What do you think?
Rate this book
Der Samurai von Savannah
Als der japanische Matrose Hiro Tanaka irgendwo vor der Küste Georgias von Bord seines Frachters springt, trägt er außer einem Rettungsring nicht viel bei sich. Was ihm in Amerika blüht, hat er sich freilich nicht träumen lassen...
Ein tragikomischer Roman über die dramatische Begegnung zweier Kulturen.
Ein tragikomischer Roman über die dramatische Begegnung zweier Kulturen.
467 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
About the author
T. Coraghessan Boyle
208 books3,103 followersT. Coraghessan Boyle (also known as T.C. Boyle, is a U.S. novelist and short story writer. Since the late 1970s, he has published eighteen novels and twleve collections of short stories. He won the PEN/Faulkner award in 1988 for his third novel, World's End, which recounts 300 years in upstate New York. He is married with three children. Boyle has been a
Professor of English at the University of Southern California since 1978, when he founded the school's undergraduate creative writing program.
He grew up in the small town on the Hudson Valley that he regularly fictionalizes as Peterskill (as in widely anthologized short story Greasy Lake). Boyle changed his middle name when he was 17 and exclusively used Coraghessan for much of his career, but now also goes by T.C. Boyle.
Professor of English at the University of Southern California since 1978, when he founded the school's undergraduate creative writing program.
He grew up in the small town on the Hudson Valley that he regularly fictionalizes as Peterskill (as in widely anthologized short story Greasy Lake). Boyle changed his middle name when he was 17 and exclusively used Coraghessan for much of his career, but now also goes by T.C. Boyle.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 181 reviews
May 23, 2012
One thing T.C. Boyle does better than just about anyone else is tackling the Big Ideas™ without looking like he's tackling them. In East Is East Boyle gives us a story that, in summary, appears to be a straightforward genre exercise about a manhunt for a Japanese immigrant on a small island off the coast of Georgia. Of course what Boyle's really dealing with are issues like honor, the fickleness of art (and artists), American and Japanese prejudice, and the corrosive influence of jealousy. And, as with the rest of his work, the story is told in the graceful prose that Boyle does so well. This is something like the 8th book of his I've read, and I've yet to encounter one that isn't remarkable.
March 13, 2025
T.C. Boyle is a writer I have admired for many years. I have read and enjoyed several of his novels and short story collections and I always look forward to reading more of him. East Is East is, at the beginning, a somewhat humorous look at what happens when a 20-year old Japanese seaman jumps ship off the coast of Georgia in hopes of finding acceptance among the many races that abound in America. His name is Hiro and he has been scorned and ridiculed in Japan because he is a half-breed. His father was an American hippie who abandoned him and his mother when he was a baby. Hiro doesn't really know much about America other than what he has learned from TV, movies and pop music but he feels if he can make his way to a large American city such as "The City of Brotherly Love", he'll be able to fit in with the masses. But ultimately, Hiro is in trouble when he first sets foot on Topanga Island off the Georgia coast. He is hungry and alone and when he approaches a poor black resident cooking up some oysters, he doesn't expect to be attacked and the results leave Hiro on the lam from the law and the INS. He does finally find food at the cottage of a woman writer who is in residence at an artists' colony and she takes pity on him. But of course, this doesn't last and Hiro becomes the target of most everyone on the island.
When I first started reading this, I felt it had the feel of a Carl Hiaasen novel, full of humor and characters that deserved to be put in their place. Hiro was a character that you commiserate with and hope that he will be able to live his dreams. Another character, Ruth, the woman who befriends Hiro is also someone to root for. But the novel definitely has a darker side and is a harsh look at how we view outsiders. This story reminded me somewhat of one of my favorite Boyle novels, The Tortilla Curtain, which was also about an oppressed man who is on the run in America because he is from another culture and is misunderstood. Boyle is really a great wordsmith and I'll be looking forward to more.
