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catbrigand's review
3.0
This is a difficult book to review, much like it was a difficult book to read. It strikes me that Mori repeatedly refers to herself as a cheerful person, because one could easily come away from this book with the impression that she is deeply unhappy.
This is the third book of hers that I've read, and all share a common theme, clearly drawn from her own life, of an abusive stepmother and absent father. I ache for her as I would for any, and her stepmother surely seems almost supernaturally cruel. But one has to wonder if her experiences in Japan, written from a perspective twenty years removed, are heavily tinted by her unhappy home life. I think it is unfair to assume that all her Japanese friends are in miserable marriages with unhappy, confining home lives. While it's true that Japanese society has an ingrained sense of collectivity, duty, and respect, I don't think it's as constricting as depicted--I don't think people think about it much.
For the bones I had to pick with this, I try to remember it's not my memoir. I hope it accomplished for her what she needed it to.
This is the third book of hers that I've read, and all share a common theme, clearly drawn from her own life, of an abusive stepmother and absent father. I ache for her as I would for any, and her stepmother surely seems almost supernaturally cruel. But one has to wonder if her experiences in Japan, written from a perspective twenty years removed, are heavily tinted by her unhappy home life. I think it is unfair to assume that all her Japanese friends are in miserable marriages with unhappy, confining home lives. While it's true that Japanese society has an ingrained sense of collectivity, duty, and respect, I don't think it's as constricting as depicted--I don't think people think about it much.
For the bones I had to pick with this, I try to remember it's not my memoir. I hope it accomplished for her what she needed it to.
sandyd's review against another edition
4.0
This is an autobiography I stole from someone else's list, because I find Japanese culture fascinating. Mori describes some really eye opening cultural differences - health care (and whether you're told the 'whole' truth about your condition!), banking (just trust your relatives and don't ask questions), and the 'polite lies' of the title come to mind right off the bat.
I really liked her comparison of houses and marriages in Japan to small town (Green Bay) Wisconsin, too. She had some interesting insights on midwestern attitudes - kind of Prairie Home Companion-ish.
Sometimes the interesting cultural examinations didn't mesh well with her life story - which was sad in many ways, especially when it came to her relationship with her mother. I thought it dragged a bit in the second half, but not so much it didn't make me want to finish reading it. And there was a quite beautifully lyric final chapter that made up for the previous occasional slow passages.
I really liked her comparison of houses and marriages in Japan to small town (Green Bay) Wisconsin, too. She had some interesting insights on midwestern attitudes - kind of Prairie Home Companion-ish.
Sometimes the interesting cultural examinations didn't mesh well with her life story - which was sad in many ways, especially when it came to her relationship with her mother. I thought it dragged a bit in the second half, but not so much it didn't make me want to finish reading it. And there was a quite beautifully lyric final chapter that made up for the previous occasional slow passages.
hollowspine's review against another edition
4.0
This is a very interesting book, it brings up some interesting views on both Japanese and Midwestern culture. Coming from the Midwest I found her points on the culture spot on, she seems to see into the heart and mind of the Midwesterner! I was also glad to find her debunking the myths of the superiority of the Japanese school system (in comparison to Western, mainly American systems) and revealing the reason behind the American attraction to Eastern Philosophy (such as Buddhism or Zen). Though she doesn't go into the fact that it's completely contradictory that American's should want to follow a philosophy that tries to distance itself from the tangible world and embrace the next. For a culture that values self-importance and material possessions so much it seems strange. I also greatly enjoyed her insights on the many difficulties women who want to maintain strength and independence face in both cultures.
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