Father of the Four Passages

Rating:
Summary: Not for the faint of heart
Review: I bought this book based on the glowing review that appeared in Elle, and while I agree that the writing is excellent and the subject intriguing I found the descriptions of the child abuse and haunting voices of the aborted/murdered fetuses were really too dark and disturbing to bear. I will say that Ms. Yamanaka's ability to deftly interweave descriptions of past events and dream-like sequences into the narrative flow of the novel is extremely engaging, but I really couldn't get past the utter depth of despair and pain that all of the characters in the book seem to be immersed in. I'm not saying don't read this book, I'm saying that if you do, be prepared for a really dark and creepy ride.

Rating:
Summary: Father of Four Passages
Review: I have read all of Lois-Ann Yamanaka's books and I have to say that this one was the most difficult to complete. Not because it wasn't good but because it was far more painful than the rest. Ms. Yamanaka has always portrayed hardship in its most raw form, however in this novel she makes the reader endure the pain of her characters without the benefit of the love and closeness that were interspursed in her other novels. Despite this difficulty, this novel is well worth reading. Ms. Yamanaka's ability to hold the reader's eye open through the most painful moments is truly artful. It is the readers ability to endure the pain of the characters that makes the end of the novel even more beautiful.

Rating:
Summary: Ohhhhhhhh!
Review: I've never experienced such a work in my entire life. The use of fervent Christianity, symbolism, paranormal experiences, and emotional instability result resonate through my emotions. The surreal images were heartbreakingly beautiful when combined with the grittiness of seedy strip bars and junkies smacking up in filthy apartments. The experiences are intensified with the parallel surroundings of oceans versus Las Vegas. At first, I sat there reading it, racked by the explicit violence, hatred, and sadness, but soon I became numbed to the beauty of Hawaii and the heartache of Sonia Kurisu. I've never read another work by Yamanaka, but after reading this book, I believe I'll go look around for more. Definately try this book.

Rating:
Summary: I Blame the Publisher for this Junk!
Review: It is almost impossible to believe that an author with the talents of Lois-Ann Yamanaka could write a novel as awful as "Father of the Four Passages." Ms. Yamanaka's three previous novels treat the traumas impoverished, alienated ethnic Hawaiians encounter as they come of age in what mainlanders would consider paradise. "Four Passages" presumably tackles these themes and tacks on how a dissipated, unconfident woman handles single motherhood in the shadow of suffocating guilt resulting from three previous abortions. Instead, this dreary, choppy story drowns in a disaffecting stew of alcohol, profanity and confusion.

If that weren't bad enough, Ms. Yamanaka has abandoned those qualities which make her previous books luminescent. Instead of using the patois of the island's lumpenproletariat, she forces her characters to mouth lines a television soap-opera writer would be embarrassed to use. Yamanaka's earlier works feature characters whose pain, isolation and dislocation compel both empathy and identification; the people who populate "Four Passages" are, ugly, mean and brutish. Her protagnoist, Sonia Kurisu, is a pathetic loser, completely without redeeming qualities. Her most salinet attribute is her seemingly endless capacity for self-pity. Yamanaka has failed so miserably in humanizing Sonia, that the protagnoist's ruined childhood -- replete with abandonment, religious hypocrisy and sexual insecurities -- engenders boredom rather than compassion. The supporting cast is even worse; stereotypical relatives and other low-life losers are simply unbelievable.

This lack of reality and basic believability crushes whatever art "Four Passages" may pretend to have. Even Yamanaka's style mocks her ability. For reasons beyond my ability to understand, Ms. Yamanaka frequently capitalizes words in the middle of the sentences. (Is this because what we are reading is some kind of experimental prose/poetry?) Her narrative dissipates its energy between unimpressive transitions from present to past. An absent father's poetic, third-person letters to Sonia, serve as constant reminders as to the unreality of the novel's entire premise.

