Scan barcode
lookingglassreader's review
3.0
The Language Inside is a meaningful contemporary novel in verse. I wasn’t blown away by it, but Emma’s narrative resembled stream-of-consciousness style, and I liked that. This story about a Japanese girl who moves to Massachusetts for her mother’s cancer treatment is one of love and newfound understanding.
Emma is pretty depressed and homesick at the beginning of the story. She is worried for her mother, restless that she can’t help her friends in Japan recover from the earthquake, and she misses all of the little things about her home.
I felt like I could connect a lot with Emma’s character. The narrative quality was amazing, I must say. However, the novel was in verse, and I found that a lot more could be said than was. It did have a minimalist quality that I didn’t really like or not like. Novels in verse usually aren’t my thing, but I’m happy that I tried out The Language Inside. It was a pleasant surprise and I liked it more than I usually like verse novels.
There is a lot of focus on family and resilience in tough times in The Language Inside. Emma’s family is dealing with her dad being gone for huge amounts of time for work and also her mom battling breast cancer. I felt like Emma as a a character could have been more developed, but I admired her resilience through her family’s hard times.
Of course, there is a boy too. I really liked Samnang. He is a dancer and is really fascinated and loves his Cambodian culture. He and Emma bond over the diversities of Japanese and Cambodian culture and they are amazing together. They both volunteer at a sort of assisted living center, which is how they meet. Emma works with a woman named Vera, who has locked-in syndrome. I loved Vera! Even though she was limited in ways of expressing herself, she was so expressive and I loved every scene with her in it!
Overall, The Language Inside was a worthwhile read. I liked the focus it had on never losing where you come from and family. There was so much rich culture references and dancing and Samnang!
Emma is pretty depressed and homesick at the beginning of the story. She is worried for her mother, restless that she can’t help her friends in Japan recover from the earthquake, and she misses all of the little things about her home.
I felt like I could connect a lot with Emma’s character. The narrative quality was amazing, I must say. However, the novel was in verse, and I found that a lot more could be said than was. It did have a minimalist quality that I didn’t really like or not like. Novels in verse usually aren’t my thing, but I’m happy that I tried out The Language Inside. It was a pleasant surprise and I liked it more than I usually like verse novels.
There is a lot of focus on family and resilience in tough times in The Language Inside. Emma’s family is dealing with her dad being gone for huge amounts of time for work and also her mom battling breast cancer. I felt like Emma as a a character could have been more developed, but I admired her resilience through her family’s hard times.
Of course, there is a boy too. I really liked Samnang. He is a dancer and is really fascinated and loves his Cambodian culture. He and Emma bond over the diversities of Japanese and Cambodian culture and they are amazing together. They both volunteer at a sort of assisted living center, which is how they meet. Emma works with a woman named Vera, who has locked-in syndrome. I loved Vera! Even though she was limited in ways of expressing herself, she was so expressive and I loved every scene with her in it!
Overall, The Language Inside was a worthwhile read. I liked the focus it had on never losing where you come from and family. There was so much rich culture references and dancing and Samnang!
smlunden's review
4.0
I liked how the verse reminded me of Japan itself. also that while dealing with a lot of seriously sad themes, I felt less cause to crumple into a pile and cry, but more of a desire to help others and march on.
juliemawesome's review
4.0
I didn't realize this book was in verse until I started reading it. The formatting in epub was okay, although I did have to turn a couple of extra pages at times, so the pagination was off. Not unsurprising.
What was surprising was how much I liked it. I'm not really a poetry person. And to some extent it was even about poetry.
What was surprising was how much I liked it. I'm not really a poetry person. And to some extent it was even about poetry.
srousseau's review
4.0
Emma is in the U.S. for her mother's cancer treatment, but she has lived her whole life in Japan because of her father's job. She is staying with her grandmother in Massachusetts and desperately misses her friends in Japan. She doesn't feel like she fits in in the U.S. because she is so used to Japanese customs and society. She is worried about a lot of things - losing her Japanese, her mother, her friends in Japan, the aftermath of the tsunami/earthquake in Japan, and a boy she just met.
Emma desperately tries to settle in to life in the U.S. with all of these things swirling around in her head.
This novel in verse has a lot going on, but it is worth the effort. Emma has a very complicated life during the duration of the book. Some plot points don't go anywhere, so this book isn't for those who like tidy endings.
Emma desperately tries to settle in to life in the U.S. with all of these things swirling around in her head.
