Julie Otsuka's "The Buddha in the Attic": A Tale of Japanese Immigrants in America

Pavan kumar: This is the book of Japanese immigrants life in U.S. in 1900s. More about woman and their thoughts and conversations...

India on Jan 19, 2022

Cliente Amazon: Libro per la scuola

Italy on Apr 14, 2021

S. Lelarge: At the end of the First World War a group of Japanese women embark on the adventure of a lifetime : settling in the US as young brides. They do not speak any English and have only seen their husbands to be on photographs. They are full of hope and expectations.
The reality of what they'll find is very different from what they were promised and the dreams of a new life will soon turn into a life of hardship , pain and sadness for most of them ; they will however always know where to find those little everyday joys in their family, surroundings or with kind individuals who will make a difference in their lives, always looking for the silver lining to their predicament of a "lost generation".

Written as a collective , we follow each of their step in a lyrical, breathtaking prose that brings to the surface all the emotions these women encounter, but also their resilience as they will eventually carve their own footprint in American history. Beautiful.

United Kingdom on Mar 10, 2021

Sandra Heft: Told in the voice of a collective experience of Japanese mail order brides between the two world wars. A must read.

Canada on Feb 16, 2020

jr: Perfecto estado y rápido el producto. La historia no me gusta

Spain on Nov 25, 2019

Willkie: This is a brief story of a group of Japanese mail-order brides who came to California with a sense of innocence and hope. Those dreams are soon dashed as they face the reality of the exaggerations and downright deceit of their new husbands. It's written as a group experience rather than a documentary of particular people.

For example, in the boat ride over, Otsuka describes some of the group's high qualifications thus: "We knew how to serve tea and arrange flowers....how to write short, melancholy poems about the passing of autumn that were exactly seventeen syllables long." But , "We often wondered: Will we like them?" And "In the evening, when the hatch was closed , the darkness was filled with whispers. Will it hurt?"

It moves on to the reality of the nuptial nights. "They took us with apologies for their rough, callused hands, and we knew at once they were farmers and not bankers." "They took us leisurely from behind, as we leaned out the window to admire the city lights down below." "They took us frenziedly on top of yellow stained sheets." "They took us in six seconds, and then collapsed on our shoulders with small shuddering sighs, and we thought to ourselves,...

United States on Jul 25, 2013

Sue M. Nagamoto: A new culture, a new language, strange customs and faces surround you. The new culture must be accepted and become yours, even those of white skinned strangers whose faces are different, whose language is impossible to pronounce, and whose habits of daily living would not gain the approval of your mother. You must accept the loveless labor and back-breaking work never before experienced. How can anyone be deceived into believing the lies and promises of freedom, wealth and easy living in America. How can anyone let the deceiver into her bed at night? The kow-towing Japanese woman born in Japan! The woman who must face the challenges . The Buddha must be stored in the attic, kept in the recesses of the mind but never forgotten.

Otsuka has captured the essence of the Japanese woman's mind during the era of Japanese "picture brides" and the following decades of motherhood and family, up to the beginning of WW2. Her story is well told and well researched. Those readers who could not tolerate the "endless lists" in the book failed to recognize the reasoning and the effectiveness of inclusivity. The lists included all types of people, activities, habits, places,...

United States on Jan 07, 2013