo, him writing her a love poem and him climbing in her window…She imagined having sex with someone’s lover! And how would she even know about sex? This immature, juvenile 13 year old is by turn so childish it’s painful and then so mature it’s creepy. She giggled because her sleeves tangled around Mieko’s neck, and Lady Chujo tells her to be quiet, silly girl. Exactly. She is a silly girl.
She’s homesick—surprised, cuz she was excited to leave—and thought of her monkey father, realizing she loves him. She still called him that! Cheiko and Fusa cry when they learn Takiko left with the imperial family. She wasn’t worth it, proven when Takiko said she’d never felt more alive since she left Goro’s house. Ungrateful brat.
She taught everyone to make pottery, used water “that she as the master knew to be necessary.” How conceited. How nice the family that she’s glad to be rid of taught her skills she can use to show off and be superior. It’s important to be more beautiful, sing and play better, and do everything better than everyone else.
She wished Hideo could see her tan and felt disloyal, because that would mean the Heike and Genji would battle and Munemori wasn’t ready. Is she really longing for the battle in which her own Heike clan would battle the Genji, so she could see the enemy?
With no warning at all, the author skipped 7 months. She wrote things that aren’t rational and are just plain wrong. Takiko was excited about the fight at the fort. She admired the colors and flags, and the cries of battle and horses were “removed and fascinating.” Any girl should be scared and worried for the men. She had her be entertained.
Takiko was annoyed when Lady Chujo grabbed her sleeve and said they’re falling back. She said the woman’s ugly face was twitching agitatedly. If this author pointed out 1 more time that someone was ugly I was going to lose it. She can’t help she has a big nose. Takiko pointed out the Heiki were only falling back in the east, reciting her dad’s battle tales—something she’s never seen. Has to be wiser than adults.
The Genji won and they had to leave on a ship. She realized Hideo was one of the Genji, “1 of those terrible horsemen who flew down the mountainside as though on the back of the War God. As though spewn from the mouth of Heaven—or Hell. Were they Gods or demons? How awful they were, how magnificent!” Wtf. I tried to keep it together, but this dumb*** admired the enemy force who killed her OWN PEOPLE. I can’t fathom such stupidity. She prayed the loudest with the women to cover her traitorous heart.
She has no respect for elders, snaps at royals and contradicts them. She forgave the instrument its lack of perfection. How nice of her. General Munemori isn’t as fat as he was last year, but he’s still fat with a hanging stomach and rotten teeth. She’s repulsed which is understandable. His retainer gives her a note: “Upon my exile shines a crescent moon, let me find comfort in its golden rays.” She shouts for Meiko and throws it at her. They both think it’s bad and it was actually funny when she thinks of writing back: “The crescent moon looks down upon the fatted goose, and all her warmth turns cold.”
Hideo came when she was in the garden and she actually considered him the enemy. She burns at his touch, and thought his whisper was more exciting than his low voice, so it was ruined. He said it will be over and they can forget about clan and emperor and wraps his hand around her body. She wonders must he torture her so? Major eye roll. He asks how many men are there and she doesn’t answer. He says “Give me a few minutes. Let me get halfway up the hill. Then call anyone you like.”
Hideo tells her he doesn’t want his death on her hands and by the Gods he couldn’t bear to take hers. How dramatic. She called the guards when he was up the hill but no one believed her because he was gone. She bore the humiliation and is glad no one believed her, thought she did her duty as Heike. She for some reason thinks she did something heroic by being willing to betray the life of a stranger over her clan and emperor..Not quite. She waited for him to get away like he told her to.
Munemori didn’t want her because she’s hysterical and lost her favor. She lost her audience and tossed her hair, questioning what they know of music or true beauty. What a snob.
Everyone thinks she’s crazy cuz she cries a lot. She goes to a temple and he comes. He led her to a hut and sat her down, thinks she’s beautiful and lovely. Next chapter picks up with her walking back, clearly after it happened. Hideo slips a note, a traditional “next morning” poem. How could a 13 yo sleep with an older stranger, who slept with the princess and is an enemy? I couldn’t believe she slept with him! Who writes this?! Weren’t girls raised to avoid situations like this, or does she think it’s ok to have sex with the first man who offers?
Takiko marvels that he risked his life for the custom, snuck into the enemy’s camp to leave the poem. Everyone knows she’s in love but she can’t share his identity. “His life was more precious to her than eternal salvation.” She’d gladly go to hell as a traitor..?
Goro came and she could barely talk, expected Hideo—stupid bcuz obviously he’s not going to come inside the enemy’s palace—and told her their house was burned and her pregnant mom fled, wants her to come. Takiko was upset, said he asked too much. All she can think of is Hideo but she spins it that she plays for the emperor and she’s as imp as a Heike soldier and if her family can’t see that she’s sorry. Goro said she’s going to break her mom’s heart, and she thinks he’s unfair, cruel and self-righteous. It’s like she wanted readers to die of high blood pressure while we read her horrid creation.
Their place is set on fire and they go to the ship. Takiko says she’s going to watch the battle and give the men courage by her presence. High opinion of herself. Lady Chujo pointed out the danger and forbid it. But once again every1 sides with Takiko, like she’s so wise, saying the men will be cheered by their confidence. Lady Chujo has a soldier put up their flag and the Genji shoot it, proving their arrows can reach the ship. The soldiers later get onto Lady Chujo about attracting attention. Not Takiko tho, no one gets onto her for having the idea to go on deck. A plague fell on Goro’s house. Fusa, Cheiko, brother and unborn baby, all die. Goro curses Takiko, saying to hell with her. Bcuz Takiko hadn’t come, he’d had to send for Fusa, who knew there was a plague in her village but came anyway. Hear hear!
Takiko, 15 now—surprised she wasn’t pregnant—prayed for Hideo but was still irritated with Goro. Aging 2 years didn’t make her any more mature.
Almost all of the royal family jumps overboard to drown instead of be taken by Genji. So cruel that so many not only died but killed themselves. Takiko points out that a lady’s nose is red, huge, comic and more grotesque than ever. WTF is wrong with her that she’d say that at a time like this? “Not Lady Chujo, so ugly, so grotesque, even in the valiant act of death.” Takiko deserves to age and lose her beauty and him turn away in disgust and choose someone younger and more beautiful. She deserves to know the pain of not liking her looks and knowing the man she loves desires another. A plague on her.
Takiko dreams of being free “but to dream thus when those about her faced the annihilation of every dream seemed like further evidence of her traitorous nature.” At least she knows she sucks. How about character growth and changing your nature? At least the mob spit on her a lot. A small portion of what she deserves.
