Product Description: John Okada was born in Seattle, Washington in 1923. He attended the University of Washington and Columbia University. He served in the U.S. Army in World War II, wrote one novel and died of a heart attack at the age of 47. John Okada died in obscurity believing that Asian America had rejected his work.
The Not-so good book I read this book, and couldn't figure out what Okada was trying to tell the reader. He is all over the place. It is fine to have different experiences, moods, and challenges, but it seems like Okada is over analyzing every single one of those things. And it is not a pleasant read. I am sure that he went through a lot. But the characters in this book are, for the most part, not right. Okada left me feeling apathetic towards almost every character. And the people we surround ourselves with are a representation of who we are.
Overwhelming. In general, John Okada may have created one of the greatest piece of fiction I have ever read in the Asian American diaspora. The story kept me transfixed to the pages and I had no trouble keeping up. I thoroughly enjoyed the great detail and lengths he goes to accurately depict the life of a "No-No" boy in a world confused by a country whom had betrayed them and by their people who shun their existence. Powerful read.
Another side of the story I have read many books dealing with the Japanese internment during WWII and the aftermath, but this book was the first I have seen that tells a very different story. Beautifully written, the author tells of the conflicts and guilt of a young man who refuses to serve in the US military during the war while his family was being held in an internment camp. After spending two years in jail for the refusal, he returns to the Japanese community in Seattle and struggles to reconcile his dual identify as Japanese and as an American.
Ugh ... This book stinks, the plot is trivial, the characters suck, and the chapters go on and on and on and on and on about nothing, nothing at all. Here is my favorite passage from the book "There was nothing for him to do but roll over and try to sleep. Somewhere, sometime, he had even forgotten how to cry." Yeah the entire book is like that.
Thoughts on No-No Boy John Okada's No-No Boy is an interesting perspective into Japanese-American life post WWII. The reader explores the protagonist Ichiro's struggles with being a "No No boy," or Japanese who refused the draft after the Japanese were put into internment camps. The placement of Japanese-Americans into internment camps pre-WWII is a historical subject that seems to be given little consideration outside the world of academia. This book explores the ways Japanese culture intersects with American culture, and how traditional Japanese values are or are not merged with American values. Those Japanese who refused the draft were abhorred by Japanese-American culture thereafter, and Okada explores the cultural and political implications of why this happened through Ichiro's struggle. The examination of the reaction of white America to Ichiro's experience opposed to the reaction of Japanese-America presents some interesting cultural differences concerning value. While certain people in white American would forgive and understand the perspective of Ichiro, he is seen as a threat to solidarity within the Japanese community. The expectations and standards that society places on an individual is made much more complicated if a person must do this between two different societal value systems, and also does not completely agree with either. Okada explores why this is relevant to the understanding of the history through the Ichiro's struggle. Okada's work is an interesting exploration of the intersection of different values, standards, stereotypes and politics.
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