Plantation Boy

Rating:
Summary: A must-read for anyone interested in Japanese-Americans.
Review: This book is nowhere near as great as Murayama's classic 'All I Asking For is My Body.' but the underlying power is still there. This book continues the story of Tosh Oyama, the boxing-loving, fiercely independent first son who works himself out of the sugar plantations to become one of the rising tide of Japanese Americans who change the face of Hawaii's social and political landscape during the 50's and 60'. The story is almost a documentary, but if you were taken in by the families beginning story in 'All I Asking,' it's easy to find the human thread beneath the fast moving historical events that Murayama describes. As a 'hapa haole' (half caucasian, half Japanese) from Hawaii, I can easily find my father's own story in these pages -- so I'm biased. But beyond that, Murakama is a great writer. He doesn't bog down, he knows the human dimension, got the gifted ear for the pidgin dialect, and always keeps with him the sweat and hardships of the plantation fields in his work. Read this. But if you haven't read 'All I Asking...', read that first.