She thinks of going to Fusa’s nephews who spoke in guttural bursts of 1 syllable and wiped their noses on their sleeves, &everyone in town seems stupid. How freaking judgmental of her. When is she going to stop? Everything she thinks is mean.
She goes to Goro’s and finds an ugly piece but the bottom of the lid has a gold nightingale. I’m hoping he got so mad at the thought of her he was imagining the piece was her neck and when he sees her in person he’ll wring the real thing.
Kamaji says Goro is a strange little man and she’s mad. Suddenly protective of the man you call a monkey? How quaint.
She questions herself why Goro hates her. Gee, no idea? She can’t picture her mom ugly and dying. Gotta include the ugly part. Far be it from her to admit family was ugly, even in death, even with the plague. She considers Goro to be a monster, would leave but has to stay so Hideo can find her, clings to it like a baby monkey to its mom. Is she really referring to the creature she used to describe the ugliness of her stepdad?
She vows to keep at the field bcuz Goro doesn’t think she can. “I will show the little monkey I can be as stubborn as he is.” She’s as terrible as ever. It never occurred to her she’s responsible for her mom’s death. She deserved to die with the blood of her family on her hands.
She insists Goro killed Fusa’s nephew for stealing, ran out like an idiot, screaming no, what have you done you monster and how could you? She goes to grab the poker, he calls her a fool—at least the author knows what kind of character she created—and tells her to watch out. She trips—like a fool—and hits her cheek on it. She says it’s all right. She gets her footing and dignified posture, says she isn’t hurt. But then, oddly, after she had time to stand up, get her posture and talk, only then does the searing pain hit her. Strange. This moron actually has the nerve to say he killed her too. What kind of dumbass tries to take something from sum1, falls, gets hit and then blames them? He said watch out &he was afraid, even said her name. Giving every indication he tried to stop it & felt bad. She showed no growth whatsoever. May she die a slow death.
Pg. 156 she calls him a dwarf &his shadow grotesque. How about some humanity? He says he didn’t kill him and moans. And she’s like did he expect her to bear his pain &hers? Omg. He feels bad u got hurt and u consider it a burden? Die.
She thinks of Lady Chujo. “She smiled at the thought of Big Nose looking down at her...” She didn’t just go there. She’s dead, and for the love of god would you quit f&%$ing talking about ppl’s looks. Takiko has a scarred face and still won’t f&%^ing stop calling ppl ugly. The author thinks it’s ok to make fun of ppl. Learn a f&@ing lesson. I hoped the scar nvr left her face and Hideo turned away in revulsion and preferred another.
At least she knew what her MC deserved. Exactly what I wished happened. She’d never forget the look on Hideo’s face: revulsion or fear. He said he’d come back but she knew he wouldn’t. I almost laughed! I definitely smiled like the Grinch.
Instead of being crushed at her turn of fortune and loss of beauty, she thinks everything makes sense. Goro wanted to go with her to the capital bcuz it isn’t safe for women. She says no one takes her for a woman-HA!-&laughs and he says he does. She shouldn’t laugh; she should cry. She deserves misery. He asks if it’d embarrass her to walk with him and she sharply asks why it would. You little b%&$, YOU’VE SPENT THE ENTIRE TIME MAKING FUN OF HIM!
He says kids laugh and he’s very ugly. She says so am I. Having a scar, rough hands, and dull hair isn’t the same. She deserves to know what it feels like to have ppl laugh for features she can’t help. I was glad her beauty was ruined.
Goro made an offering for her &got her a gift. “His funny little bow with his long arms sweeping the ground” and monkey eyes bright. He stumps off. Wtf. &the author literally only uses the word “stumped” to describe how he walks.
Takiko wants to repay the debts of her pride and sins that brought her family and clan to ruin, wants to enter the convent and make amends. The empress asks about the gift and Takiko blushes. Wth? I had a suspicion ever since she went to him. Goro bought her an expensive garment with birds on it. And the offering is the crooked jug with the beauty inside. It must mean that beauty is more imp. on the inside. It’s a reverse tho, she’s ugly on the inside! The empress suggests she heal ppl with her music instead. She says the only ppl are Goro and peasants and thought to tell him he shud marry, he doesn’t have an heir. He needs many sons and if he married sum1 else she’d have nowhere to go. They’re used to each other, she’s strong &a good age to bear children. For the rest of this life she plans to serve, cook, work, warm his bed and bear him 12 children. I was worried it was going here since she got back, cuz her mom slept with him. He’s her step-dad! How freaking nasty to sleep with sum1 ur mom slept with. At the end she has a girl and Goro stumps once more into the room. She says it’s only a girl, he says isn’t that what you are. I was so grossed out and glad to be done with this piece of trash.
I expected this to be one of the greats, a must-read, &like Mulan. I instantly didn’t like Takiko. The author tried her hardest to make her bad, and when an author tries that hard, it’s going to work. She ensured that I HATED her. She is one of, if not the, worst characters I’ve ever read. Everything the author had her do and say was reprehensible. It’s like she wanted us to hate her. I can’t believe this was written much less published.
Takiko is 11. She thinks her maid’s stupid and all servants are stupid (they did talk crap about her dad, but still). She’s boastful and cocky. She pointed out her aunt (an adult) had no talent and never would, like she’s superior. She’s a masterful artist, couldn’t stand to be instructed by her aunt, who she considered a beginner.
Her dad was going off to war and she didn’t show 1 ounce of worry. She swelled with pride, got tired of him talking when he should be riding off to battle. Most kids would be worried about their dad getting killed, but not her. She thinks of what she can gain. The servants would admire her then. All she cared about was herself.
Her dad dies, and she says she wanted him to go and be a hero and killed him. Then later she decides she hasn’t, she’d only wanted what he wanted. Way to absolve yourself of all guilt. And a mature thought for an 11 yo..
Her aunt found a distant relative, a potter, for her mom to marry. Her mom told Takiko the news, but she’s bored because she’s not the center of attention. She’s eager to be on her way and delighted they’re leaving, doesn’t want to live with her aunt. She didn’t even care that her mom had to marry an ugly man so soon after her husband was killed in battle. Her aunt kept hugging and kissing her before she left and Takiko was impatient. She sucked.
She considers her step-dad, Goro, to be a brown creature. He’s no taller than her, has arms that hang down to his knees, eyes like slits in a face as brown as a chestnut. He’s part Korean. He says what a pretty child and goes to touch her hair and Takiko the brat shrinks away, saying “No. Don’t let it touch me” as if he’s a monster and not a person.
Her mom was stern and cold with her after, and Takiko thought she was doomed to hell, that her mom belonged to the devil or that he’s the devil and bewitched her mom. She refused to speak to the servants, because they’re part of the terrible household, and doesn’t want to eat. Her childishness ruined the story.
