The Buddha in the Attic (Pen/Faulkner Award

A watercolor of Japanese American history. Soft, vague, overly-approachable and utterly non-personal. A 3rd grade easy reader summary of one of the most grotesque abuses of human rights on American soil since the genocide of native americans. Perfect for your book-club of high school dropouts who have never heard of public radio.

One of the worst "reads" I've ever purchased from Kindle. Sorry I paid for the book, the sample didn't seem to reflect the real book. The Non-characters & flow of the book were so redundant that I tried skipping a lot of the pages, then quit reading at 35% of the book, don't know why I didn't do that earlier.
This is a no star book

The author tried an interesting way to write the story by blending multiple people's tales into one. For example, "Some of us were from Hokkaido...some of use were from Hiroshima...The youngest of us was 12 and from the eastern shore of Lake Biwa..." The entire book was like that, so that all the characters blended together. I believe this was intentional, but it keeps the reader at a distance from the story.

Very easy to read physically, difficult to read, emotionally. Knowing these things really happened and my culture (american) is responsible for them is hard to reconcile. These women, like many women in terribly difficult situations, were brave and resilient. So little is known by young people about the Japanese in America during and after the Second World War, this book should be required for high school lit.

The story has multiple voices & narrators. The plot is the story of the Japanese mail-order brides arriving before World War II. It is beautifully told and gives a memorable picture of their adjustment to their new lives in California and their being sent to internment camps.

this is a tragic tale of deceit and misunderstandings on a personal and cultural level. A socio-economically diverse group of Japanese adolescent females arrive in steerage to marry men who have misrepresented themselves.They adapt, endure, assimilate as domestics and laborers and send children off to war. Then comes Pearl Harbor and they, in turn, are held up to grave suspicion and finally internment. Their lives., like the author's narrative, are spare and unrelenting.. This slim book can be read in one sitting but the images and the shame last for a long time.

This book is written in the third person as though all thoughts and experiences of the Japanese women were being told at the same time. Hard to describe but very effective. From being mail order brides to being interned in camps at the start of WW2, you are taken into their lives, good and bad, and made to identify with them. It's a small book, but the effect on your life will not be small.

I purchased the book for my Kindle from the store because it was recommeded by an organization of which I am a member. The book revealed in a personal way, history that I know only as our reaction to the Japanese who lived in the US after the Pearl Harbor attack. While I am glad I read this sad part of our history, I think I would have preferred a book that focused more on indepth stories of selected individuals.

Very interesting and literary style of writing as an "incantation". The author's detailed research shows in the amazing images she strings together to form a composite of the experiences of the Japanese "picture brides" that emigrated from Japan to the West Coast of the U.S. in the early 1900s. This book sparked a lengthy discussion in our book group around the whole Japanese-American experience during World War II and its parallels to today's anti-Muslim sentiments.

But not as interesting as the Whole Earth catalog. By trying to tell the story of a whole generation of Japanese women immigrants to the US, she gives us a list rather than telling us a story. It's an interesting concept, but lacking in execution. There are some wonderful lines that show a talent for evoking emotion. Let's look forward to her next project.

An unusual book which provides glimpses into the lives of Japanese girls who came to the US as brides for Japanese men already here...it points out the many disappointments and experiences of young foreign ladies in an alien land. Then WWII comes along and these women along with their families are swept into the "round-up" of Japanese families into the interment camps which brought untold suffering and hardship.

The research that went into this novel is breathtaking. Ms.Moines is one of the rare Western writers with the knowledge and skills to give us wonderful insights into Chinese culture and what happens when westerners mix in. This book is worth a second read.

The book is a compendium of experiences of multiple Japanese gathered from extensive research over the time period of early 1900's through WWII. As such it is interesting to read about the varied trials and tribulations the various people and families went through. I liked it as an informative book. I really prefer stories and have read numerous ones about these periods of time.

I always wonder about the women who sent their pictures into the new world hoping to find luck, fortune, and love in a marriage far away. There is no denying the allure of this subject matter, and I believe that author fulfilled this promise well. She has shaped the stories of a disparate group of women into a book that holds the narrative of the story. I recommend this book gladly.

Using first person plural point of view was very distracting and boring --there is no story, no character development, nothing of interest. The best thing about the book is that it is only 144 pages long. If you are intrested in Japanese American history there are much better books available -- don't waste your time with this one.

Julie Otsuka did an amazing job of capturing the experiences of thousands of Japanese women in this beautifully written book. Her use of the "we" brought this compelling story to life in a way that would have been difficult if told through the perspective of a single person. I highly, highly recommend this book!

Written in a fast, flowing style. While it can seem the author gets a bit long-winded providing information on so many characters, it is important in getting across the most important point of the book: The assimilation of a people from a very different culture to a new culture, and how the circumstances of war then again separated them out.

My anticipation when I began this book was that it was an historical novel that would enlighten me even further about the plight of the Japanese women as they entered the USA. The author chose to tell this story without focusing on one or two individuals. Instead the author told of incidents that occurred, but never really went into anything in depth about specific characters. I was so disappointed because it felt like she simply listed problems that the Japanese women and families had. I feel that if she had decided to tell the stories of two or three women and followed through with their issues of how World War II effected them and changed their lives, the novel would have been much more enjoyable. I must admit that I did learn quite a few things about their culture that I was comletely unaware of, so in general I have to say I am glad I read and finished the book.

