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Summary: Home Away From Home
Review: Farewell to Manzanar was a very enlightening book. I honestly had no idea that there were camps such as these set up for Japanese Americans. Jeanne Houston's recollections of her experiences in the camp as a young girl paint a vivid picture of how life was. Jeanne was young enough that she was not worried about her situation like her mother and father were. I think this was definitely an advantage while she was in the camp but a real disadvantage when she was released at age 11. She immediately came face to face with not being accepted. Her courage to persevere in inspite of her situation is admirable. I am happy that she shared part of her life with us in this story.
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Summary: An WONDERFUL book of courage and forgiveness.
Review: Farewell to Manzanar was a wonderful story of courage. The courage of a child. The courage of a adult who learn to forgive and not hold in bitterness. To learn how to love herself and to fall in love dispite the turmoils of her life. What an awesome testimony. I applaud Jeanne for sharing this story and having the courage to let go. Her story was written so well, that as I read it I invisioned the events, her dance class with the ballerina trying to keep her dignity, her night outside the camp under the stars, her Dad's tantrums and abuse of her mother, and his feeling of losing control over his faimly's and his own life, the small space that they had to live in and the joy of moving to a larger space. And lastly the day that they left unsure what thier life would be like outside the camp. It was required that I read this book for a Sociology Class, but it opened my eyes to so much more. I will be giving this book to my teenage son to read. He hopes to one day visit Japan and is fascinated with the culture. So, I will be giving him this book to read so he can get a whole picture.
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Summary: Important to be aware...
Review: Farewell to Manzanar was recently assigned to me for a college sociology class. It is about a family that is sent to live in a Japanese internment camp during the second world war. Prior to this assignment I had never heard of the book but I was aware of the existance of such camps, but I knew very little about them and was interested to learn more. The book is written at a high school level, is simple to understand and a very quick read in general. I finished in a little over 2 hours. Due to the level of reader it is targeted for some detail was disregarded which I feel was somewhat detrimental to the story. None-the-less, the inter-family relationships are illustrated very well, and the turmoil that the central character, Jeanne goes through is evident. However, I would have liked to learn more about the relationships between other camp members and more about the financial and emotional repurcussions after the camp was closed. With the anniversary of 9-11 looming there are some interesting parallels with current cultural relations, how we feel about immigrants and the ideas we hold about being "american". History is doomed to repeat itself if we allow it, if we educate ourselves about the mistakes in the past we can stop them from happening again. I think that people should be reading this book and I recommend this book especially to teachers who are assinging reading to children.
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Summary: highly recommended
Review: On the west side of highway 395 sits the remains of a japanese internment camp. There are graves, building foundations and the remnants of larger facility buildings standing in silent attention to the memory of a large population that held the same heritage as the enemy the US was at war with. The mountains of the eastern sierras stand as witness to an injustice visited upon these people. Today, the reality strikes disbelief that this kind of event could have ever been allowed to occur. In a sensitive style, Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston relives her and her family's experiences at the camp. Her extended family copes as best they can in living conditions worse than some prisons. The accounting of a young girl growing up and trying to make the best of a bad situation is truly inspiring and testament to the strength and integrity of a family unit and culture strong enough to take on a deeply disturbing event.
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Summary: An Adult Book About Coming of Age in Wartime
Review: Reading the other reviews, I am struck by how opinions seem to be split between younger readers "forced" to read it (and generally not liking it) and other readers who "sound" older (or at least better educated) and truly appreciated it. Which just goes to show you-just because its about a teenager doesn't mean a teenager will like it. (High School teachers, take note!) In general, it's a complex tale that is as much about coming of age as a young woman who is a member of a marginalized minority and coping with issues of assimilation and social oppression as it is about the more specific topic of the Internment camp. Teenagers who are experiencing the tug between two cultures would be more drawn to this, but I think in general to appreciate the book you need to have gone through your teenage years and then reflect back on them, as the author does, than be in the midst of it all and want the world to "make sense," with a nice well-constructed plot that ends with a simple, assuring resolution. ...
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Summary: preception of a highschool student
Review: This book is a fare yet slow paceing book that takes time to understand but it shows very well how the japanese were treated. The book is calm and sets it's point but also while dealing with conflicts.
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Summary: Farewell To Manzanar
Review: Jeanne was a Japans girl who lived in the west coast of USA. Her father would always go fishing all day and she would play with her brothers and sisters. Her life was perfect, until one day, Jeanne's father came back with news that the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Jeanne's father was arrested for helping the Japanese, and Jeanne didn't even know that. Jeanne's father walked out of the house proud. As for Jeanne, the rest of the family was sent to barracks. They had to live in a dirty filthy place. Jeanne's life is now a living nightmare. How will she survive the most dreadful time in her life? I chose this book, because our teacher told us to read this book for school. It was for a commercial we are going to do after we finished reading. The book had an interesting cover too. I looked as if it was going to have a good story. I really didn't like this book. It was boring and didn't have a lot of action. The book never caught my interest ever since I started reading. Only a few times in the book. The author spent too much time describing places and things. If she didn't do that, the book might have been much better. The part I hate most about the book was when Jeanne's family was released after they were kept in the barracks. It was confusing and really boring.
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Summary: Valuable Lessons
Review: "Farewell to Manzanar" is a memoir written by Jeanne Houston and James Houston. Jeanne was put into a concentration camp in the California desert called Manazanar because after the bombing of Pearl Harbour, Japanese people on the Pacific side of the USA were put into the camps. This book is the tale of her life at the camp and how she had to adapt to the changes. Her whole Japanese culture and the traditions were changed upon entering this camp. This book teaches valuable lessons about racism, culture, society, and many other things. This book is a story that made the American public aware of these concentration camps. The camps were kept secret throughout all of World War II, the time span in which these camps remained open. You also learn about the Japanese culture and how the cultures were destructed when the families were put into the camps. Traditions such as eating together as a family never happened in the camps because families were spread all across the camps. Their food was also not how Japanese people eat. They never mix salty foods, such as rice with sweet ones, such as apricots. In the camps the food was not as they would have eaten it at home. Since I enjoyed all of these things, you must be asking why I gave this book just three stars. The reason for that is that the book is written very sloppily and it seems that writing skills were never taught to these authors. It is not apparent as to what is taking place because of poor writing. For example, if the writers go back in time to go over family history, you don't have any clue as to what is going on. This was my main qualm with this book. Despite the lackluster writing, "Farewell to Manzanar" is enjoyable because teaches moral lessons, such as not to be a racist; and it also teaches you about Japanese cultures. This is good reading for anybody that wants to learn about the concentration camps for the Japanese during World War II. Keep in mind, though, that the writing is not good at all. Happy Reading!
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Summary: Manzanar
Review: I had to read this book for english class. My english teacher, Mrs.Friedman, said it is a very good book. I didnt beleive her until i read it. It is probally the best book i have ever read. Ithas to do with all of these real life situations. It is very realistic and it shows you what dedicated japanese americans had to go through to be a citzen in our country. It is a very good and educational book. It has a lot of good information and is a very wonderful book.l This is what farewell To Manzanar is like through the eyes of a 10 year old 6th grader.
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Summary: ~***Manzanar***~
Review: i thought it was a good book for the most part. you cant compare it to too many things because the is not enough to cmpare 2! I would enjoy it better if it ahd alittle more adventrure or romance. Also the person who is telling us this was 8 or so u cant blame her. Also she wrote it many years later.
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