Status Updates From No-No Boy

good so far

i also didn’t really like how he used Emi as a character either. she was only there to show ichiro how he can turn his life around and he was not all the best to her. and the fact that she was introduced from kenji to make them sleep together is nott it. all the women in the novel didn’t have substance when there was so much to them that could have been written out. one of my biggest pet peeves.

i also didn’t like how she was the big representation of Japanese culture in a negative light. and that chapter when they visited other families that mainly focused on the irrationality of the women, didn’t sit right with me. and the fact that the mom dies and he feels instant relief, symbolizes the death of rigid his Japaneseness in himself to finally move forward. not a good storyline tactic.

while it was a new type of read and gave me insight into Japanese American culture after WWII, i couldn’t help but feel misogyny through the books. like the hatred and resentment he has for his mom irks me, and he never treats his dad the same way his mom. while yeah maybe she wasn’t the best character there’s no reason for her to hate and treat her that way.

i have finished. it was 251 pages long and i started maybe a week and a half ago. it was an interesting perspective to read: ichiro is very cynical and self loathing for both the right and wrong reasons. he has so much anger built up and hopelessness, understandably so, but the characters through out the novel attempt to show him the outskirts of this perspective.