When I first started reading this, I felt it had the feel of a Carl Hiaasen novel, full of humor and characters that deserved to be put in their place. Hiro was a character that you commiserate with and hope that he will be able to live his dreams. Another character, Ruth, the woman who befriends Hiro is also someone to root for. But the novel definitely has a darker side and is a harsh look at how we view outsiders. This story reminded me somewhat of one of my favorite Boyle novels, The Tortilla Curtain, which was also about an oppressed man who is on the run in America because he is from another culture and is misunderstood. Boyle is really a great wordsmith and I'll be looking forward to more.
January 24, 2008
This is the 4th TC Boyle book I have read and I gotta say, I don't like him. His books start out so great and the writing is beautiful but as a story teller phew. Around the middle of the story you start to have to make yourself finish the book and I have not liked one ending of any of his books. But hey that is just me. This is college core reading, just the kind of thing a lit prof would want you to read, and wish they had written.
September 4, 2009
I found this book to be thoroughly enjoyable from the first paragraph to the very last word. It was an easy read and a fun story but still had depth. It's the story of searching for one's identity and place in the world, of prejudice and preconceived notions, of misunderstandings. Hiro Tanaka is born in Japan to a Japanese mother and a white father who abandoned them before he was born. As a half-breed he is never accepted in Japan, so at the age of 20 he decides to get a job as a cook on a ship bound for America, where he has heard they will accept anyone. Unfortunately, things go badly and he ends up jumping ship off the coast of Georgia, finally coming to shore on swampy, confusing Tupelo Island. Meanwhile, Ruth Dershowitz is an aspiring author at an artist's colony on the island struggling to make her mark on the world. Their paths intertwine. I really enjoyed the way the story was told from the points of view of different characters--from the main characters to minor characters to very minor characters--which helped explain all of the misunderstandings and how even though everyone has good intentions, bad situations can still occur. A great story. I'd love to read more by this author.
November 10, 2014
Great T.C. Boyle style. Interesting characters. Satire and humor with pathos for the underdog.
Young mixed-blood Japanese seaman jumps ship off the Georgia coast and comes ashore on a swampy island inhabited by red-necks, negroes, and an elite creative artist and writers retreat. Hilarious and sad events involve his efforts to stay alive in the swamp, to get off the island. The contrasting cultures of Japan and the American south are on a collision course.
Young mixed-blood Japanese seaman jumps ship off the Georgia coast and comes ashore on a swampy island inhabited by red-necks, negroes, and an elite creative artist and writers retreat. Hilarious and sad events involve his efforts to stay alive in the swamp, to get off the island. The contrasting cultures of Japan and the American south are on a collision course.
January 21, 2016
I'm giving this book 3 stars, though I guess it would be closer to 3.5 stars if I could do that. Boyle is an amazing writer, with perfect analogies and atmospheric environmental descriptions, and the plot was generally exciting and well thought-out. But the book could have been shorter by cutting out some unnecessarily slow pacing and repetition. I liked it, I really did, but it just didn't hook me enough for me to round it up to 4 stars.
And now onto my general thoughts and ramblings while reading this book:
TC Boyle is really intriguing to me in that as far as I've seen, he always chooses a protagonist quite different than himself, usually a minority or some other disadvantaged or marginalized group. I sort of wonder how accurately he can really get into the worldview of an illegal immigrant, a deaf woman (not this book, I'm thinking of Talk Talk), or a Japanese "halfbreed" never able to find a place where he can fit in (this book's hero, Hiro).
And this book sort of raises this question too with Ruth, a struggling writer after the fame and recognition of her contemporaries with her in the artist commune, who secretly helps Hiro hide from the INS, both out of sympathy and because he helps her write her story about a Japanese woman. It's pretty clear that she can only think of Hiro within his connection to her own life, and that both Hiro and Ruth's weird story really suffer as a result. I can't imagine that Boyle didn't see the parallels between himself and Ruth, in that both attempt to speak from the perspective of someone so separate from their own reality.
Whether TC Boyle was successful or not in his portrayal of what it's like to be a mixed race person in a racist society is for someone else to say. But I will say it seems to me that he puts in a lot of effort getting into the head of all his protagonists. After reading Hiro's POV chapters I totally understand why he did what he did in the end, and I too pretty much hated all Americans, including myself, while reading his chapters. At the same time, though, I think it takes a little more than throwing in a lot of Japanese words and talking in great detail about food to create a fully formed character, and Hiro didn't quite make the cut.
