Rating: 
Summary: A Compelling Universal Tapestry
Review: I will not recount the story; the other reviewers do it, and for my money, the story is marvelous. Like so many, I did not want this book to end, and rationed reading it for that reason. I cannot think of any other writer I have ever read who can capture in concrete, substantial, palpable images abstractions like jazz, or pain, or love, or wistfulness. The visuals her words sculpt are staggering. Hardly essential to an appreciation of this magnificent work, if you have lived in Hawaii, ever had an appreciation of either or both of its indigenous and diverse cultures, been entranced by music, felt the power and mystery of natural things, it will resonate with you on innumerable levels. You will learn a fair amount of Hawaiian along the way if you care to, and you should, as it is a beautiful and evocative and incredibly musical language. The book is more than poetry--it is, in many ways, a great mele. It speaks of essences, of life's value, its challenges, its losses, its pain. There are parts as profound and compact in that as any philosophy one could want (the small chapterlet recounting Malia's last visit with Pono may be the best piece of writing in that regard I have ever read). The political material through the book is, if you read closely, not polemical, but balanced if with a clear but hardly simplistic preference. And on a societal level, it is a magnificent paean to the power of women, especially their power over men, wanted or not, and the consequences, marvelous and horrific, of that power. If you are a woman, or you truly love them as I do, you will hold this book fiercely to your heart. Those who say Ms. Davenport embraced too much in too complex a way--with which I totally disagree--would probably say the same of Thomas Wolfe, whose prose at times hers resembles, several of whose works I number among my favorites in the language. I would rate this book higher than any I have reviewed on Amazon to date, and among the best novels I have ever read--and I have read thousands.
Rating: 
Summary: Prodigious talent, in need of control
Review: If all you are looking for is a good love story, set in unusual places, with well-drawn characters, you will love this book. If you are looking for a book that contains fully integrated themes, a controlling idea, and a sense that the author has shaped and limited her subject matter, you may be as disappointed as I was. There is no doubt that Kiana Davenport is prodigiously talented with the ability to describe ineffable beauty and horrific ugliness, to use vivid verbs better than most other writers, to create characters the reader cares about, and to keep her various narratives moving along smoothly. Unfortunately, she also gave this reader, at least, the feeling that she was also "pushing buttons," calling up subjects and images that the reader may already be well familiar with in order to add to the emotional impact of her story--Hitler's treatment of gypsies and people of color, Japanese atrocities against comfort women, the excitement of the early jazz scene in New Orleans, the plight of the women left behind during a war, injustices against Hawaiians. Her additional resentment against Americans that she feels have spoiled the "paradise" of the native Hawaiians--the earliest missionaries, the sugar barons, and even those who argued for statehood--is palpable, and the political speeches near the end of the book sound more like newspaper reports used in a term paper than part of a narrative whole. In short, a story that starts in Hawaii, moves to New Orleans, to Paris during World War II, to Shanghai, to Japanese prison camps, and ultimately back to Hawaii during the push for statehood, is a story of such enormous scope that this reader, at least, wished the author had limited her material more effectively and concentrated on developing relationships more fully. The theme of prejudice against Hawaiians, however realistic it may be, is just not enough to bridge the enormous spatial dislocations of the narrative and keep the reader enthralled with her characters.
Rating:
Summary: Emotionally charged--great read!
Review: Ms. Davenport's depiction of life in Hawaii before, during and after the war up to its admission into statehood sets the background for this incredible novel based on two real-life stories. She lulls you with her description of the beauty of the island and gentleness of its people and then clobbers you with the realities of war. An emotionally involving book. As a reading group member, I have hand-sold over 200 copies of this book, recommending it to numerous bookclubs in the area. Over 90 percent of the readers have come back to me with the same enthusiasm!
Rating:
Summary: Enthralling Read
Review: Set in Hawaii, France, New Orleans, Shanghai...this novel takes the reader through a love story during World War II. Beautiful writing. Heart wrenching story. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A Story That Will Haunt You
Review: Song of the Exile is a haunting tale. The story will not be forgotten once you ingested the powerful plot. As you read you die for the charachters.By the end you are angry at the way things are, and you bittery understand why the story ends the way it does. Just as nothing will ever be enough for the real life victims the story portrays, you feel that empty feeling of; it just wasn't enough. Song of the Exile is the most transforming novel I have ever encountered.
