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A review by lahoori
The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka
5.0
This novel was unique in its use of a collective voice. It was written as "we" and "us"' the very specific generation of Japanese picture brides who came to the US and suffered and thrived as a group. The picture brides, and their collective experiences are the main character, and the novel traces their lives through the landmarks of their lifetimes: the journey to the US as new brides, their first meeting of their husbands and sexual experiences as new wives, their working lives and its hardships and successes, their children and their marriages-- until the war. Then, they pack up and collectively disappear from American towns and cities and the narrative voice switches to the "we" of their fellow American citizens and neighbors who notice they have gone. At least for a while....until they are forgotten.
Some readers criticize the collective voice, but I found it incredibly moving and apt. Much has been made about the collective/group psychology of the Japanese, so telling the story as a group experience was clever. I was moved to tears in almost each chapter at the incredible hardships and beauty they found, collectively, as women, wives, mothers, and immigrants. The author cites quite an interesting list of memoirs she read for the novel and it is easy to imagine that some of the details are lifted from real life.
The story ends once they board the trains and leave their belongings and lives behind to go into the internment camps of WWIi. I was surprised the story ended there, but really, the picture brides and the communities of Japanese immigrants disappeared from the American consciousness then, on darkened trains rolling off into the harsh corners of Western states. So many Americans don't know/remember that the Japanese were interned and lost their homes, livelihoods, and presence in many of our communities. It was a very beautifully and carefully crafted novel.
Some readers criticize the collective voice, but I found it incredibly moving and apt. Much has been made about the collective/group psychology of the Japanese, so telling the story as a group experience was clever. I was moved to tears in almost each chapter at the incredible hardships and beauty they found, collectively, as women, wives, mothers, and immigrants. The author cites quite an interesting list of memoirs she read for the novel and it is easy to imagine that some of the details are lifted from real life.
The story ends once they board the trains and leave their belongings and lives behind to go into the internment camps of WWIi. I was surprised the story ended there, but really, the picture brides and the communities of Japanese immigrants disappeared from the American consciousness then, on darkened trains rolling off into the harsh corners of Western states. So many Americans don't know/remember that the Japanese were interned and lost their homes, livelihoods, and presence in many of our communities. It was a very beautifully and carefully crafted novel.