Ruth was particularly interesting to me because I detested her but had spent so much time in her head that I understood her. By the end I also passionately hated Jane Shine, even though I knew Ruth was just petty and self-absorbed. I think it takes a lot of skill to get me to relate so much to such an annoying character to the point that I even start hating myself. Boyle seemed to convey Ruth's character with a lot more nuance than he does Hiro's. Maybe that was the point though, in naming him Hiro.
And now onto my general thoughts and ramblings while reading this book:
TC Boyle is really intriguing to me in that as far as I've seen, he always chooses a protagonist quite different than himself, usually a minority or some other disadvantaged or marginalized group. I sort of wonder how accurately he can really get into the worldview of an illegal immigrant, a deaf woman (not this book, I'm thinking of Talk Talk), or a Japanese "halfbreed" never able to find a place where he can fit in (this book's hero, Hiro).
And this book sort of raises this question too with Ruth, a struggling writer after the fame and recognition of her contemporaries with her in the artist commune, who secretly helps Hiro hide from the INS, both out of sympathy and because he helps her write her story about a Japanese woman. It's pretty clear that she can only think of Hiro within his connection to her own life, and that both Hiro and Ruth's weird story really suffer as a result. I can't imagine that Boyle didn't see the parallels between himself and Ruth, in that both attempt to speak from the perspective of someone so separate from their own reality.
Whether TC Boyle was successful or not in his portrayal of what it's like to be a mixed race person in a racist society is for someone else to say. But I will say it seems to me that he puts in a lot of effort getting into the head of all his protagonists. After reading Hiro's POV chapters I totally understand why he did what he did in the end, and I too pretty much hated all Americans, including myself, while reading his chapters. At the same time, though, I think it takes a little more than throwing in a lot of Japanese words and talking in great detail about food to create a fully formed character, and Hiro didn't quite make the cut.
Ruth was particularly interesting to me because I detested her but had spent so much time in her head that I understood her. By the end I also passionately hated Jane Shine, even though I knew Ruth was just petty and self-absorbed. I think it takes a lot of skill to get me to relate so much to such an annoying character to the point that I even start hating myself. Boyle seemed to convey Ruth's character with a lot more nuance than he does Hiro's. Maybe that was the point though, in naming him Hiro.
November 24, 2021
סיימתי את הספר בקושי רב. ספר נכתב בשנות ה-90 , טרגיקומדיה יותר טרגי לדעתי, על אי סבלנות כלפי האחר ושנאת זרים . הנושא חשוב אבל .. ספר משעמם , מרובה בדמויות . כן עיניין אותי ״ אז מה יהיה בסוף״ אבל לא מעט פעמים רציתי לפרוש או לעבור ישר לסוף וזהו.
December 21, 2020
Sofern ich die Sache richtig einschätze ist dieser Roman damals bei der Kritik nicht besonders angekommen und inzwischen mehr oder weniger vergessen. Nachvollziehen kann ich das nicht. Sicher, „Der Samurai von Savannah“ ist ganz bestimmt nicht T.C. Boyles bester Roman, und auch nicht der komplexeste oder gar der tiefgründigste. Möglicherweise aber der lustigste! Ich habe jedenfalls schon lange nicht mehr beim Lesen eines Buches so oft und so laut gelacht, und das kann ja schon mal kein schlechtes Zeichen sein.
Wenn man den Roman nicht mag könnte man ihm vorwerfen dass hier alles gnadenlos überzeichnet sei, die meisten Charaktere lediglich Karikaturen und die Handlung in vielen Punkten wenig wahrscheinlich. Stimmt alles, macht aber überhaupt nichts, da das ganze Buch von Anfang an klar erkennbar als grelle Satire angelegt ist, eine entsprechende Verfilmung durch die Coen-Brüder hätte sich eigentlich geradezu aufgedrängt.