Rating:
Summary: A drifting song of the islands...
Review: The most promising and interesting theme of this novel is the undaunted spirit of the Hawaiian people. Through the eyes of one particular family, the time frame is the 1930's through World War II, devastating the closely-knit community, many native Hawaiian sons lost in combat. The story moves back and forth: from Hawaii to the New Orleans jazz scene, Shanghai to Paris, and back. In the course of events, one heartbreaking message is the truly ignoble and inhumane use of euphemistically named "comfort women" by Japanese soldiers. These innocent women were harvested from city streets and villages to service their captors, their tragic borderline existence only recently widely discussed and documented for readers. Released after the war, their original numbers decimated, they became "ghost women", emaciated and most permanently physically and psychologically damaged. The central theme, however, is the displaced love of Keo and Sunny. A gifted musician, Keo follows his muse and Sunny becomes his most ardent and loyal fan. As Keo disappears into his music, he barely remarks Sunny's search for her own affirmation in the search for her long-lost sister. Tragically parted by the war, Keo and Sunny endure years of separation as each is subjected to horrendous experiences as Japanese captives, each clinging to the memory of the other. But I had no clear sense of Sunny's personality from the beginning of her reciprocated attraction to Keo. Later, when Keo is agonizing over her whereabouts, a more particular sense of what he so desperately misses, other than adoration, would have helped me appreciate Sunny's qualities. The story changes locations frequently, and I found myself wanting more details of Keo's family and their ongoing struggles, how their ties to one another sustain them through loss and separation. I suspect the most potent material rests within the heart of this family. Some editorial cuts may have better centered the story. Perhaps Davenport is intending to illustrate the rambling nature of Keo's search, his frustration and overwhelming loneliness, but I feel the novel loses its original vital focus. There are some hectoring passages at the end of the book on the issue of statehood, but my sympathies were already engaged. While certainly an entertaining and informative read, the novel would resonate more fully with fewer geographic leaps and already acknowledged social injustices added to the forum. An emphasis on the love story and tragic circumstances surrounding the lovers, especially the atrocity of "comfort women", was certainly sufficient to hold my interest.
Rating: 
Summary: Hauntingly beautiful and tragic
Review: There are not many books that move me to tears, but this one did. Several days after finishing this book, I am still affected by it. It is basically a love story about two people born in the Hawaiin islands. The man (Keo) is destined to become a great jazz player, and he falls in love with a Korean-Hawaiin woman (Sunny) who is haunted by her own issues. They end up going to Europe to pursue Keo's jazz career and end up parting as Sunny begins a search for her long-lost sister. When she leaves, she does it without actually telling Keo she is going. He finds out by waking up and finding her gone with a note. Keo begins his life-long search for his one true love. But unbelievably they both end up as captives during World War II. But life does go on after that, and they are both released from a hell you would not believe. I do not want to give too much away but there is much joy and sadness in this book. Just look at the cover. See how hauntingly beautiful Sunny is and read her and Keo's story.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: This book moved me into action, it is a wonderful story woven around the history of the pacific. Tragic history I was never taught in school. It is more than a love story it is an epic of a generation.
Rating:
Summary: One of the saddest books I've ever read
Review: This book was unlike anything else I've ever read. It was incredibly tragic and haunting. It made me feel for those women like Sunny, the ones who became nobody, because their minds couldn't get out of the past yet their bodies moved on through time. It really is haunting and although I didn't like it at first, because it was an unusual style for me, I grew to appreciate it. It's powerful and sad, and wonderful, too.
Rating:
Summary: One of the saddest books I've ever read
Review: This book was unlike anything else I've ever read. It was incredibly tragic and haunting. It made me feel for those women like Sunny, the ones who became nobody, because their minds couldn't get out of the past yet their bodies moved on through time. It really is haunting and although I didn't like it at first, because it was an unusual style for me, I grew to appreciate it. It's powerful and sad, and wonderful, too.
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