Ships from: Fort Bragg, CA
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Ships from: acton, MA
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
When Spencer Fujii's grandparents arrived in Hawaii at the turn of the century, they brought Japanese customs with them. Five decades later, those traditional expectations still shape the lives of the Fujii family. Spencer, the child of first generation Japanese-American (Nisei) sugarcane plantation workers, is the middle son of this exquisite first novel. He is haunted by the sacrifice of Taizo, not only Spencer's big brother but his hero, who kept the tradition all too faithfully. While the Japanese traditions of responsibility, acceptance, and sacrifice form the structural backbone of this remarkable novel, it is the delicate evocation of Spencer's family life, his childhood days with the much-loved Taizo, and the beauty of his final communion with his mother that displays Deborah Iida's enormous talent. "Deborah Iida's fine writing and her wonderful ear opened the window on the world of Japanese Americans in Hawaii, a world that captured this reader."—Abraham Verghese, author of MY OWN COUNTRTY; "A small gem."—Kirkus Reveiws; "Resonant. A tender tale of secrecy and obligation, introducing us to a Hawaii the tourists never see."—Glamour.
Author Iida, who lives on Maui, opens her story in the present day as Spencer Fujii comes on one of his regular visits to his now- dying widowed mother—a woman who has lived her entire life on "Japanese row" in Wainoa, Maui, one of many isolated communities devoted to planting and harvesting sugarcane. Surrounded by endless fields, working from cradle to grave, the Japanese and other ethnic worker groups (Filipino, Chinese, Portuguese, Korean, all supervised by whites) had little opportunity for assimilation and followed the customs of their homelands overseas. For the Fujiis, this obedience generates two events that will warp the life of Spencer, the middle son. First, his father, an eldest son, forces his wife to give up her newborn third son to his younger brother's family—an event witnessed in all its emotional awfulness by Spencer and his elder brother, Taizo ("At the price of a baby's love, the older brother was sacrificing for the younger. Uncle and Auntie would no longer be childless"); then, envious of Taizo's assumption of leadership as the eldest son, Spencer begins provoking his brother to similar acts of masochistic selflessness, culminating in an incident at a reservoir in which Taizo drowns. The simplicity of the pidgin dialect can give poignancy to these moments: "Taizo never like water," their father says. "Why he went inside?" Spencer: "Wanted for go." Eventually, the guilt drives Spencer away, to Vietnam, to Honolulu, to marriage to a white woman, until, on his final visit back home, he realizes his entire life has been spent denying a secret that everybody already knew—and forgave.
Iida piles a lot onto a frail narrative structure, but her skill at balancing rhythmic pidgin with well-wrought description creates a small gem about a fascinating and strongly traditional way of life, now vanishing.
Anonymous
Posted July 15, 2004
I was emotionally moved by the realism that is portray in this novel and brought back my personal childhood memories on the islands. Warm, moving and uplifting.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
Overview
When Spencer Fujii's grandparents arrived in Hawaii at the turn of the century, they brought Japanese customs with them. Five decades later, those traditional expectations still shape the lives of the Fujii family. Spencer, the child of first generation Japanese-American (Nisei) sugarcane plantation workers, is the middle son of this exquisite first novel. He is haunted by the sacrifice of Taizo, not only Spencer's big brother but his hero, who kept the tradition all too faithfully. While the Japanese traditions ...