Obasan

Rating:
Summary: The hard memories¿
Review: I read Obasan once and thought that it was quite a different perspective. I mean, different perspective, by saying that most WWII stories take place in the U.S.A., but Kogawa has brilliantly let the reader rediscover Naomi, the main character's, experiences during the war through the eyes of Naomi. A short version of what happens is Naomi has a close family member that dies and she begins to recap her past that she was hoping to forget.
She grew up in Vancouver Canada. Her mother than decides to go to Japan to attend some other family business, then WWII begins when she is gone. Naomi is then left with her brother Stephen and her father. They are soon relocated to other parts of Canada being criticized about their heritage of being Japanese. Obasan to me is a well-written short novel that really well does explain Naomi's life but almost with a poetic sense. I would have to say the only thing that I was disappointed with was the fact that the book was very slow at the beginning and a bit confusing but eventually comes together towards the end.

Rating:
Summary: a beautiful and emotional book
Review: Joy Kogawa explained very clearly what happened to the Japanese people in Canada during WW 2. The story was very well, and you could still follow all the things that happened to the people. Everything becomes very clear.
The story is told through the eyes of Naomi Nakane, the main character, who wants to find out what happened to the past, the time when the Japanese people were haunted down. She kind of begins telling the story from when she was 5 and it all started. Her mother had to leave Canada and go to Japan. Until she was an adult, Naomi didn't find out why her mom never came back and why she never got the letters she wrote.
Obasan is Naomi's aunt who practically raised her (since age five). Obasan was always silent and never told Naomi about the past. Naomi gest a package from her other aunt Emily with all kinds of information about what happened in the past. So she finds out all the details.

Rating:
Summary: Kogawa's Obasan
Review: Obasan is a fictional account of what actions the Canadian government took to control Japanese-Canadians during WWII. Kogawa tells an undeniably historical story about the internment of Japanese-Canadians and its effect on families. She chronicles the journey of a young Japanese-Canadian as she confronts and accepts her past. Kogawa uses a unique point of view, extended metaphors, and official as well as personal documents and letters to tell her story.

Obasan is told through the eyes of Naomi Nakane, a Canadian-born Japanese woman. The story is often hard to understand because it is told from 36-year old Naomi through flashbacks. Throughout her life Naomi has tried hard to forget about her painful past, but her strong-willed Aunt Emily helps her remember. Thus Kogawa starts her use of flashbacks, skipping around the years of Naomi's life often making it hard to piece her life together. Kogawa tells much of Naomi's story from the eyes of a young child, which helps the reader see the internment of Japanese-Canadians more truthfully.

Kogawa also uses extended metaphors throughout her novel. One example is her continual comparison of Japanese-Canadians to birds. The birds in the book are always weak, helpless, and at the mercy of others. By her use of this metaphor, Kogawa is saying that the Japanese-Canadians are controlled by and at the hands of white Canadians. Another more horrific metaphor she uses to portray the same belief is in comparing the treatment of the Japanese in Canada to young Naomi being raped as a child. The rape and molestation of Naomi when she was four-years old permeates the entire book. It illuminates Kogawa's belief that the Japanese-Canadians were being horribly taken advantage of by their own government during and after WWII.

Finally, Kogawa uses official and personal documents to give validity to Obasan. She first uses newspaper clippings and government documents given to Naomi from Aunt Emily. These clippings helped Naomi to leave behind her indifferent attitude to embrace an interested and involved attitude toward the wartime treatment of Japanese-Canadians. However, the most influential factor that changed Naomi's attitude was a letter from her grandmother, who went with Naomi's mother before the war to Japan. Naomi has always been obsessed about finding out what has happened to her mother because she has not had any corrospondance with her for years. However, the letter reveals everything, and it is disclosed that her mother was a victim of the atomic bomb dropped over Hiroshima, Japan.

Obasan is a beautifully written book that tells the story of a woman coming to terms with a painful and degrading past. It also informs readers of an event that few know happened, but nearly parallels the Holocaust of the Jews in Europe. This book is great for anyone interested in history, the Japanese culture, and the trends that human nature follows in treating other people.

Rating:
Summary: Lulled me to sleep
Review: We read this book in a senior lit class and I have to say that it lulled me to sleep. The entire book centers around a young woman trying to find out her past. A lovely story, the only problem is that within 300 pages.. nothing to really inticing to the reader happens. Almost every page tells you to fall asleep and give up as the book has no real point until the end. I don't know why someone said it is heart-felt. Maybe I wouldread this book again if I was trying to fall asleep at 2 in the morning and an antihistimine hadn't put me to sleep well enough.

Rating:
Summary: Obasan, a must-read book
Review: When I first purchased Obasan, I was unsure of how much I would enjoy the book. Fortunately, it turned out to be one of the best books I have ever read. In the novel, Joy Kogawa deals with the Canadian Japanese internment camps during World War II. She does a masterful job of using flashbacks to tell the story through the eyes of a young girl who is forced to move with her family to different camps and farms to survive during the war. Kogawa uses many autobiographical elements in the novel to help tell this magnificent story. Her descriptive language is beautiful and allows the story to flow along at an easy pace. She also utilizes many similes and metaphors to help the reader see what she sees a little better. Although there are not many symbols in the novel, the ones that Kogawa uses are utterly important to the story. Kogawa mainly focuses on themes of prejudice and silence, in which all the characters embody one or the other. The change in setting, both place and time, can be confusing at first, but once the reader catches on, they will become engrossed in the deep plotline. And although the story is written about Japanese Canadians and their struggle to make it during World War II, Obasan is definitely aimed at the general American audience, so that hopefully they will be able to see the light that Joy Kogawa shines on the entire situation. After reading the novel, I can definitely say that I recommend it to any and everyone out there that is interested in the history of the Japanese internment camps and World War II. And even if you aren't it is still a very well put together book that will pull you into its plot and not let you go. This novel is a definite must read for everyone.