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When the Emperor Was Divine - Julie Otsuka
When the Emperor Was Divine
by: (author)
4.00 5
Julie Otsuka’s commanding debut novel paints a portrait of the Japanese internment camps unlike any we have ever seen. With crystalline intensity and precision, Otsuka uses a single family to evoke the deracination—both physical and emotional—of a generation of Japanese Americans. In five... show more
Julie Otsuka’s commanding debut novel paints a portrait of the Japanese internment camps unlike any we have ever seen. With crystalline intensity and precision, Otsuka uses a single family to evoke the deracination—both physical and emotional—of a generation of Japanese Americans. In five chapters, each flawlessly executed from a different point of view—the mother receiving the order to evacuate; the daughter on the long train ride to the camp; the son in the desert encampment; the family’s return to their home; and the bitter release of the father after more than four years in captivity—she has created a small tour de force, a novel of unrelenting economy and suppressed emotion. Spare, intimate, arrestingly understated, When the Emperor Was Divine is a haunting evocation of a family in wartime and an unmistakably resonant lesson for our times. It heralds the arrival of a singularly gifted new novelist.
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Format: hardcover
ISBN: 9781417622061 (1417622067)
Publisher: Turtleback Books
Pages no: 144
Edition language: English
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Community Reviews
Books by the Lake
Books by the Lake rated it
3.5 When the Emperor was Divine
I read this book in less than two days. I was in two minds about it. I became quite interested in the three characters whose points of view form the first three chapters, and who are gradually revealed through a sparse accumulation of details; the two children, and especially the mother, attempting ...
allisoninouye
allisoninouye rated it
4.0 When The Emperor Was Divine
Sad book about the internment of Japanese Americans in WWII. The author did a good job tackling a difficult subject, but I think by not naming the characters it kept a level of distance. I never really felt connected to any of the characters.Quick read, but I would definitely recommend it, if not ju...
paigeawesome
paigeawesome rated it
Meh. This book was so-so. I picked it up on the library on impulse (even though I already have mountains of books waiting for me--it's a sickness) because I saw that this book was about the "Japanese internment camps." I had just read [b:The Garden of Evening Mists|12031532|The Garden of Evening Mis...
Ellinor's Litventures
Ellinor's Litventures rated it
4.0
When the Emperor was Dvine tells the story of a Japanese family living in California who is sent to a camp in Utah after Pearl Harbour and the entry into war of the United States. The story is told from five different points of view which gives it an interesting turn. I enjoyed this book. I hadn't t...
Thewanderingjew
Thewanderingjew rated it
5.0 When the Emperor Was Divine
Just as the first chapter sets the stage for this brief but moving, heartbreaking novel, as the unnamed woman and her family prepare for an unknown journey into an unknowable future, the reader will put aside their plans for the day, their chores, their appointments, and simply prepare to keep readi...
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