Wer also große Literatur will sollte lieber zu einem anderen Buch Boyles greifen, „World's End“ böte sich hier an, wem aber der Sinn nach einem vollkommen überdrehten, dabei aber trotzdem ausgesprochen intelligenten, außerordentlich unterhaltsamen, extrem witzigen, selbstverständlich großartig geschriebenen (und übersetzten) Roman steht mit dem man einfach perfekt abschalten kann, sollte unbedingt mal einen Versuch mit „East is East“ wagen!
Wenn man den Roman nicht mag könnte man ihm vorwerfen dass hier alles gnadenlos überzeichnet sei, die meisten Charaktere lediglich Karikaturen und die Handlung in vielen Punkten wenig wahrscheinlich. Stimmt alles, macht aber überhaupt nichts, da das ganze Buch von Anfang an klar erkennbar als grelle Satire angelegt ist, eine entsprechende Verfilmung durch die Coen-Brüder hätte sich eigentlich geradezu aufgedrängt.
Wer also große Literatur will sollte lieber zu einem anderen Buch Boyles greifen, „World's End“ böte sich hier an, wem aber der Sinn nach einem vollkommen überdrehten, dabei aber trotzdem ausgesprochen intelligenten, außerordentlich unterhaltsamen, extrem witzigen, selbstverständlich großartig geschriebenen (und übersetzten) Roman steht mit dem man einfach perfekt abschalten kann, sollte unbedingt mal einen Versuch mit „East is East“ wagen!
August 30, 2021
This was very much like Totilla Curtain—the undocumented alien a fugative in an unwelcoming, hostile, unforgiving foreign land. The charactonymous Hiro Tanaka driven by the samuri code meets the equally aptly named Ruth Dershowitz, venal, amoral, manipulative and self-delusional, both pursuing their idea of the American Dream in the great American swamp.
March 1, 2017
This was a very interesting read with T.C Boyle's usual raw imagery and quirky story line. Although I wasn't drawn into it immediately, there came a point where I suddenly couldn't put it down. A gripping multicultural story about travel and identity.
September 29, 2021
T.C. Boyle usually has quite the way with words and analogies, his writing is almost flawless. While I LOVED the many other books he has written, this one fell a bit short. I guess I would have liked it to be a bit more fast paced and less detailed about characters who didn't really matter.
September 28, 2016
Read this long long ago and the memory is dimming. Another T.C/. Boyle with lovely lovely writing and his typically 90 degree off normal slant on things.
February 5, 2017
Quizá es el más flojo de Boyle pero es un 5 estrellas IGUAL porque es un Boyle y cualquier Boyle es siempre GENIAL.
October 4, 2021
El segundo que leo de este autor y cada vez me gusta más. Es como descubrir de nuevo a John Irving pero con más mala leche y un sentido del humor más negro.
«Mientras vivimos, la muerte es irrelevante; cuando estamos muertos, no existimos. No hay razón para temer a la muerte».
«Mientras vivimos, la muerte es irrelevante; cuando estamos muertos, no existimos. No hay razón para temer a la muerte».
May 4, 2026
What a sad ending, though in a warped way, Hiro kind of triumphed eventually.
June 22, 2020
Read this for the first time 30 years ago. Not Boyle’s best but still very inventive and entertaining.
December 24, 2011
(this is volume two of a strange coincidental random three-book tour of the waterlands of the SE United States, starting with the beaches of South Carolina [in the execrably maudlin goo-fest that is David Baldacci's "One Summer"], then traveling further south to the islands (and the vast Okefenokee Swamp) girding Savannah, Georgia [in this book, "East is East"], and finally landing in South Florida around the 10,000 Islands/Lake Okeechobee swamplands [in {duh} Swamplandia!, wonderfully whimsical])
*sigh* As I was trying to come up with a even-handed review for "East Is East" (one of TC Boyle's earlier works which I put off reading just because I hated the goofy cover), a review that wouldn't come off as biased, I found I just can't do it. I'm a TC Boyle fan. For every negative comment against Boyle's writing (no matter how accurate), I'd probably counter the supposition with "yeah, maybe; but I'd rather read Boyle at his worst than most at their best". I totally acknowledge many of his books (despite their wildly varied subject material) adhere to a cookie-cutter formula with clearly defined good guys and bad guys, and more often than not, a political stance all-but-neon'ed upon Boyle's sleeve. Doesn't matter if it's a topic I've no interest in, or a political opinion that runs counter to mine: I just like the guy's writing.