Sadly, "Father of the Four Passages" reminds us that even our most creative and bold young authors miss their mark. This brutally vulgar novel fails. It fails to provide insight into the shattered hopes of a frightened, bewildered single parent. It fails to create characters with any dimension. It fails to enlighten, inform and instruct. However, its single greatest failure is its author's abandonment of those talents which rightfully propelled Lois-Ann Yamanaka to national attention.

Rating:
Summary: Yamanaka disappoints in dreadful, chaotic tale of self-pity
Review: It is almost impossible to believe that an author with the talents of Lois-Ann Yamanaka could write a novel as awful as "Father of the Four Passages." Ms. Yamanaka's three previous novels treat the traumas impoverished, alienated ethnic Hawaiians encounter as they come of age in what mainlanders would consider paradise. "Four Passages" presumably tackles these themes and tacks on how a dissipated, unconfident woman handles single motherhood in the shadow of suffocating guilt resulting from three previous abortions. Instead, this dreary, choppy story drowns in a disaffecting stew of alcohol, profanity and confusion.

If that weren't bad enough, Ms. Yamanaka has abandoned those qualities which make her previous books luminescent. Instead of using the patois of the island's lumpenproletariat, she forces her characters to mouth lines a television soap-opera writer would be embarrassed to use. Yamanaka's earlier works feature characters whose pain, isolation and dislocation compel both empathy and identification; the people who populate "Four Passages" are, ugly, mean and brutish. Her protagnoist, Sonia Kurisu, is a pathetic loser, completely without redeeming qualities. Her most salinet attribute is her seemingly endless capacity for self-pity. Yamanaka has failed so miserably in humanizing Sonia, that the protagnoist's ruined childhood -- replete with abandonment, religious hypocrisy and sexual insecurities -- engenders boredom rather than compassion. The supporting cast is even worse; stereotypical relatives and other low-life losers are simply unbelievable.

This lack of reality and basic believability crushes whatever art "Four Passages" may pretend to have. Even Yamanaka's style mocks her ability. For reasons beyond my ability to understand, Ms. Yamanaka frequently capitalizes words in the middle of the sentences. (Is this because what we are reading is some kind of experimental prose/poetry?) Her narrative dissipates its energy between unimpressive transitions from present to past. An absent father's poetic, third-person letters to Sonia, serve as constant reminders as to the unreality of the novel's entire premise.

Sadly, "Father of the Four Passages" reminds us that even our most creative and bold young authors miss their mark. This brutally vulgar novel fails. It fails to provide insight into the shattered hopes of a frightened, bewildered single parent. It fails to create characters with any dimension. It fails to enlighten, inform and instruct. However, its single greatest failure is its author's abandonment of those talents which rightfully propelled Lois-Ann Yamanaka to national attention.

Rating:
Summary: A Shining Star
Review: Many people who read this book will miss and not appreciate the stylistic and artistic virtues of the book. It is not like a typical Yamanaka book that is full of comedy and pidgin english. Rather, the book tells the tragic story of a confused, beaten girl who gets lost in the drug dependent dark world that many of us have seen along the fringes of our lives.

Lois-Ann truly expresses the anger and anguish that could be experienced in raising a child with challenges, or for that matter, any child. Most of us don't have what it takes to clearly articulate our deepest, most true inner thoughts openly to the public. This book captures an unfortunate reality of self-induced, attempted, and clinically performed abortions that is a part of the life experiences of some people. It is a reality that many choose not to see, as is unsafe sex.

Father of Four Passages tells a story of a life that may be foreign to many of us. It is a very difficult book to read, both emotionally and artistically. The triumph and freedom of light in the end, is like a chapter in our lives. We live in valleys and hills, but must have the bravery and stamina to climb the tops of mountains to overcome adversity and see the light.

Rating:
Summary: A Shining Star
Review: Many people who read this book will miss and not appreciate the stylistic and artistic virtues of the book. It is not like a typical Yamanaka book that is full of comedy and pidgin english. Rather, the book tells the tragic story of a confused, beaten girl who gets lost in the drug dependent dark world that many of us have seen along the fringes of our lives.