Goro came up to her once and she cringed. The day of the celebration Takiko bowed to him and apologized for her rudeness and called him father. He said there’s nothing to forgive—what isn’t true—and she fled to the kitchens. She should have been grateful he was so nice. She didn’t deserve it.
Goro came to her room the night of her bro’s birth, worrying that it’s going to be like him and he said if it is he’ll want to kill it. I was absolutely astounded that the author had him go so far as to say he’d want to kill his baby. Takiko thought her handsome samurai dad never got an heir, but Goro got a beautiful son so fast and it’s unfair.
He taught her pottery and when she didn’t do good he laughed and she pouted and told him not to laugh at her. He praised her work over the next months and it annoyed her because “it confirmed her fears that the pottery was less than good” because he didn’t praise her music like that. Poor u.
Takiko’s body begins to change and she’d watch her mom nursing and “something like tenderness would stir in her own young breasts.” Ew. That’s nasty. This suddenly turned into sex. ed class.
Takiko considered Ichiro to be a brat of a man-child. Funny coming from her. He goes missing and Goro finds him near the river. In crazy behavior Goro calls him a silly little fool and hits Ichiro’s legs with a switch. He tears up, but it was bad to call him a fool.
All of a sudden she’s 13 and the merchant, Kamaji, noticed how beautiful she is. He tells them they should take her to court because such beauty and talent are of the Gods. Takiko’s flattered. “If she had such beauty and such talent, wasn’t it right that she should share it?” Give her a bigger ego. Just what we needed.
She’s jealous of her brother &bored but the main reason she wants to go is because she eagerly accepts his words and needs to have it acknowledged and praised.
“But who liked her because her hair shone and her breasts made a gentle sloping line under her garments?” She needs admiration, solely for her looks, not praise from Fusa and Goro for being clever and eager, not from her mom, but from boys who’ll notice these things, and who would notice that around here? “Fusa’s clottish nephews?” Judgmental and conceited.
At the palace there was a man in the shadows who said “I find her chilled and trembling on the forest floor and fain would bear her gentle to my nest.” And Takiko, suddenly this knowing, sexual being at 13, blushed and shook. “The meaning of the couplet was self-evident, even a person as naïve to court life as she understood the poet’s intent.”
Takiko was at the temple to pray and he was there, in a monk’s robe but samurai’s top knot. He put a hand on her knee, called her a nightingale, and his hand burned through 12 layers of garments, her heart crashed through her breast and her throat was dry. Quite a reaction. I had no patience for her blossoming sexuality. He gave her a message for the princess and Takiko realized he’s an enemy Genji spy&the princess’ lover. That sucks. But she wants him to touch her. He has a warm, mannish odor of clean skin. She’s only 13. And why would she want to get with a man who’s having sex with someone?!
Takiko thinks of him, her enemy, her mistress’s lover, and felt it was a shame she didn’t even know his name! Do find out what the name of the man your mistress is sleeping with. Maybe you can share him. And she cries. Wth. YOU JUST MET HIM. It’s the 2nd time they met, the first that she’s even seen him. This was so freaking stupid.
Princess Aoi told Takiko not to love a man because love is cruel. And Takiko, the idiot, thought it was too late because she already loves, &knows how cruel it is. Make me laugh! And Takiko is just glad Aoi gave her his name, Hideo!
She wanted to leave because she’s jealous of Aoi, but she didn’t want to because she might not hear of Hideo. Instant love from a 13 yo for someone else’s man.
The Genji are coming and they flee. She’s stupid enough to be excited, like the enemy attacking the city isn’t a bad thing. In the carriage she has ample time to think of “giving herself up completely to her passion” with Hideo, him writing her a love poem and him climbing in her window…She imagined having sex with someone’s lover! And how would she even know about sex? This immature, juvenile 13 year old is by turn so childish it’s painful and then so mature it’s creepy. She giggled because her sleeves tangled around Mieko’s neck, and Lady Chujo tells her to be quiet, silly girl. Exactly. She is a silly girl.
She’s homesick—surprised, cuz she was excited to leave—and thought of her monkey father, realizing she loves him. She still called him that! Cheiko and Fusa cry when they learn Takiko left with the imperial family. She wasn’t worth it, proven when Takiko said she’d never felt more alive since she left Goro’s house. Ungrateful brat.
She taught everyone to make pottery, used water “that she as the master knew to be necessary.” How conceited. How nice the family that she’s glad to be rid of taught her skills she can use to show off and be superior. It’s important to be more beautiful, sing and play better, and do everything better than everyone else.
She wished Hideo could see her tan and felt disloyal, because that would mean the Heike and Genji would battle and Munemori wasn’t ready. Is she really longing for the battle in which her own Heike clan would battle the Genji, so she could see the enemy?
With no warning at all, the author skipped 7 months. She wrote things that aren’t rational and are just plain wrong. Takiko was excited about the fight at the fort. She admired the colors and flags, and the cries of battle and horses were “removed and fascinating.” Any girl should be scared and worried for the men. She had her be entertained.
Takiko was annoyed when Lady Chujo grabbed her sleeve and said they’re falling back. She said the woman’s ugly face was twitching agitatedly. If this author pointed out 1 more time that someone was ugly I was going to lose it. She can’t help she has a big nose. Takiko pointed out the Heiki were only falling back in the east, reciting her dad’s battle tales—something she’s never seen. Has to be wiser than adults.
The Genji won and they had to leave on a ship. She realized Hideo was one of the Genji, “1 of those terrible horsemen who flew down the mountainside as though on the back of the War God. As though spewn from the mouth of Heaven—or Hell. Were they Gods or demons? How awful they were, how magnificent!” Wtf. I tried to keep it together, but this dumb*** admired the enemy force who killed her OWN PEOPLE. I can’t fathom such stupidity. She prayed the loudest with the women to cover her traitorous heart.
She has no respect for elders, snaps at royals and contradicts them. She forgave the instrument its lack of perfection. How nice of her. General Munemori isn’t as fat as he was last year, but he’s still fat with a hanging stomach and rotten teeth. She’s repulsed which is understandable. His retainer gives her a note: “Upon my exile shines a crescent moon, let me find comfort in its golden rays.” She shouts for Meiko and throws it at her. They both think it’s bad and it was actually funny when she thinks of writing back: “The crescent moon looks down upon the fatted goose, and all her warmth turns cold.”
Hideo came when she was in the garden and she actually considered him the enemy. She burns at his touch, and thought his whisper was more exciting than his low voice, so it was ruined. He said it will be over and they can forget about clan and emperor and wraps his hand around her body. She wonders must he torture her so? Major eye roll. He asks how many men are there and she doesn’t answer. He says “Give me a few minutes. Let me get halfway up the hill. Then call anyone you like.”
