An appealing historical novel of World War II.
In Ohno’s debut novel inspired by true events, an American soldier must convince a group of Japanese holdouts on a remote island that World War II has ended.
In 1991, U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. James B. Johnson is enjoying a pleasant retirement in Florida after a long career in the military; however, he finds himself haunted by an incident that occurred several years after the end of World War II. In the spring of 1944, two Japanese supply ships, the Hyosukemaru and the Akebonomaru, embarked on a journey from Yokohama, Japan, to Truk, part of the Caroline Islands in the South Pacific. But as the ships approached the island of Anatahan, they faced an American air attack. Survivors from the two ships made their way to the island; a group from a third ship, the Kaihomaru, soon joined them. With the war still raging and little hope of rescue, the group, which included soldiers, sailors and a woman named Kazuko Higa, struggled to survive under harsh conditions. Years passed, and in 1950, the group was still there, unwilling to accept that the war was over and Japan had surrendered. After U.S. forces’ attempts to convince the holdouts failed, Johnson crafted a plan that he hoped would encourage them to leave. Ohno’s engaging narrative offers a complex portrait of both Johnson and the castaways, alternating the U.S. soldier’s story with those of the Japanese survivors. Through extended flashbacks, letters and military reports, the novel explores multiple perspectives, helping readers understand the reasons why the survivors remained. Giles Murray’s crisp translation from the Japanese keeps the frequent shifts in time and perspective clear and understandable. Although Johnson’s memories provide the novel’s basic framework, the heart of the story belongs to Kazuko, the only female survivor. Her story is harrowing but compelling, as she’s forced by circumstances to use any available means to survive.
An appealing historical novel of World War II.Pub Date: March 15, 2014
ISBN: 978-0983951384
Page Count: 425
Publisher: Bento Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 21, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.
Coelho is a Brazilian writer with four books to his credit. Following Diary of a Magus (1992—not reviewed) came this book, published in Brazil in 1988: it's an interdenominational, transcendental, inspirational fable—in other words, a bag of wind.
The story is about a youth empowered to follow his dream. Santiago is an Andalusian shepherd boy who learns through a dream of a treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. An old man, the king of Salem, the first of various spiritual guides, tells the boy that he has discovered his destiny: "to realize one's destiny is a person's only real obligation." So Santiago sells his sheep, sails to Tangier, is tricked out of his money, regains it through hard work, crosses the desert with a caravan, stops at an oasis long enough to fall in love, escapes from warring tribesmen by performing a miracle, reaches the pyramids, and eventually gets both the gold and the girl. Along the way he meets an Englishman who describes the Soul of the World; the desert woman Fatima, who teaches him the Language of the World; and an alchemist who says, "Listen to your heart" A message clings like ivy to every encounter; everyone, but everyone, has to put in their two cents' worth, from the crystal merchant to the camel driver ("concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man"). The absence of characterization and overall blandness suggest authorship by a committee of self-improvement pundits—a far cry from Saint- Exupery's The Little Prince: that flagship of the genre was a genuine charmer because it clearly derived from a quirky, individual sensibility.
Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.Pub Date: July 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-06-250217-4
Page Count: 192
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1993
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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