So, back to "East Is East": a curious amalgam of two of Boyle's later novels ("The Tortilla Curtain", about illegal immigration to the US and its direct effect in Southern California; and "When the Killing's Done", about biodiversity in the Channel Islands off Santa Barbara). It doesn't particularly bother me that many of his novels resemble others...in fact, if anything, it serves to cement my respect for him, that although some are quite similar in tone and structure, Doyle consistently throws curveballs that rarely fail to find their target.
Our protagonist in this one, Hiro (get it?), a half-Japanese/half-gaijin (American) who'd experienced daily ostracism an prejudice from his fellow Japanese for appearing "too Western" (aquiline nose and hulking appearance), decides to get work on a commercial ocean freighter hauling goods from Asia to Savannah, GA, gets in a fight with the ship's head cook for screwing up the preparation of some traditional Japanese soup, gets thrown in the brig, escapes and jumps ship, swims/floats to Tupelo Island, GA, and thus starts a brand new odyssey of degradation and discrimination, far far worse than that which he suffered in Japan. He gets the Tupelo islanders (an odd mix of Gullah blacks, stereotypical redneck Southerners, and moneyed elite) all up in arms over some of his actions after landing on the island, eliciting the arrival of two of the most inept Nerf-brains ever put on government payroll, under the auspices of the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service...now referred to post-Homeland Security as ICE). When a starving, bedraggled, manhunted Hiro stumbles upon an art colony on the island, where he's harbored as a fugitive by girlfriend of the son of the owner of this colony. Hijinks ensue, leading the action off the island and into the mainrand's (sp) Okefenokee Swamp.
Despite the rather bleak subject matter, this was one of Boyle's funniest novels. Predictably, though, much of the comedy stems from pratfalls of the two bumbling turds representing the INS. It's these over-the-top buffoons (one a Vietnam Vet, the other a lazy racist with a penchant for slinging around the Asian N-word epithet in describing our "slant-eyed" AADAA (INS-ese for Armed and Dangerous Alien Amok). Stereotypes are held under the microscope in such fine resolution that they're almost too painful to read, as abrasive as the swamp sawgrass abrading (or leeches perforating) Hiro's fair skin.
But don't blame me for this four-star review; in the spirit of full disclosure: I done tole you I wuz a Boyle junkee. If you get hooked, tha's on you, not me, man.
*sigh* As I was trying to come up with a even-handed review for "East Is East" (one of TC Boyle's earlier works which I put off reading just because I hated the goofy cover), a review that wouldn't come off as biased, I found I just can't do it. I'm a TC Boyle fan. For every negative comment against Boyle's writing (no matter how accurate), I'd probably counter the supposition with "yeah, maybe; but I'd rather read Boyle at his worst than most at their best". I totally acknowledge many of his books (despite their wildly varied subject material) adhere to a cookie-cutter formula with clearly defined good guys and bad guys, and more often than not, a political stance all-but-neon'ed upon Boyle's sleeve. Doesn't matter if it's a topic I've no interest in, or a political opinion that runs counter to mine: I just like the guy's writing.
So, back to "East Is East": a curious amalgam of two of Boyle's later novels ("The Tortilla Curtain", about illegal immigration to the US and its direct effect in Southern California; and "When the Killing's Done", about biodiversity in the Channel Islands off Santa Barbara). It doesn't particularly bother me that many of his novels resemble others...in fact, if anything, it serves to cement my respect for him, that although some are quite similar in tone and structure, Doyle consistently throws curveballs that rarely fail to find their target.