Hideo tells her he doesn’t want his death on her hands and by the Gods he couldn’t bear to take hers. How dramatic. She called the guards when he was up the hill but no one believed her because he was gone. She bore the humiliation and is glad no one believed her, thought she did her duty as Heike. She for some reason thinks she did something heroic by being willing to betray the life of a stranger over her clan and emperor..Not quite. She waited for him to get away like he told her to.
Munemori didn’t want her because she’s hysterical and lost her favor. She lost her audience and tossed her hair, questioning what they know of music or true beauty. What a snob.
Everyone thinks she’s crazy cuz she cries a lot. She goes to a temple and he comes. He led her to a hut and sat her down, thinks she’s beautiful and lovely. Next chapter picks up with her walking back, clearly after it happened. Hideo slips a note, a traditional “next morning” poem. How could a 13 yo sleep with an older stranger, who slept with the princess and is an enemy? I couldn’t believe she slept with him! Who writes this?! Weren’t girls raised to avoid situations like this, or does she think it’s ok to have sex with the first man who offers?
Takiko marvels that he risked his life for the custom, snuck into the enemy’s camp to leave the poem. Everyone knows she’s in love but she can’t share his identity. “His life was more precious to her than eternal salvation.” She’d gladly go to hell as a traitor..?
Goro came and she could barely talk, expected Hideo—stupid bcuz obviously he’s not going to come inside the enemy’s palace—and told her their house was burned and her pregnant mom fled, wants her to come. Takiko was upset, said he asked too much. All she can think of is Hideo but she spins it that she plays for the emperor and she’s as imp as a Heike soldier and if her family can’t see that she’s sorry. Goro said she’s going to break her mom’s heart, and she thinks he’s unfair, cruel and self-righteous. It’s like she wanted readers to die of high blood pressure while we read her horrid creation.
Their place is set on fire and they go to the ship. Takiko says she’s going to watch the battle and give the men courage by her presence. High opinion of herself. Lady Chujo pointed out the danger and forbid it. But once again every1 sides with Takiko, like she’s so wise, saying the men will be cheered by their confidence. Lady Chujo has a soldier put up their flag and the Genji shoot it, proving their arrows can reach the ship. The soldiers later get onto Lady Chujo about attracting attention. Not Takiko tho, no one gets onto her for having the idea to go on deck. A plague fell on Goro’s house. Fusa, Cheiko, brother and unborn baby, all die. Goro curses Takiko, saying to hell with her. Bcuz Takiko hadn’t come, he’d had to send for Fusa, who knew there was a plague in her village but came anyway. Hear hear!
Takiko, 15 now—surprised she wasn’t pregnant—prayed for Hideo but was still irritated with Goro. Aging 2 years didn’t make her any more mature.
Almost all of the royal family jumps overboard to drown instead of be taken by Genji. So cruel that so many not only died but killed themselves. Takiko points out that a lady’s nose is red, huge, comic and more grotesque than ever. WTF is wrong with her that she’d say that at a time like this? “Not Lady Chujo, so ugly, so grotesque, even in the valiant act of death.” Takiko deserves to age and lose her beauty and him turn away in disgust and choose someone younger and more beautiful. She deserves to know the pain of not liking her looks and knowing the man she loves desires another. A plague on her.
Takiko dreams of being free “but to dream thus when those about her faced the annihilation of every dream seemed like further evidence of her traitorous nature.” At least she knows she sucks. How about character growth and changing your nature? At least the mob spit on her a lot. A small portion of what she deserves.
She thinks of going to Fusa’s nephews who spoke in guttural bursts of 1 syllable and wiped their noses on their sleeves, &everyone in town seems stupid. How freaking judgmental of her. When is she going to stop? Everything she thinks is mean.
She goes to Goro’s and finds an ugly piece but the bottom of the lid has a gold nightingale. I’m hoping he got so mad at the thought of her he was imagining the piece was her neck and when he sees her in person he’ll wring the real thing.
Kamaji says Goro is a strange little man and she’s mad. Suddenly protective of the man you call a monkey? How quaint.
She questions herself why Goro hates her. Gee, no idea? She can’t picture her mom ugly and dying. Gotta include the ugly part. Far be it from her to admit family was ugly, even in death, even with the plague. She considers Goro to be a monster, would leave but has to stay so Hideo can find her, clings to it like a baby monkey to its mom. Is she really referring to the creature she used to describe the ugliness of her stepdad?
She vows to keep at the field bcuz Goro doesn’t think she can. “I will show the little monkey I can be as stubborn as he is.” She’s as terrible as ever. It never occurred to her she’s responsible for her mom’s death. She deserved to die with the blood of her family on her hands.
She insists Goro killed Fusa’s nephew for stealing, ran out like an idiot, screaming no, what have you done you monster and how could you? She goes to grab the poker, he calls her a fool—at least the author knows what kind of character she created—and tells her to watch out. She trips—like a fool—and hits her cheek on it. She says it’s all right. She gets her footing and dignified posture, says she isn’t hurt. But then, oddly, after she had time to stand up, get her posture and talk, only then does the searing pain hit her. Strange. This moron actually has the nerve to say he killed her too. What kind of dumbass tries to take something from sum1, falls, gets hit and then blames them? He said watch out &he was afraid, even said her name. Giving every indication he tried to stop it & felt bad. She showed no growth whatsoever. May she die a slow death.
Pg. 156 she calls him a dwarf &his shadow grotesque. How about some humanity? He says he didn’t kill him and moans. And she’s like did he expect her to bear his pain &hers? Omg. He feels bad u got hurt and u consider it a burden? Die.
She thinks of Lady Chujo. “She smiled at the thought of Big Nose looking down at her...” She didn’t just go there. She’s dead, and for the love of god would you quit f&%$ing talking about ppl’s looks. Takiko has a scarred face and still won’t f&%^ing stop calling ppl ugly. The author thinks it’s ok to make fun of ppl. Learn a f&@ing lesson. I hoped the scar nvr left her face and Hideo turned away in revulsion and preferred another.
At least she knew what her MC deserved. Exactly what I wished happened. She’d never forget the look on Hideo’s face: revulsion or fear. He said he’d come back but she knew he wouldn’t. I almost laughed! I definitely smiled like the Grinch.
Instead of being crushed at her turn of fortune and loss of beauty, she thinks everything makes sense. Goro wanted to go with her to the capital bcuz it isn’t safe for women. She says no one takes her for a woman-HA!-&laughs and he says he does. She shouldn’t laugh; she should cry. She deserves misery. He asks if it’d embarrass her to walk with him and she sharply asks why it would. You little b%&$, YOU’VE SPENT THE ENTIRE TIME MAKING FUN OF HIM!
