A draft dodger’s experiences during and following WWII stimulate a searching criticism of the psychology of rebellion in this superb 1966 novel by the Japanese author of, among others, Singular Rebellion (1990). Maruya observes protagonist Shokichi Hamada both in 1945, when he eludes conscription and travels throughout his country incognito, and 20 years later, when Hamada, who has renamed himself Sugiura, works as a registry clerk at a prestigious small university, attempts to recapture his discarded identity, and at last pays the price for his dereliction from duty. Hamada’s—and the novel’s—criticisms of Japanese militarism and emperor-worship are indeed scathing. But the great achievement here is that these are balanced by unrelenting analyses of the weaknesses in Hamada’s character, the further damage he has done to himself by living a buried life, and his genuinely mixed feelings about his country and culture and their claims on his allegiance. A masterly realistic novel, and one of the best out of the Far East in many years.
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-231-12658-1
Page Count: 345
Publisher: Columbia Univ.
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2002
Ten years in the workaday progress of a New York Mafia sort of family dynasty tale with all the attendant flurries of great houses at war. Don Corleone is ruler of the Family, avenger and dispenser of favors, from judges boughten verdicts to rub-outs among the fiefdoms. The noble Don ages and there is the nagging worry as to who shall carry on. Eldest son Sonny is too impetuous; Freddie is a fornicator; Michael fancies a teaching career with his Yankee bride. Along with the manipulative, diplomatic and skull-smashing demands of the Eastern empire of real estate, manufacturing, and gambling, there is always the threat of treachery from within one unfortunate example of which snuffs out Sonny by the Jones Beach toll booths. Michael, forgetting the scholar's life, pumps bullets in revenge, is sent to Italy, and is finally returned miraculously intact after assassination attempts. It is Michael, after the Don's near murder and eventual death from heart failure who reasserts the Family as Number One in a coup which includes the garrotting of a traitorous brother-in-law. The scene roams from coast to coast, provides glimpses of the sex/love tangles of the Ladies Auxiliary, family fun and cosy Italian fiestas, boppings, bashings, shootings, hackings. A Mafia Whiteoaks, bound for popularity, once you get past the author's barely concealed admiration for the "ethics" and postulates of primitive power plays.
Pub Date: March 10, 1969
ISBN: 0451205766
Page Count: 472
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: April 9, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1969
BOOK TO SCREEN
More about grief and tragedy than romance.
Five friends meet on their first day of kindergarten at the exclusive Atwood School and remain lifelong friends through tragedy and triumph.
When Gabby, Billy, Izzie, Andy and Sean meet in the toy kitchen of the kindergarten classroom on their first day of school, no one can know how strong the group’s friendship will remain. Despite their different personalities and interests, the five grow up together and become even closer as they come into their own talents and life paths. But tragedy will strike and strike again. Family troubles, abusive parents, drugs, alcohol, stress, grief and even random bad luck will put pressure on each of them individually and as a group. Known for her emotional romances, Steel makes a bit of a departure with this effort that follows a group of friends through young adulthood. But even as one tragedy after another befalls the friends, the impact of the events is blunted by a distant narrative style that lacks emotional intensity.
More about grief and tragedy than romance.Pub Date: July 24, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-385-34321-3
Page Count: 322
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Nov. 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2012
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