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Bezig met laden... Sayonara (1954)door James A. Michener
Bezig met laden...
Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek. There was a time around 20 years ago when I read several of Michener's epic historical novels, but none since I finished The Source in January 2004. So after a gap of 18 and a half years, I am reading this shorter novel, inspired by seeing the musical South Pacific last weekend. And yes I know that musical is based on a different Michener book, but this one has similar themes, specifically racial tension between US military forces and the native populations of, in the case of this book, Japan in the early 1950s. Major Ace Gruver is the son of a four star general, engaged to Eileen Webster, daughter of a slightly less highly ranked US general. He is posted to Kobe in Japan to help to dissuade an acquaintance and former member of his unit in the war in Korea, Joe Kelly, from marrying a Japanese woman, Katsumi. This argument is advanced partly on simple racist grounds, but also on not embarrassing the US and its armed forced by fraternising with "the enemy" (though the war is in the past and Japan and the US are allies in the war against the communists in Korea). But as he gets to know them better as a married couple, he comes to recognise the quality of their union, which he contrasts favourably with his relationship with Eileen, who he sees as becoming like her battle-axe of a mother, a woman whose overriding concern is to promote her husband's military career and to preserve the proprieties of military life, including not "consorting" with Japanese women. Gruver in turn falls in love with a beautiful classical dancer, Hana-ogi and wishes to marry her, even at the cost of abandoning his military career and not returning to the States. Eventually Kelly's and Gruver's relationships with their Japanese partners reach a tragic crisis point due to the pressures they are placed under (the film version, as so often, ends in a more upbeat way). This novel explores racial and cultural tensions very movingly and effectively, with Gruver coming to appreciate what he sees as the simple and honest life of the ordinary Japanese people compared to the complex and manipulative lives of his American compatriots, combined with anger at the naked racism of many of his military superiors. At the end, when he is parted from Hana-ogi seemingly permanently, he presciently remarks that "All this should have happened fifty years from now. Then maybe there would have been a chance. In my day there was no chance for such a marriage.” A moving and powerful novel about love across racial and cultural boundaries. geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
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From a great master of historical fiction comes a brilliant tale of love amid war. James A. Michener combines powerful storytelling with deep sensitivity in this novel of a U.S. Army man who, against all odds, falls for a fascinating Japanese woman. Stationed in the exotic Far East, Major Lloyd Gruver considers himself lucky. The son of a general, dating the daughter of another powerful military family, he can look forward to a bright future. And he just can't understand guys like Private Joe Kelly, who throw away their lives in the States by marrying local girls. But then Lloyd meets Hana-ogi. After that, nothing matters anymore . . . nothing but her. Praise for James A. Michener "A master storyteller . . . Michener, by any standards, is a phenomenon."--The Wall Street Journal "Sentence for sentence, writing's fastest attention grabber."--The New York Times "Michener has become an institution in America, ranking somewhere between Disneyland and the Library of Congress. You learn a lot from him."--Chicago Tribune "While he fascinates and engrosses, Michener also educates."--Los Angeles Times Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden.
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Google Books — Bezig met laden... GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)813Literature English (North America) American fictionLC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde:
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Characters: 7.0
Setting: 7.0
Prose: 7.0
Tags: Japan, love, obligation, other, race, ethnicity, war, tradition, career ( )