He says kids laugh and he’s very ugly. She says so am I. Having a scar, rough hands, and dull hair isn’t the same. She deserves to know what it feels like to have ppl laugh for features she can’t help. I was glad her beauty was ruined.
Goro made an offering for her &got her a gift. “His funny little bow with his long arms sweeping the ground” and monkey eyes bright. He stumps off. Wtf. &the author literally only uses the word “stumped” to describe how he walks.
Takiko wants to repay the debts of her pride and sins that brought her family and clan to ruin, wants to enter the convent and make amends. The empress asks about the gift and Takiko blushes. Wth? I had a suspicion ever since she went to him. Goro bought her an expensive garment with birds on it. And the offering is the crooked jug with the beauty inside. It must mean that beauty is more imp. on the inside. It’s a reverse tho, she’s ugly on the inside! The empress suggests she heal ppl with her music instead. She says the only ppl are Goro and peasants and thought to tell him he shud marry, he doesn’t have an heir. He needs many sons and if he married sum1 else she’d have nowhere to go. They’re used to each other, she’s strong &a good age to bear children. For the rest of this life she plans to serve, cook, work, warm his bed and bear him 12 children. I was worried it was going here since she got back, cuz her mom slept with him. He’s her step-dad! How freaking nasty to sleep with sum1 ur mom slept with. At the end she has a girl and Goro stumps once more into the room. She says it’s only a girl, he says isn’t that what you are. I was so grossed out and glad to be done with this piece of trash.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 9, 2018
This review will not be spoiler-free but I want everyone to see it to save them the trouble of reading this terrible book.
First of all, it opens with a 3-page historical note, which is less of a note than a full contextualization of the entire story. I’m sorry, but in my opinion, if you need to tell me everything that’s going on in your story before it even begins, you’re writing historical fiction incorrectly.
But let’s get into it. This book is only 172 pages with a big font. This — in addition to the fact that the author wrote popular children’s book Bridge to Terabithia, and the writing style is very simplistic, and the main character is a child — led me to believe it was a children’s book. However, a good deal of those pages are filled with the most boring military maneuvers and political plots I have ever read. The story is also rife with innuendo and mentions rape, so heaven help the parent who decided to read it aloud to their kid.
There is little to no plot here. I guess there’s a climax, but there’s nothing in the story that would suggest a lead-up to it. We have a war going on in the background, Takiko (our main character) is a handmaiden to the Empress. Before that, she was handmaiden to the Princess. Before that, she was daughter to a Samurai, who didn’t really like her that much, but to whom she feels super loyal anyways even though he’s dead. She can play the koto and sing real nice. We’re told all of this in painstaking and chronological detail.
So, she goes into the Princess’ service at age 13, when her musical talents are made known to and celebrated by the royal court. The Prince, who is 24 years old, takes special notice of her (again, she is 13). Another man, unseen, recites a sexual poem he’s written about her (a 13-year old) that same night. This guy is revealed to be the Princess’ side ho, a spy for the Genji, and apparently a hot, hot snack because Takiko falls in Instalove with him, even though he’s an adult man with zero personality who flirted sexually on two occasions with a 13-year old.
So Takiko utterly obsesses over this man for a YEAR (and I don’t mean, like, sighing wistfully every few weeks; I mean bursting into tears because a bird sings a tone that sounds vaguely like his voice), until she goes to pray at the temple and sees him disguised as a priest (Oh The Irony), he takes her to his Super Secret Fort for Spies where they have sex. He sends her some poems afterwards and then disappears off the face of the earth.
Then the war gets pretty bad and the Emperor’s household has to evacuate and go to an island? or something? idk I skimmed most of this because it was so boring. You’d think it would be the most exciting part, but you’d be wrong.
So they’re in exile of some sort and they live on a ship. Takiko is “a woman of 15” now, so she and her friends spend their hours giggling over how ugly everybody else is.
Eventually, the ship is taken by Genji warriors, so the former Empress takes her 6-year old grandson the Emperor in her arms and throws herself into the ocean. The current Empress with her even younger son follows, and Takiko’s handmaiden goes next. Takiko, however, is captured and mourns the fact that she, too, could not have been complicit in child-murder and suicide.
Anyways, one of Takiko’s captors turns out to be Hideo, her pervy pedo love interest. He helps her to escape and says if she goes to her step-father’s house he will find her again when he can.
So Takiko goes home to find her beloved mother and step-brother dead from an illness indirectly caused by her selfish refusal to go home two years ago when her step-father begged her. Her kind yet horrifically ugly step-father now hates her guts, but they tolerate each other in order to work the land and make a living. After awhile, they start to like each other again, but Hideo still hasn’t shown up and it’s been two years or something. One day, Takiko startles her step-father at his pottery kiln and he accidentally strikes her with his iron, scarring her beautiful beautiful face.
Then Hideo DOES show up, but once he sees Takiko’s horrific scar and farm-worked fingers, he’s like, “Oh, uh, I just remembered, there’s....battles I gotta be at,” and leaves.
So Takiko goes to join a convent.
But the convent doesn’t want her, so she takes the next logical step and marries her step-father, bearing him a daughter on the last page.
The end.
The writing is bad, the characters one-dimensional, the politics are impossible to follow, the unaddressed glorification (yes! you can address these things even in a historical/cultural context!) of suicide and pedophilia insufferable. It almost makes me angry that this author has achieved some level of fame.
First of all, it opens with a 3-page historical note, which is less of a note than a full contextualization of the entire story. I’m sorry, but in my opinion, if you need to tell me everything that’s going on in your story before it even begins, you’re writing historical fiction incorrectly.
But let’s get into it. This book is only 172 pages with a big font. This — in addition to the fact that the author wrote popular children’s book Bridge to Terabithia, and the writing style is very simplistic, and the main character is a child — led me to believe it was a children’s book. However, a good deal of those pages are filled with the most boring military maneuvers and political plots I have ever read. The story is also rife with innuendo and mentions rape, so heaven help the parent who decided to read it aloud to their kid.
There is little to no plot here. I guess there’s a climax, but there’s nothing in the story that would suggest a lead-up to it. We have a war going on in the background, Takiko (our main character) is a handmaiden to the Empress. Before that, she was handmaiden to the Princess. Before that, she was daughter to a Samurai, who didn’t really like her that much, but to whom she feels super loyal anyways even though he’s dead. She can play the koto and sing real nice. We’re told all of this in painstaking and chronological detail.
So, she goes into the Princess’ service at age 13, when her musical talents are made known to and celebrated by the royal court. The Prince, who is 24 years old, takes special notice of her (again, she is 13). Another man, unseen, recites a sexual poem he’s written about her (a 13-year old) that same night. This guy is revealed to be the Princess’ side ho, a spy for the Genji, and apparently a hot, hot snack because Takiko falls in Instalove with him, even though he’s an adult man with zero personality who flirted sexually on two occasions with a 13-year old.
