Reviews

Mostly I chose this novel because it was set in Alberta and it didn't sound boring or depressing or romancey. It actually sounded interesting. It allegedly "explores the collision of cultures within a family between three generations of Japanese Canadian women" (back cover). That's true. The three female characters are the grandmother (Obachan), the mother, and the daughter, although the story is only ever told from either the grandmother or daughter's point of view. It's told through many interwoven stories that flip back and forth, which sounds cool but it actually annoying because not only does the point of view change, but the time period changes as well. Sometimes I wasn't sure whose story it was or how old they were. I enjoyed the Obachan character and wanted to learn more about her story, but every time I got into that narrative, the story changed.

Good idea, but, um, well, I didn't think it was quite magic. You know what else was annoying? Sometimes Obachan would speak Japanese, which fit with the story quite well, but obviously I couldn't understand it. Consequently, I felt I was losing something every so often. I think this was done purposely and a glossary or footnotes would've defeated the purpose, but still, those translation additions would've been appreciated.

I enjoyed the daughter character too, and the local Alberta references. The mother character did fall flat, although in the end it is revealed why she is how she is. Also it was typeset in a font I had a hard time reading. And there was too much unnecessary sex. Necessary sex I'm ok with; unnecessary sex is just...uncomfortable.

I get the point though. It was interesting to read about the experiences of a Japanese Canadian family living in rural Alberta. That was the poignant part, and a bit of an eye opener. This is where the book excelled, and as a reader I enjoyed the cultural parts of the book.

A person with much deeper thinking ability would probably enjoy this book more than I did (clearly I need to take a university English class to brush up on my ability to spot symbolism). It was a mediocre surface read - it certainly was no Indian Horse. I'm not quite sure how it ended up being chosen as a book of the year, but I learned a bit about Japanese Canadian culture so in the end it was worth a read, but I wouldn't highly recommend it. It reminded me about why I generally stay away from general fiction.

eilidhcan's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

jess_mango's review against another edition

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4.0

First off, thank you to the publisher for the Bespoke Editions audiobook! The dual narrators did an excellent job bringing the characters to life.

Chorus of Mushrooms was Japanese-Canadian author Hiromi Goto's first novel and was originally published in the 1994 to critical acclaim. It won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book in the Caribbean and Canadian Region.

This novel tells the story of 3 generations of Japanese women living in Alberta, Canada. The story is a feminist tale that takes a thoughtful look at the experiences of Asian-Canadians. The narration jumps between the grandmother and the granddaughter. After the grandmother leaves her daughter slips into a depression and the daughter tries to comfort her. The granddaughter ends up on a personal journey to figure out more about her family. There are definite elements of magical realism in this novel, which I loved.

This book gave a good glimpse at what it is like to live or grow up as an "other" in a mostly white, small town in Canada. There are scenes where the characters talk about how it is to be instantly judged based on the color of your hair or the shape of your eyes.

This was the first book I've read by Hiromi Goto but I definitely plan to pick up more.

reaperreads's review against another edition

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5.0

Absolutely gorgeous. This audiobook was such a pleasure to listen to. It runs the gamut of the emotional spectrum: I felt joy, sadness, anger, indignation, confusion, validation, humility . . . and I even blushed a couple of times. It's rare these days for me to find a book that both engages me as a reader and as a former student of literary studies. I actually found myself enjoying the narrative so much that I would sometimes get blindsided by a massive wisdom blimp that I should have seen coming, or by a really awesome moment of magical realism or poststructural treatment of time.

Basically, I need a physical copy of this book so I can annotate the shit out of it.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in multi-generational narratives, Japanese-Canadian literature, and strong female characters. These are but three facets of this highly mutable novel, though, so there's plenty more to enjoy here. Through three generations of women, Chorus of Mushrooms explores pleasure and pain, youth and old age, subject and object, folklore, legend, immigration, racism, assimilation, self-concept, self-acceptance . . . Like I said, it runs the gamut. The internal lives of the grandmother and granddaughter are unique and beautiful, and they bring their separate experiences and understandings of their selves and the world in which they're living to bear on all the topics listed above. And all in such a digestible page length!

For fans of: On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong, Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova, Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong, Life on Mars by Tracy K. Smith, Tortured Willows: Bent. Bowed. Unbroken. by Various Authors

natashiataylor's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

annabella's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.0

Would have to read the physical book as this was really hard to follow. I wasn’t expecting so many afterword notes etc etc but actually the interview was very interesting and I wish I paid more attention in the main bit of the book to link the content in the interview more.
I am intrigued by the narrative premise and there are some really large and nuanced topics in the book that I got when tuning in. Especially the racialised experience of growing up. But the things on the storytelling flitting about were hard to understand for me. I’d give it another go as I think there is some worthy stuff in here.

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