I won't spend much time praising this book because from the first sentence to the last I was immersed. The writing technique is something I haven't really experienced before. Fast, fast, fast. With each passing chapter I found myself being able to relate. I teared up twice. If you want a fast read about the feelings of Japanese women from the time they left Japan and ended up living, working and being incarcerated during WWII in California this is the book you need to read.

We like books that teach history as well as engage us. This book does both. Our book club had so much to discuss of this tale of Japanese brides coming to America to meet men they have never met and what happens to them. This is a corner of American history little known. Enlightening.

Wonderful account of the displacement and imprisonment of the Japanese-Americans during WWII. Cannot shed enough light on this disgraceful part of U.S. history. She does it clearly with great empathy for these innocent families torn from their communities and put in camps.

This book tells the stories of everyone but no one in particular. This was very well done and gave a more complete picture of what the Japanese women went through in this most difficult time. But for me, I missed getting personally involved in the lives of characters and their stories. It is a very good book but not my cup of tea.

A poetic novella about the Japanese "picture brides", an impressionistic story of their lives from arrival in the early 20th century to internment during World War 2. No particular characters to get to know and follow. Nonetheless it conveys the full range of experiences of these women and the Japanese immigrants, which is not well known to the general public.

I have never read a book written from the perspective of the generalized many. It is remarkable that from that perspective the reader can gain so much information about a collective group of Japanese emigrants, but with a level of detail that makes the whole seem not anecdotal, but sweeping. A very interesting style.

This book is magnificent. How can some give it one star. Wow. I guess as an Immigrant myself, I connect and understand this better. Still, this books is poetic, delicate, yet so powerful. One of the most beautiful creative and original books I've read this year. It's sad that some people are leaving bad reviews.

This is a fast-paced well written novel drawing on historical facts about the Japanese in the United States. Julie Otsuka traces the history of the Japanese in America tracing their harships, thir acceptance and their final degradation and internment during WWII. It's a must read for young and old.

Very much a resume of immigrant experiences, with the added inclusion of the camps set up for coastal Japanese during the war. Really no story line...just a staccato listing of experiences and feelings of Japanese women, starting with the mail order brides who arrived early in the 20th century.

A most compelling account of the Japanese American experience from "picture brides" who left their homeland to become the brides of strangers/bachelors, their experiences in a strange land with strange customs, to the war camps where Japanese citizens were confined during the WW2, where these stoic and talented people endured and overcame, and many lived to tell the story. This book is an unusual and poetic presentation created by the author that generates a haunting response from the reader. The reader is easily compelled to reread this seemingly simple book.

Repetitive phrasing is both successful and annoying...but the plight of Japanese "mail order" brides is made painfully clear. You feel helpless as you watch their lives unfold in so many negative ways. Compelling quick read.

A most compelling account of the Japanese American experience from "picture brides" who left their homeland to become the brides of strangers/bachelors, their experiences in a strange land with strange customs, to the war camps where Japanese citizens were confined during the WW2, where these stoic and talented people endured and overcame, and many lived to tell the story. This book is an unusual and poetic presentation created by the author that generates a haunting response from the reader. The reader is easily compelled to reread this seemingly simple book.

Repetitive phrasing is both successful and annoying...but the plight of Japanese "mail order" brides is made painfully clear. You feel helpless as you watch their lives unfold in so many negative ways. Compelling quick read.

This is a heart searing picture of the Japanese war brides, who came to this country expecting so much and finding a reality so different. It is written from the point of view of the collective " WE ." Julie Otsuka writes beautifully and much of her account is pure poetry as she probes the hearts of these women so that the sufferings and the disappointments and all that they had to endure come alive for the reader. As you finish the book and put it down you realize you have been through an experience that will remain with you.

This was a collection of experiences of Japanese picture brides from their journey to the West Coast, through their marriages, parenthood and interaction with locals through the beginning of World War II. It did not follow any single individual and thus was not a story.

This was an excellent an unexpected read. The story is told in a collective voice and takes you on a journey with a group of Japanese women, picture brides. You feel that you are with them from their experiences on the ship to America, their anguish of being lied to by their future husbands, and the hardship they endured to make a life in the U.S. It is a story of strength, courage, and resilience.

This book was a wonderful collection of the wide range of experiences of the newly immigrated Japanese. I loved it! Some experiences were good and some were bad but as a Japanese American it felt like I was listening to the elders in my community speak of our history.

The approach is innovative, and for the first two chapters, it works. After that, however, the content cannot keep the redundant lists from becoming mundane. As a reader I found myself skimming the last half of the book because no character steps forward to hold my interest.

The story of Japanese war brides, brought to the US during the early part of the century, bringing with them the customs of centuries, and trying to adapt to western ways, it also demonstrated the strength and resilience of these ladies.

The author does a tremendous job of creating mental images with her words. Like an impressionist painter using short strokes which together create a detailed picture, so does Ms. Otsuka use words to create a vivid portrait of a shameful time in our history. A beautiful, well-written book.