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jonny_buijze's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
eym's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
minhjngo's review against another edition
4.0
Almost perfect. Yamashita is such an experimental and post-modern writer. She really questions form and what precisely a novel is within her works. I've been reading her works lately and this series of novellas is a labor of love. That's all I can say. It's changed me and that's the most powerful thing a novel can do for you if that isn't the goal of an author, I don't know what is.
somanybookstoread's review against another edition
2.0
I can count on one hand how many times I didn't finish a book I started and this is one of them. I got a third of the way into this 600 page monster, continuing to hope for some coherence or anything remotely close. But alas I found none. The writing felt forced and all in all the author tried too much to be quirky artsy for the sake of quirky artsy. Not a successful endeavor. Unless you are up for a rollercoaster ride that never delivers i would steer clear of this one!
audaciaray's review against another edition
4.0
A huge book of 10 short novellas about the International Hotel in San Francisco and Asian American activism in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. A truly important book - and it knows it. I got a lot out of this reading experience, and it made me want to read more about this chapter American history. However, because each novella has its own characters, narrative, and style, I often felt myself thinking, "wait, who did what now?" Because its a collection of novellas and they are done in different styles, I didn't find myself getting as deeply immersed in the world of the book as I typically do with good longer works of fiction.
joanna_banana's review against another edition
4.0
This is an epic witness to the Asian American movement in the 1960s and 1970s in San Francisco (and beyond), centered around the International Hotel. I could see why Yamashita took 10 years to research and write it! It’s a blend of fact and fiction, and I enjoyed the diversity of her writing styles, in many ways a reflection of the diversity of the Asian American experience, and truly the American experience. Even within the movement, so many different ages, cultures, backgrounds, politics, objectives, and philosophies. The intersections with the civil rights movement, primarily the Black Panthers, and later the anti-war protests helped me place these stories in narratives I’m more familiar with. I learned a lot — though I would have liked a guide or annotated version. There is so much packed in the 605 pages! I looked some things up, and appreciated a reader’s guide some students at Tufts created. It definitely belongs in all liberal arts/American literature courses! So sweeping and so rich. Some of my favorite sections were about Olie and Benny—and all the interspersed quotes from revolutionaries, activists, and philosophers. I also thought the story of Ria Ishii and the Chinese women who were garment workers was really interesting contrasting motives and perspectives. While I did sometimes want more from a few of the vignettes—powerful narratives and characters were sometimes too fleeting—I did overall enjoy the book and can appreciate its contribution to literature and history. The ending really brought it together for me.
jmm3rs's review against another edition
challenging
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
saralynnburnett's review against another edition
4.0
This is not easy reading but it was 100% worth the effort. There were so many voices in this unique novel, it gave it prismatic effect, each beam is its own and each trails off sometimes forever and sometimes to rejoin the others later. It's so fractured, even in form: playwriting, graphic novel, etc all within various novellas that alone are one thing but together paint an entire canvass. So what is it about? Revolution, art, history, culture, immigration, San Francisco, the Yellow Power movement, Marx, Mao, Lenin, education, class, 1960s-70s, and so on and so forth. There's some verbal imagery that will stay with me forever (and an actual drawing of a woman as a banana that I won't be forgetting anytime soon). Sprawling, yes. WTF moments, yes. But worth it.
Tip: read the afterward first as it gives history on I-Hotel in San Francisco and some of the goals and processes Yamashita had producing this novel.
Tip: read the afterward first as it gives history on I-Hotel in San Francisco and some of the goals and processes Yamashita had producing this novel.