Title: When the Emperor was Divine
Author: Julie Otsuka
Publication: October 14, 2003
Series or Standalone: Standalone
Paperback or Hardback: Paperback
Acquired: Bought used from Second and Charles
Pages: 144
Rating: 5 stars
Summary:
On a sunny day in Berkeley, California, in 1942, a woman sees a sign in a post office window, returns to her home, and matter-of-factly begins to pack her family's possessions. Like thousands of other Japanese Americans they have been reclassified, virtually overnight, as enemy aliens and are about to be uprooted from their home and sent to a dusty internment camp in the Utah desert.
In this lean and devastatingly evocative first novel, Julie Otsuka tells their story from five flawlessly realized points of view and conveys the exact emotional texture of their experience: the thin-walled barracks and barbed-wire fences, the omnipresent fear and loneliness, the unheralded feats of heroism. When the Emperor Was Divine is a work of enormous power that makes a shameful episode of our history as immediate as today's headlines.
Review:
When the Emperor was Divine is the companion novel to The Buddha in the Attic which was written first and is her debut novel. I decided to be informed on the back story before I read her first book and I stand by this decision.
I have not read any books in the fiction genre that deal with the existence of the internment camps for Japanese Americans so this novel immediately peaked my interest. I was not sure what to expect but I was certainly not disappointed. The most gripping thing about this novel is that the main characters do not have names and all the other minor characters have an identity and are acknowledged by the main characters. This goes along with the theme of the story in which the people who were put in these camps by the U.S. government were stripped of their identity. In order to "prove" that they were not spies they were forced to strip down their heritage and denounce all ties to their family back in Japan.
I loved all of the characters and we get to see a little bit from the point of view of the mother, the sister, the brother, and the father. The father was already in a camp at the beginning of the story so we don't really hear from his point of view for a while except through the letters that he sends to his family. The rest of the family is packing up their house in anticipation of being sent to a different internment camp in the middle of the desert. The two children in the beginning are able to keep up their morale and handle things with that sense of childlike wonder and innocence. They understand that they have to go away from home but they do not understand the full significance of what is going on in the world and in the United States. Overall the book does a great job depicting the fear and hopelessness that the people in these camps felt while they were there. I liked that the story continued on after their release and showed the struggles that the main characters faced when they returned home. People were still not very accepting of them because of their heritage which only added to their sadness and loss of identity. The author also focuses on the family unit which is an element that I love to be included in books. I won't say a whole lot on that subject because I do not want to spoil the book for you.
Overall I absolutely adored this book and I read all of it in one sitting so I know that it was good. I highly recommend this book and I hope to read more by this author and more books on this subject.
Happy Reading!
Title: The Humans
Author: Matt Haig
Publication: July 3, 2013
Series or Standalone: Standalone
Paperback or Hardback: Hardback
Acquired: Bought used from Second & Charles
Pages: 285
Rating: 5 stars
Summary:
Body-snatching has never been so heartwarming . . .
The Humans is a funny, compulsively readable novel about alien abduction, mathematics, and that most interesting subject of all: ourselves. Combine Douglas Adams’s irreverent take on life, the universe, and everything with a genuinely moving love story, and you have some idea of the humor, originality, and poignancy of Matt Haig’s latest novel.
Our hero, Professor Andrew Martin, is dead before the book even begins. As it turns out, though, he wasn’t a very nice man--as the alien imposter who now occupies his body discovers. Sent to Earth to destroy evidence that Andrew had solved a major mathematical problem, the alien soon finds himself learning more about the professor, his family, and “the humans” than he ever expected. When he begins to fall for his own wife and son--who have no idea he’s not the real Andrew--the alien must choose between completing his mission and returning home or finding a new home right here on Earth.
Review:
Overall I thought this book was very well done and it definitely had more than a few heart-warming moments. I was recommended this book by one of my friends who warned me that it was a tear-jerker and to be prepared... I did not really see it this way. Yes, there were some touching moments and the character development was top notch, but it did not bring me to tears.
The only problem that I really had with this book was the writing style. It was done in a play on stream of consciousness that I felt did not really work with this book. There are some books where it works and when done right can be very powerful. That was not the case here in my opinion. However, having an engaging storyline and characters that gripped you saved this book from being a flop.
The story pulls you in from the very beginning and continues on a fairly steady pace. I was happy to see that at no point during the story did the plot-line reach a plateau and the author sink into pages of absolute nothing. That is the kiss of death for a book. The character development that are main protagonist undergoes is extraordinary. He really seems to capture what it means to be human, flaws and all. He also learns what it means to love and be loved. I feel that it this aspect of him learning how to be human and what all that entails that gave the book the heart-warming moments. You see the alien become a better human than the man that he was impersonating and you also get to see the effects that this transformation has on his family members.
Without this type of character development the story would have flat and one-dimensional. This was a necessity for this book. I rated The Humans five stars because I did enjoy the plot-line and I loved the characters, even if I did have a hard time with the writing style. This was a great read and I do highly recommend this book.
Happy Reading!
Let me be very clear in that I am going to try and persuade you to go the route of pre-loved. Normally, I just offer my opinion on a subject without persuading one way or another but today I will persuade. By the end of this post hopefully you will google used bookshops in your area and have a "me" day with some books that will find a new loving home.
Here are some reasons why you should buy used:
1) They are cheaper. Let's just be honest in the end it all comes to money and it is also a fact that used books are cheaper. Therefore when you have a set amount of money that you can spend on books you can get more bang for your buck.
2) The thrill of the hunt. A new bestseller comes out, you want the book, you go to the bookstore, you buy the book. Easy and satisfying. However, what you did not get to experience is the thrill of trying to find that book in the midst of a sea of books just waiting for you to read.
3) You get to discover new authors. You are standing there at a thrift store and you see a book with an interesting cover so you pick it up and read the synopses. Sounds pretty good and then you see that it is only $1, so you scrounge up some change and voila you have just discovered a book that you might have overlooked at a bookstore that only sells new books. Sometimes the book is not that great, cause you know people get rid of books they don't want and then there are other times when you fall in love with the book. Hopefully, you will fall in love more times than you will be disappointed by your purchase.
4)
Used bookstores are generally locally owned so you are supporting someone's livelihood. This is something that I am working on myself because I tend to frequently haunt Second & Charles which is a national chain store that sells used and new books. I do want to support independent booksellers and I have found quite a few near me. I also want to try my hand at garage sale books because if I can get them for a quarter then all will be right with the world. I wonder if they will serve me tea and cakes like the people over in the UK do? I am seriously jealous that you all get food and books!
5) You are giving books a new lease on life. I am always astounded at the books that people just give away, I mean how could you possibly just give that book away? That is the best book ever! I don't care that I already have a copy at home I am going to take you home with me as well because I will love you better than someone else ever could hope to achieve. This is seriously I conversation that I have with the book and then I have to tell myself to put the book down! You don't need more than one copy unless I am replacing an old worn out copy with a nicer edition. In that case please do buy the book.
6) You are saving trees. Instead of publishers having to print new copies of a book for you to go and buy you just buy an already printed edition. I should probably point out that no trees were harmed in the making of this post. :)
Those are just some of many reasons why it is a lot more practical to buy used books. If you are picky about your books please remember that not all used books are in horrible condition and smell funny. I often find hardbacks that are practically in mint condition. So please next time you just want to go browse for some books try to make it a used bookstore. Your wallet and the planet will thank you!
Happy Reading!