Our protagonist in this one, Hiro (get it?), a half-Japanese/half-gaijin (American) who'd experienced daily ostracism an prejudice from his fellow Japanese for appearing "too Western" (aquiline nose and hulking appearance), decides to get work on a commercial ocean freighter hauling goods from Asia to Savannah, GA, gets in a fight with the ship's head cook for screwing up the preparation of some traditional Japanese soup, gets thrown in the brig, escapes and jumps ship, swims/floats to Tupelo Island, GA, and thus starts a brand new odyssey of degradation and discrimination, far far worse than that which he suffered in Japan. He gets the Tupelo islanders (an odd mix of Gullah blacks, stereotypical redneck Southerners, and moneyed elite) all up in arms over some of his actions after landing on the island, eliciting the arrival of two of the most inept Nerf-brains ever put on government payroll, under the auspices of the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service...now referred to post-Homeland Security as ICE). When a starving, bedraggled, manhunted Hiro stumbles upon an art colony on the island, where he's harbored as a fugitive by girlfriend of the son of the owner of this colony. Hijinks ensue, leading the action off the island and into the mainrand's (sp) Okefenokee Swamp.
Despite the rather bleak subject matter, this was one of Boyle's funniest novels. Predictably, though, much of the comedy stems from pratfalls of the two bumbling turds representing the INS. It's these over-the-top buffoons (one a Vietnam Vet, the other a lazy racist with a penchant for slinging around the Asian N-word epithet in describing our "slant-eyed" AADAA (INS-ese for Armed and Dangerous Alien Amok). Stereotypes are held under the microscope in such fine resolution that they're almost too painful to read, as abrasive as the swamp sawgrass abrading (or leeches perforating) Hiro's fair skin.
But don't blame me for this four-star review; in the spirit of full disclosure: I done tole you I wuz a Boyle junkee. If you get hooked, tha's on you, not me, man.
December 24, 2018
Somewhere, and I don’t know where, I got the conviction in my head that there’s a good writer inside T.C. Boyle. The best I can figure it’s a combination of hope and approval of his choice to go with high-concept novel ideas instead of mulling on themes like divorce, being horny for the wrong people, the usual ideas that spur “literary fiction.” I read “The Inner Cycle” and it wasn’t great but it was an interesting premise, doing a novel about Kinsey and his group.
Truth be told, “East is East” doesn’t even have an especially interesting premise. A Japanese sailor named Hiro (get it?! I wonder if Boyle and Neal Stephenson read each other) jumps ship on a real rural, real purty island off of the coast of Georgia inhabited by all kinds of bucolic yokels, and also a writer’s colony. I’ve been told this a novel about stereotypes. That’s basically right- whatever there is in terms of Hiro or the other characters reacting to others based on stereotypes, the characters themselves are also flat cardboard cutouts- the honorable idealistic young Japanese, backbiting pretentious writers, assorted rustics. Other than the rustics it’s not like the characterizations are especially damning. They’re just boring. The writer stuff especially was disappointing- the biggest, easiest target for an up-and-comer (at the time) like Boyle, and he just whiffs it. I just finished the book last night and I can barely remember it.
Am I alone in detecting a certain strand of late-80s/early-90s literary writing where whimsicality in prose and high-concept, sometimes genre situations covers up for a whole not of nothing happening to flat characters? Walker Percy gets close to that in “The Thanatos Syndrome.” You’ve got Tom Robbins. Tom Wolfe- “East is East” was compared to “Bonfire of the Vanities,” which I also despised. Ishmael Reed’s eighties novels are definitely a lot flatter than the rest of his work. I feel like there’s others. The End of History era wasn’t great for literature, either, it seems. It all seems like setup for David Foster Wallace to come along with his GRE words and vast tragic self-importance to identify himself with the umpteenth version of “the new sincerity…” Anyway. This was bad. Don’t bother with it. I might continue my quest to see if there’s a good T.C. Boyle book but at this point more to test my hypothesis on high-middlebrow flatness in the late twentieth century. *
Truth be told, “East is East” doesn’t even have an especially interesting premise. A Japanese sailor named Hiro (get it?! I wonder if Boyle and Neal Stephenson read each other) jumps ship on a real rural, real purty island off of the coast of Georgia inhabited by all kinds of bucolic yokels, and also a writer’s colony. I’ve been told this a novel about stereotypes. That’s basically right- whatever there is in terms of Hiro or the other characters reacting to others based on stereotypes, the characters themselves are also flat cardboard cutouts- the honorable idealistic young Japanese, backbiting pretentious writers, assorted rustics. Other than the rustics it’s not like the characterizations are especially damning. They’re just boring. The writer stuff especially was disappointing- the biggest, easiest target for an up-and-comer (at the time) like Boyle, and he just whiffs it. I just finished the book last night and I can barely remember it.