So Takiko utterly obsesses over this man for a YEAR (and I don’t mean, like, sighing wistfully every few weeks; I mean bursting into tears because a bird sings a tone that sounds vaguely like his voice), until she goes to pray at the temple and sees him disguised as a priest (Oh The Irony), he takes her to his Super Secret Fort for Spies where they have sex. He sends her some poems afterwards and then disappears off the face of the earth.
Then the war gets pretty bad and the Emperor’s household has to evacuate and go to an island? or something? idk I skimmed most of this because it was so boring. You’d think it would be the most exciting part, but you’d be wrong.
So they’re in exile of some sort and they live on a ship. Takiko is “a woman of 15” now, so she and her friends spend their hours giggling over how ugly everybody else is.
Eventually, the ship is taken by Genji warriors, so the former Empress takes her 6-year old grandson the Emperor in her arms and throws herself into the ocean. The current Empress with her even younger son follows, and Takiko’s handmaiden goes next. Takiko, however, is captured and mourns the fact that she, too, could not have been complicit in child-murder and suicide.
Anyways, one of Takiko’s captors turns out to be Hideo, her pervy pedo love interest. He helps her to escape and says if she goes to her step-father’s house he will find her again when he can.
So Takiko goes home to find her beloved mother and step-brother dead from an illness indirectly caused by her selfish refusal to go home two years ago when her step-father begged her. Her kind yet horrifically ugly step-father now hates her guts, but they tolerate each other in order to work the land and make a living. After awhile, they start to like each other again, but Hideo still hasn’t shown up and it’s been two years or something. One day, Takiko startles her step-father at his pottery kiln and he accidentally strikes her with his iron, scarring her beautiful beautiful face.
Then Hideo DOES show up, but once he sees Takiko’s horrific scar and farm-worked fingers, he’s like, “Oh, uh, I just remembered, there’s....battles I gotta be at,” and leaves.
So Takiko goes to join a convent.
But the convent doesn’t want her, so she takes the next logical step and marries her step-father, bearing him a daughter on the last page.
The end.
The writing is bad, the characters one-dimensional, the politics are impossible to follow, the unaddressed glorification (yes! you can address these things even in a historical/cultural context!) of suicide and pedophilia insufferable. It almost makes me angry that this author has achieved some level of fame.
August 14, 2017
Well this was not what I expected. I glanced over the historical note and decided to get it - that was a bad decision. There is nothing to these characters. Absolutely nothing. The descriptions of the islands and battles and all the guys in power switching between alliances and strategies were vague and more confusing than they really needed to be - where I'd hoped it would be fleshing out dry historical narratives, what you get is a dry, ambiguous historical narrative - and I just gave up trying to make sense of those passages. Skim those passages; it won't change your experience of the story.
Her weeping for 'love' and pining for some dude she literally does not know took up way too much of this tiny novel. And then none of it ever amounts to anything and she goes home to marry her stepfather as the epitome of a dutiful daughter, and it's just freaking weird. Another 'glad this was a cheap find and took me a few hours to read,' because seriously. Pass.
Her weeping for 'love' and pining for some dude she literally does not know took up way too much of this tiny novel. And then none of it ever amounts to anything and she goes home to marry her stepfather as the epitome of a dutiful daughter, and it's just freaking weird. Another 'glad this was a cheap find and took me a few hours to read,' because seriously. Pass.
November 24, 2014
I absolutely hated this book. I usually enjoy historical fiction set in Japan, but this one.... The characters were bland and had no life.
Takiko was shallow, spoiled, and a downright horrible main character. The book was basically she and her friends talking about how other people were stupid or ugly or whatever.
Sexual undertones might make the book inappropriate for middle schoolers. And the end... it was downright disgusting. I understand it was feudal Japan but it still felt like incest to me. Just.. ew.
Takiko was shallow, spoiled, and a downright horrible main character. The book was basically she and her friends talking about how other people were stupid or ugly or whatever.
Sexual undertones might make the book inappropriate for middle schoolers. And the end... it was downright disgusting. I understand it was feudal Japan but it still felt like incest to me. Just.. ew.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 26, 2010
I might have like this more if it wasn't in the children's section in our library. It was definitely, in my opinion, too disturbing with too many innuendos for kids. Like "Memoirs of a Geisha" (which I loved) but geared to kids?! Takes place in 11th century Japan, and I am sure that all the awful stuff really did happen--women and girls treated like possessions, concubines, rape, young girls marrying their stepfathers--but for some reason I was just yucked out by it in a children's book.
April 25, 2016
This book was informative, however, there was not a lot of very exciting events or romances which I was expecting. If you want to read this book, try not to have any expectations of this book. Also, their was too many characters that were brought into the story plot that made the read confusing. You have to read very slowly and carefully to understand at least a little bit.
February 27, 2009
A very deep and moving story about how hardship and circumstances can turn a thing of beauty into something raw--and then into something of beauty once again, in a different aspect.
Also taught me a lot about feudal Japan.
A hard sell for an elem. school kid!
Also taught me a lot about feudal Japan.
A hard sell for an elem. school kid!
April 28, 2024
Avevo già letto questo libro quando ero ragazzina e mi era piaciuto tanto, nel rileggerlo invece sono rimasta parecchio delusa. Ennesima prova che quando si è piccoli si ha una percezione diversa delle cose (aka “non si capisce un c*zz*).
La storia d’amore (se così si vuol chiamare, più che altro è una cottarella drammatica) è blanda, superficiale e abbastanza sciocca, i personaggi sono costruiti in modo poco profondo e la protagonista in particolare risulta antipatica.
Penso sia volutamente scritto in modo allusivo o comunque tale da non approfondire molto certi temi proprio perché l’autrice si rivolge a un pubblico molto giovane. L’unico tema che ho apprezzato molto è l’insistenza sulla caducità della bellezza e sull’importanza della bellezza interiore, affrontato in modo delicato ma significativo.
La storia d’amore (se così si vuol chiamare, più che altro è una cottarella drammatica) è blanda, superficiale e abbastanza sciocca, i personaggi sono costruiti in modo poco profondo e la protagonista in particolare risulta antipatica.
Penso sia volutamente scritto in modo allusivo o comunque tale da non approfondire molto certi temi proprio perché l’autrice si rivolge a un pubblico molto giovane. L’unico tema che ho apprezzato molto è l’insistenza sulla caducità della bellezza e sull’importanza della bellezza interiore, affrontato in modo delicato ma significativo.