Lois-Ann truly expresses the anger and anguish that could be experienced in raising a child with challenges, or for that matter, any child. Most of us don't have what it takes to clearly articulate our deepest, most true inner thoughts openly to the public. This book captures an unfortunate reality of self-induced, attempted, and clinically performed abortions that is a part of the life experiences of some people. It is a reality that many choose not to see, as is unsafe sex.

Father of Four Passages tells a story of a life that may be foreign to many of us. It is a very difficult book to read, both emotionally and artistically. The triumph and freedom of light in the end, is like a chapter in our lives. We live in valleys and hills, but must have the bravery and stamina to climb the tops of mountains to overcome adversity and see the light.

Rating:
Summary: Keep da faith, Sista!
Review: On a recent afternoon my wife lost her purse in the KTA parking lot. Next day lunch time "Loke" calls to let me know she found the purse in a trash can. I pick it up in a Wainaku walk up parking lot from a young man with no shirt & tatoos who I gave a reward to pass on to the young lady that called. All the purse contents had been removed and neatly put back in the wrong order. Cash gone. Credit card had been used unsuccessfully at a gas station. But, thanks for the return.

Whats the point? I don't know exactly, but I got a glimpse into a very different world from my own. Like Sonia Kurisu who struggles so desperately with challenges most of us don't even want to think about, but author Yamanaka delivers it to us raw to deal with. I was judgemental, disgusted, angry, confused, and eventually bored as Sonia's massive blunders unfolded. And her "father", hoo boy.

Indeed, if the only purpose of "Father of the Four Passages" was to make the reader hate a loser drug addict abusive failure of a human being, I would not waste my or your time writing this. But, the story had, well, an ending...

Only those of us lucky enough to hit a personal rock bottom and survive will probably understand Sonia's redemption. Author Yamanaka has somehow conveyed this feeling of revelation to me with mere words on paper. The light! For this I give her book my highest rating. Thank you.

Rating:
Summary: I Blame the Publisher for this Junk!
Review: This was a disappointing book from the word GO, not just from the hackneyed lines delivered by the characters but the plot in general. I believe the publisher pushed this through hoping to make quick money off the writer's popularity.

Rating:
Summary: Where's the Uplift?
Review: What a disappointment this book is to me. I'm one of Yamanaka's major fans, too. I've defended her numerous times against the charges many Hilo people make that she insults our town and the people who live here. I think she tells the truth. This book does too, but I still think it's a mistake. My disappointment is not strictly based on the quality of Yamanaka's writing-- although sometimes I felt it needed revision-- but more that *Father of the Four Passages* represents 20 years of downward pressure on women's rights, especially those of poor and minority women. In her heroine's cosmology, abortions are a sin, and the heroine suffers remorse, but she still has them--three, as a matter of fact. It seems as if no one in her book has ever heard of a condom or any other form of birth control. As soon as girls start looking like women, they have sex. Male sexual responsibility is not even mentioned as a possibility. But sex isn't really present in the novel, just amazing levels of contempt and self hatred on the part of the female characters for themselves and each other. This is one of the most misogynistic novels written by a woman that I have ever read. The Lawrence Fishburne-like black man who looks after the heroine's autistic son while she works is the only purely "good" character in the whole book. God is supposed to redeem the mess that the heroine's made out of her life, a mess that she's had a lot of help making, but this makes for a weak conclusion, especially since the religious people in the book are portrayed as miserable hypocrites and do-gooders. But most problematic to me is the absence of Yamanaka's distinctive, dialect informed voice. Lacking the charm of pidgen, the meanness and cruelty of her characters, expressed in crude invective, is hard to bear. This book is ugly. I am going to go back and read *Blu's Hanging* and hope *Father of the Four Passages* is a phase that Yamanaka's going through. She's a genius, but somehow this book does not express her wonderful qualities at all.