Am I alone in detecting a certain strand of late-80s/early-90s literary writing where whimsicality in prose and high-concept, sometimes genre situations covers up for a whole not of nothing happening to flat characters? Walker Percy gets close to that in “The Thanatos Syndrome.” You’ve got Tom Robbins. Tom Wolfe- “East is East” was compared to “Bonfire of the Vanities,” which I also despised. Ishmael Reed’s eighties novels are definitely a lot flatter than the rest of his work. I feel like there’s others. The End of History era wasn’t great for literature, either, it seems. It all seems like setup for David Foster Wallace to come along with his GRE words and vast tragic self-importance to identify himself with the umpteenth version of “the new sincerity…” Anyway. This was bad. Don’t bother with it. I might continue my quest to see if there’s a good T.C. Boyle book but at this point more to test my hypothesis on high-middlebrow flatness in the late twentieth century. *
July 8, 2026
It is not often (these days) I add something to my yuck shelf. (This is the first one in a long time)- I have tried to both be fair with other writers and also, the first yuck purge was of books I have mostly had political hardships with.
This book however I felt was pretty gross. This might be an accomplishment of itself for some writers, it does not wash though in my universe. I am not going to tell you the ending so I don't "spoil your experience" but it is in the realm of other books that left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Surely some of the postures the book takes are interesting, juxtaposing southern American racism vs. Japanese, but, people are people pretty much everywhere, and I couldn't feel sorry as I had hoped for at the end for the Hiro [sic].
I suppose literary defenders of Mr Boyle's genius would despise me for saying it, but I found this to be a long way to go for a predictable letdown. Kind of like a few other books I won't name, again, but that used to share the yuck shelf.
This book however I felt was pretty gross. This might be an accomplishment of itself for some writers, it does not wash though in my universe. I am not going to tell you the ending so I don't "spoil your experience" but it is in the realm of other books that left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Surely some of the postures the book takes are interesting, juxtaposing southern American racism vs. Japanese, but, people are people pretty much everywhere, and I couldn't feel sorry as I had hoped for at the end for the Hiro [sic].
I suppose literary defenders of Mr Boyle's genius would despise me for saying it, but I found this to be a long way to go for a predictable letdown. Kind of like a few other books I won't name, again, but that used to share the yuck shelf.
September 15, 2011
Started out strongly but somewhere along the way I feel Boyle lost his focus. American culture viewed through Japanese eyes was done so well in the beginning, but devolved into simple mispronunciations (really . . . mainrand?). It seems this was done to make room for lengthy depictions of Ruth coming to terms with her own insecurities; not a terrible exploration in and of itself, but quite disappointing in the context of what I was led to believe this novel would depict.
This was not, as the NY Times blurb on the back cover says "a pastoral version of The Bonfire of the Vanaties" but more of a sloppy "I Am Charlotte Simmons"*. While some of the passages were fun reading, the novel ultimately fails to live up to it's potential.
*Hmmmmm . . . perhaps Tom Wolfe noticed the reference to his novel, read this one, then . . . nah, couldn't be!
This was not, as the NY Times blurb on the back cover says "a pastoral version of The Bonfire of the Vanaties" but more of a sloppy "I Am Charlotte Simmons"*. While some of the passages were fun reading, the novel ultimately fails to live up to it's potential.
*Hmmmmm . . . perhaps Tom Wolfe noticed the reference to his novel, read this one, then . . . nah, couldn't be!
May 7, 2019
This was my choice for my family book club read and boy was I disappointed. I really like the other books I've read by TC Boyle so I specifically chose one of his. I guess it shows that this is one of his earlier works; he comes off as a little arrogant. The mother who is (only) celebrating her 71st birthday is described as so old to be almost on her death bed; none of the characters are likable, there is a lot of cultural stereotyping going on, it's not clear to whom this story actually belongs, it's not funny and not a lot happens. Added to this, the Japanese character is left locked first in a sort-of jail cell and then in a sweltering hot car trunk for about 24 hours without a. dying and b. having to pee. Some of the other book club members found it more enjoyable than I did which made me feel less guilty about making them read it.