January 31, 2023
I was pleasantly surprised by this! A historical novel that unfolds during the war between the Heike and the Genji (which, if you remember your Carl Sagan, you know how that ended). Some surprising twists and turns here; the book did NOT end the way I thought!
November 10, 2023
Note: spoilers below. I can see how a lot of people would have problems with this book, even laying aside the probably inevitable complaints these days about a white person writing about feudal Japan. After all (and as usual), Paterson is not interested in depicting loveable, "relatable" characters, but rather in depicting the complex and irrational, even tempestuous state of transition from childhood to adulthood, as young Takiko, caught up an an actual civil war (thought he details really don't matter that much, one might characterize this novel as historical, given its roots in historical events), struggles with abrupt changes in her social and familial status as the tides of battle (among other things) turn--not to mention hormonal changes which inspire a foolish and yet believably intense infatuation with a heroic-seeming samurai, an evident stand-in for her samurai father, lionized in his daughter's memory after his death in battle, and replaced by a stepfather who is a literal grotesque--a "dwarf." Yes, there's lots of Freudian stuff going on in this novel, including an ending almost bound to shock and offend some, when the still-teenaged Takiko marries her step-father, becoming a sort of surrogate for her mother. Heady stuff for a YA novel. The only character with any real depth is Takiko herself, not surprising, really, for a short novel. The romantic lead, for instance, is an almost complete cipher--which, to me, makes for a subtle comment on how male-oriented love stories often feature pretty much blank objects of desire. Of course, the clay-footed samurai is far less important as a real human than as a symbol for Takiko of what she thinks love should be. And in a world in which she is denied, by virtue of the social structure, any real possibility of pursuing and life other than that of wife (her talent as a musician is key to the novel, and brilliantly-depicted, IMO, if also a bit pat), it's not surprising, perhaps, that her teenaged mind fixates on a handsome, brave, but doubly-forbidden figure, more important in his absence than his presence. Arguably, his seduction of Takiko would qualify as statutory rape, according to contemporary values, and while Paterson does not play that up, it is also evident that she depicts Takiko's sexual relation with this guy as peoblematic. She does not do so with her depiction of Takiko's sexual relationship with her stepfather, which, again, many readers will undoubtedly find creepy (at best). However, I would submit that Paterson has consciously depicted both figures as artists concerned simultaneously with art as a sensual form (Goro is a potter, Takiko a skilled koto player) and as an expression of complex and hidden human realities. Those realities are often not pleasant, and both characters suffer significant traumatic loss, in part as a result of Takiko's selfish decisions. Was depicting the resolution of their traumas in terms of a literal sexual coming together the best choice? I can't say, really, but it certainly was a brave one, and it certainly acknowledges how human sexuality-at least in Freudian terms--can manifest itself. Paterson is always thought-provoking, and always an insightful writer. I am reminded of this each time I read a book by her that I have not read before. I had sat on this one for a while because, frankly, it did not look like it would interest me (I prefer my stories about feudal Japan to be about samurai, not love-sick teenaged girls--which I suppose says something about me), but I am glad i finally got around to it.
March 14, 2009
I don't really know what to make of this book. It's a historical fiction that is set in 12th century feudal Japan and is written by someone who I thought of as a children's author (same author as Bridge To Terabithia). I liked the first half a lot. At some point I got disillusioned with the plot around the shallow love story and was about to dismiss the book as immature when BAM the book took a whole new direction that I definitely did not see coming. I can't really say that the ending left me feeling satisfied but at least it kept me interested. In retrospect this doesn't really feel like a kids story at all.
September 9, 2013
An unheralded work by Katherine Paterson that is a well-done historical fiction that seeks to understand a coming of age story of a samurai's adolescent daughter as she experiences the changing attitudes of differing classes and factions of people within Japan as it grows through simultaneous pains of change.
Often overlooked as a children's book, but the themes are more related to a young adult coming to terms with love and relationship. A fine snapshot into the period of Japanese history in which a unified nation is rendered from a bloody civil war and how loyalty appears to be an ever changing dynamic.
Read it for what it is, an enjoyable fiction set amidst a great historical time.
Often overlooked as a children's book, but the themes are more related to a young adult coming to terms with love and relationship. A fine snapshot into the period of Japanese history in which a unified nation is rendered from a bloody civil war and how loyalty appears to be an ever changing dynamic.
Read it for what it is, an enjoyable fiction set amidst a great historical time.
February 29, 2012
Ok, from a literary perspective, it was excellent. From a personal perspective, I was a little disappointed and maybe slightly disturbed with the ending...definitely not what I was hoping for/expecting. A beautiful book; a story of family, mistakes, and self-discovery and redemption.
August 7, 2010
My favorite of all Patterson's books.
December 1, 2025
I understand that this book is supposed to be educational, and it provides decent insight into the world of feudal Japan, but as a book in itself, it was insufferable.
About half of the book was tedious, and confusing descriptions of battles that were pretty much irrelevant to the actual story line.
What was truly awful about this book was the characters, who were just as dull and lifeless as the book as a whole. I really disliked the way that the main character and her story were portrayed. Basically, she was supposed to be a spoiled little rich girl who was thrust into unfortunate circumstances, forcing her to stop being so stuck up and learn the value of hard work, when really, though she was unpleasant, a lot of her wants (a boyfriend) and selfish decisions (such as having a job) were perfectly normal and valid. The most objectionably disturbing part of this book was *SPOILER*
the fact that Takiko's "stuck-upness" was cured by her being physically assulted by her stepfather (who was enraged that she got a job and neglected her duty to her family), ruining her beauty. She loses her vanity and basically gets humbled, and her selfish desires (a rich handsome husband) are no longer feisable, and so she makes the "good decision" and marries her step father and spends her life baring him many children.
Up until that point, the relationship between Takiko and her stepfather was very parent-child, and that portrayal lasted even after she was the mother of his child.
I truly abhor how Takiko's teenage desire for a boyfriend her age and attachment to her beauty made her supposedly bad and empty, which I found slightly misogynistic. I hated how her stepfather, who was too old even for her late mother, was never treated as a villain for marrying and impregnating his teenage stepdaughter. Anyone who doesn't take issue with this aspect of the book I fear is either blind or sick in the head.
I would like to note that much of my issue with Takiko's marriage to her stepfather has to do with how it was portrayed and the message it sent. I understand that in terms of historical accuracy, it might have been true to the time, but even if that is the case, incest is never okay (and maybe not appropriate for a middle schooler's book)
About half of the book was tedious, and confusing descriptions of battles that were pretty much irrelevant to the actual story line.