This novel in verse has a lot going on, but it is worth the effort. Emma has a very complicated life during the duration of the book. Some plot points don't go anywhere, so this book isn't for those who like tidy endings.
emilygrn's review
5.0
After reading "okay" novel after "okay" novel this was a eye opener. I loved The Language Inside, probably because it was written in verse (which I find fascinating) and I have a passion for poetry! I really felt the message the author was trying to convey and I believe it was because of the way she wrote it. Overall, a 5 star rating because I simply adore this book and could read it a million times over. This is one to put on your shelves ladies and gents.
andreathereader's review
3.0
Emma, though American, has lived in Japan all her life, and considers it her home. When her mother becomes ill, the family moves to America until her treatment is done and they can move back. Emma misses everything about Japan and feels like a fish out of water with her school mates and everyone’s American ways. After she starts volunteering, she meets Samnang and they grow close.
There is a lot happening in this book – earthquakes, tsunamis, cultural differences, cancer, death, friendship, first love, migraines, PTSD, war, family relationships and obligations… Sometimes I felt like it was maybe one issue too many, but I think Holly Thompson did a pretty good job of keeping everything moving and meshing it all together into one fluent story.
I really liked Emma, she was kind and thoughtful and so nice. There was nary a sign of teenage brattiness to her. She had lovely parents, who cared about each other and talked to each other and their kids. Emma’s little brother didn’t play a big part, but he seemed nice enough. You could call this your average nice family. I also liked Samnang, though I found him to be a bit on the quiet side for me. I loved the woman in the nursing home Emma started visiting, Zena. She was bedridden and unable to move anything except her eyes. Even with those limitations, you could tell she had a great attitude and a fun sense of humor.
The words were written in free verse form with very little punctuation, and only line breaks to help keep everything in order. The times when someone was talking were indicated by italics, not quotation marks. It only took a page or two for me to get into the flow of the words, and after that, I zipped through, able to follow along perfectly.
I don’t know when to say what
I don’t know if something’s funny or not
I don’t get sarcasm
layered over sarcasm
and jokes made by
unjoking faces
I know how to read silence in Japan
I can read the air in Japan
but I don’t have a clue
how to read the air here
With such sparse words and free-flowing nature of the words, Holly Thompson knows how to paint a picture. She made you feel how lonely Emma was, even when surrounded by people. And though there wasn’t a lot of talk about her mom’s cancer, Holly still managed to express how scared Emma was.
The sum up: Though I had my little issues, I enjoyed this book overall. I look forward to reading more by this author.
There is a lot happening in this book – earthquakes, tsunamis, cultural differences, cancer, death, friendship, first love, migraines, PTSD, war, family relationships and obligations… Sometimes I felt like it was maybe one issue too many, but I think Holly Thompson did a pretty good job of keeping everything moving and meshing it all together into one fluent story.
I really liked Emma, she was kind and thoughtful and so nice. There was nary a sign of teenage brattiness to her. She had lovely parents, who cared about each other and talked to each other and their kids. Emma’s little brother didn’t play a big part, but he seemed nice enough. You could call this your average nice family. I also liked Samnang, though I found him to be a bit on the quiet side for me. I loved the woman in the nursing home Emma started visiting, Zena. She was bedridden and unable to move anything except her eyes. Even with those limitations, you could tell she had a great attitude and a fun sense of humor.
The words were written in free verse form with very little punctuation, and only line breaks to help keep everything in order. The times when someone was talking were indicated by italics, not quotation marks. It only took a page or two for me to get into the flow of the words, and after that, I zipped through, able to follow along perfectly.
I don’t know when to say what
I don’t know if something’s funny or not
I don’t get sarcasm
layered over sarcasm
and jokes made by
unjoking faces
I know how to read silence in Japan
I can read the air in Japan
but I don’t have a clue
how to read the air here
With such sparse words and free-flowing nature of the words, Holly Thompson knows how to paint a picture. She made you feel how lonely Emma was, even when surrounded by people. And though there wasn’t a lot of talk about her mom’s cancer, Holly still managed to express how scared Emma was.
The sum up: Though I had my little issues, I enjoyed this book overall. I look forward to reading more by this author.
reader_fictions's review
3.0
Next in my continuing efforts to discover a love for verse, I picked up Holly Thompson’s The Language Inside. I also own a copy of her novel Orchards, so I’m glad I liked this one. Sadly, I’m still not really a verse person, but I was able to enjoy The Language Inside in spite of my remaining skepticism towards verse.
Read the full review at A Reader of Fictions.
Read the full review at A Reader of Fictions.
More...