October 4, 2010
Hmm, not sure how I feel about this book.
I did like the writing a lot; I have a really good picture in my head of the island and the houses and people and the food and everything--it's all very lush and southern and jungly-steamy.
On the other hand, the plot. Idiot Japanese guy (who is obsessed with Mishima, which is kind of like being obsessed with Ayn Rand) is sort of shipwrecked and crashing around in the underbrush, and a bunch of idiot Americans think he's some kind of dangerous criminal, ha ha.
Plus there's this whole writer colony thing, where the writers are vain and pretentious, ha ha.
And one of the writers (who is not very good, but is hot?) runs into the Japanese guy, and takes care of him, and has sex with him, ha ha?
I did like the writing a lot; I have a really good picture in my head of the island and the houses and people and the food and everything--it's all very lush and southern and jungly-steamy.
On the other hand, the plot. Idiot Japanese guy (who is obsessed with Mishima, which is kind of like being obsessed with Ayn Rand) is sort of shipwrecked and crashing around in the underbrush, and a bunch of idiot Americans think he's some kind of dangerous criminal, ha ha.
Plus there's this whole writer colony thing, where the writers are vain and pretentious, ha ha.
And one of the writers (who is not very good, but is hot?) runs into the Japanese guy, and takes care of him, and has sex with him, ha ha?
February 28, 2017
I read this book because Stepehn King mentioned it in his biography. He described life in the Thanatopsis artist colony and that made me want to read the whole story. The story was interesting enough to finish it in a few days and I liked the way Boyle used japanese words in Hiros chapters. But Ruth Dershowitz... she was annoying. The woman lives in a perfect world for every writer an all she's concerned about is her social status and her looks. Interesting because you learn about japanese culture but in the end, not my piece of cake.
November 15, 2008
Read this a while ago. A satire of pretentious writers and the barriers to cross-cultural understanding. A Japanese sailor is tossed off his ship and winds up in the Georgia swamp where he is mistaken for a criminal. Meanwhile, a group of authors gather at an old mansion for readings, gossip, and backstabbing insults and criticism. I generally like Boyle's stuff, but this one was to the downside of good.
February 14, 2013
T.C. Boyle is one hell of a writer. Only problem is he's got no soul. What he is is a phony and a strutting showoff (the fact that he made up his middle name, "Coraghessan"--said he "liked the sound of it"--is very telling). Despite his obvious talents, Boyle's lack of empathy for his characters (they're more props than people) makes him little more than a highly skilled word technician.
September 22, 2018
This is the first TC Boyle book that I have read. Boyle can write beautifully and he has a great sense of the quirks of personality in his characters. This book has depth beyond the words and humor. The racism that has again raised its ugly head here in the US is reflected in this book and the illegal immigrant subject is of our daily headlines. Quirky book, good plot line and great writing.
September 8, 2024
The last three chapters are strong. I felt for Hiro (the “hero”, get it?). His search for connection collided with AAPI hate and racism throughout the book, and finally came together for an emotional, tragic ending. If this were a three-chapter short story, I would have loved it.
Everything before it is slow moving and the characters are flat. Almost DNF.
Everything before it is slow moving and the characters are flat. Almost DNF.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 22, 2016
After finishing this book, I am wondering why I thought Boyle was a great writer. It started out fairly humorous, but halfway into it his plot timing started dragging. By the last one-hundred pages I was wishing it would end. In the final fifty I was hating it and sorry I ever picked it up.
March 15, 2025
My first T.C. Boyle and I quite liked it. Lots of description. Made me feel I was there. Made me love his use of language. Some parts made me angry. But I’m glad he kept it all real. No sugarcoating anything.
Worth a read
Worth a read
October 18, 2007
the colorful characters and almost outlandish premise would make for an entertaining screenplay!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 181 reviews