What was truly awful about this book was the characters, who were just as dull and lifeless as the book as a whole. I really disliked the way that the main character and her story were portrayed. Basically, she was supposed to be a spoiled little rich girl who was thrust into unfortunate circumstances, forcing her to stop being so stuck up and learn the value of hard work, when really, though she was unpleasant, a lot of her wants (a boyfriend) and selfish decisions (such as having a job) were perfectly normal and valid. The most objectionably disturbing part of this book was *SPOILER*
the fact that Takiko's "stuck-upness" was cured by her being physically assulted by her stepfather (who was enraged that she got a job and neglected her duty to her family), ruining her beauty. She loses her vanity and basically gets humbled, and her selfish desires (a rich handsome husband) are no longer feisable, and so she makes the "good decision" and marries her step father and spends her life baring him many children.
Up until that point, the relationship between Takiko and her stepfather was very parent-child, and that portrayal lasted even after she was the mother of his child.
I truly abhor how Takiko's teenage desire for a boyfriend her age and attachment to her beauty made her supposedly bad and empty, which I found slightly misogynistic. I hated how her stepfather, who was too old even for her late mother, was never treated as a villain for marrying and impregnating his teenage stepdaughter. Anyone who doesn't take issue with this aspect of the book I fear is either blind or sick in the head.
I would like to note that much of my issue with Takiko's marriage to her stepfather has to do with how it was portrayed and the message it sent. I understand that in terms of historical accuracy, it might have been true to the time, but even if that is the case, incest is never okay (and maybe not appropriate for a middle schooler's book)
July 4, 2021
It was fun getting to read about Japan again! Though I don't usually dive into middle-grade reading, this was one of the more enjoyable ones, however I'm not 100% certain how to recommend it.
This book follows young Tokiko, the teenage daughter of a famous samurai, as she makes her way through war-torn feudal Japan. The Heike and the Genji are battling for dominance, and she finds herself stuck in the middle, forced to choose between love and duty.
The book is well-written, for a middle-grade novel. It's very descriptive and helps the reader enter into the scene and the characters heads very well. I found myself more emotionally invested in the plot of this one than in most other middle-grade books; the story is engaging and hooks the reader entirely! I loved the Japanese setting (of course), and I appreciated the messages about beauty and loyalty. It follows the typical tragedy of Japanese stories as well, which was a nice touch.
It loses a star because it has themes in it that I am not certain are appropriate for its audience, especially regarding "honourable suicide" and certain relationships. The ending in particular threw me off in that way. For an adult, these themes would be fine. For a young pre-teen or early teen, I'm uncertain. If you do end up getting this for your child, read it first. Every kid is different. Some might not be bothered by it, some might. You know your kid best.
Overall, it's good, but it's probably best for a more mature middle-grade reader.
This book follows young Tokiko, the teenage daughter of a famous samurai, as she makes her way through war-torn feudal Japan. The Heike and the Genji are battling for dominance, and she finds herself stuck in the middle, forced to choose between love and duty.
The book is well-written, for a middle-grade novel. It's very descriptive and helps the reader enter into the scene and the characters heads very well. I found myself more emotionally invested in the plot of this one than in most other middle-grade books; the story is engaging and hooks the reader entirely! I loved the Japanese setting (of course), and I appreciated the messages about beauty and loyalty. It follows the typical tragedy of Japanese stories as well, which was a nice touch.
It loses a star because it has themes in it that I am not certain are appropriate for its audience, especially regarding "honourable suicide" and certain relationships. The ending in particular threw me off in that way. For an adult, these themes would be fine. For a young pre-teen or early teen, I'm uncertain. If you do end up getting this for your child, read it first. Every kid is different. Some might not be bothered by it, some might. You know your kid best.
Overall, it's good, but it's probably best for a more mature middle-grade reader.
September 18, 2020
I loved this book when I was young and so I looked it up here to see if anyone else had fond memories. Apparently it hasn't aged well. Reading about feudal Japan was very exciting to me and I loved Paterson's books about girls living in different times, Bridge to Terabithia was my least favorite of her books. I still enjoy this book very much. Takiko is a shallow character and the love story lacks depth but that's kind of the point. Her worth is in her beauty and she learns that glamour does not bring happiness. The fact that she marries her step-father in the end didn't seem as creepy to me as it did to other readers, either. He didn't enter her life until she was an adolescent, their marriage is convenient and he is the kindest person she has ever known and one who sees in her a lot more than just her face. Yes, she is young in the book but it's also 12th century Japan. I enjoyed this one around the same time I read "Catherine, called Birdy" and a lot of other historical young adult fiction, probably 11 or so.
August 9, 2017
Katherine Paterson's Of Nightingales That Weep is historical fiction dealing with the political situation in Japan during the Gempei War during the time period of approximately 1180 to 1185. The main character is a young girl named Takiko. Her samurai father is killed. Clan wars are taking place. She grows up both embracing and concealing her clan affiliations. She also deals with her mother's remarriage, growing into womanhood, and a clandestine romance with a young warrior in a forbidden clan.
While the end was a resolution that could realistically be chosen by a young woman at this time, I was a bit disappointed and saddened by the ending of the book.
While the end was a resolution that could realistically be chosen by a young woman at this time, I was a bit disappointed and saddened by the ending of the book.
January 11, 2020
If I could, my rating would be 0 stars.
There needs to be more context of the clans not just that they exist and have hatred towards each other. The context should be showed within the story not before the story begins (the historical note). Some chapters get boring to the point you want to skip them. Also the ending was rushed. The family died just for plot convinience and Takikos' reaction was none. The part where she decided to get married to have a safe place was creepy due to who she choose to stay with.
There needs to be more context of the clans not just that they exist and have hatred towards each other. The context should be showed within the story not before the story begins (the historical note). Some chapters get boring to the point you want to skip them. Also the ending was rushed. The family died just for plot convinience and Takikos' reaction was none. The part where she decided to get married to have a safe place was creepy due to who she choose to stay with.
April 21, 2020
Set in medieval Japan, the novel tells the story of Takiko, the 11-year-old daughter of a slain samurai warrior. Takiko’s mother remarries Goro, a gentle but unattractive potter/dwarf, whom Takiko fears. When she matures, Takiko finds employment in the court of the Heike Japanese emperor and falls in love with a Genji spy-Hideo. After the 6-year-old emperor suicides during the battle of Dan-no-ura, a scarred Takiko returns home and is able to reconcile her feelings towards Goro, eventually marrying him after her mother's death. Phoenix Award.
April 26, 2024
This is a rather interesting, if sobering, tale set in medieval Japan. Takiko ends up all over the place and doing all sorts of things to end up in a situation I never saw coming. While it's not a comfortable ending, it may be relatively realistic in the situation, even if it is a fictional story. She gets some time to shine with her koto playing, which is enjoyable. Her infatuation with Hideo is one of the oddest parts of the story given her relationship with Princess Aoi and the subsequent upheaval.
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