**spoiler alert** 06/16: Immediately revisited this one on audio.
05/16: This was a lovely read. I've enjoyed much of what I've read lately, but this a**spoiler alert** 06/16: Immediately revisited this one on audio.
05/16: This was a lovely read. I've enjoyed much of what I've read lately, but this above and beyond. "The Translation of Love" portrays the horror of WWII alongside the hope of the aftermath, the resilience of the people along with the stomach-churning reality of doing anything for one's next meal.
Aya Shimamura and her father are "repatriated" back to Japan from Canada after the war. Aya's mother gave up on life in the internment camp. She "accidentally" drowned when she fell through ice in a local lake, except that when her coat was returned to Aya, it was clear she had weighed it down with rocks in her sewn up pockets. Later, at the very end of the book, when Aya's coat is torn, "love letters" from her mom, in the form of her mother's thoughts and wishes for her, are discovered inside as the stuffing.
Aya's father once hoarded and sold medication on the black-market, but later felt bad and quit. This fact actually saves Aya's teacher, Professor Kondo, when he is dying of pneumonia and the penicillin saves him.
To say Aya has a hard time adjusting to life at a Japanese HS is putting it mildly. The girl assigned to watching out for her, Fumi, at first resents her. Later, she enlists Aya to help her find her sister Sumiko, who is 10 years older, and has always been a second mother to her. But over time, Aya and Fumi develop a real friendship.
Sumiko has gotten herself entangled in the yuck world of entertaining American GIs at a Tokyo dance hall. She has never had to resort to prostitution but has to remain vigilant to protect herself. She got into this only because she felt she needed to help support her family. Once night, she is attacked by a crazed GI and stabs him. She and the bar-owner flee. Sumiko ends up taken in by nuns who take in mixed race babies abandoned by their mothers. When she sees the American GI's face on an American newspaper, she flees the orphanage to protect the nuns.
There's Matt, the Nisei translator and Nancy, a gal he works with. They try to help, and their paths almost always ALMOST cross Sumiko's but not quite. There's a lot of that ALMOST meeting that drives you crazy.
In the end, all works out, and there is a sense of hope in the future. You could almost see such stories on the faces of Japans elders when I was there. There were people who remember doing anything to survive, people who were kids during the occupation who remembered how awful powdered milk tasted, etc. And always a pride in the things that war could change, ancient temples, trees older than Christianity, Mt. Fuji, and The Great Buddha. There really is that appreciation of Macarthur juxtaposed with an underlying fear and distaste of all the American military still there.
Having been attached to NAF Atsugi for five years, this whole idea appeals to me. It was pretty amazing to know when we were there that a statue of MacArthur outside the base (first place MacArthur landed in Japan) was donated by a Japanese businessman. I kept expecting them to hate us, but no. You'd see this admiration for MacArthur over and over when we were there....more
I liked this one. It was depressing but poignant. I love Hong Kong, so it was fun to read about the expat side of life there. I so wanted them to solvI liked this one. It was depressing but poignant. I love Hong Kong, so it was fun to read about the expat side of life there. I so wanted them to solve the mystery of the missing child but knew they wouldn't... and they didn't... sniff-sniff. Still, the greatest growth was the way a few women used tragedy and grief to grow, to reach out to others, and to form real friendships. They actually broke out of the glittery plastic world in which they lived. That was satisfying....more
09/09: We learned of this from M. Dill and her blog. What a lovely book about an elephant brought to the States just so she could be a mascot at a tir09/09: We learned of this from M. Dill and her blog. What a lovely book about an elephant brought to the States just so she could be a mascot at a tire store! Praise God, Carol Buckley lived nearby and took over with Tarra. She gave Tarra love and good food, rest and exercise. She even taught her to skate. Finally, she secured for her an 800-acre refuge in Tennessee. Gotta love to watch God work through people!
Amazon Book Description: "Travels With Tarra is a heartwarming look at the life of one captive elephant and her devoted human caretaker, who realizes that Tarra's needs as an elephant are more important than anything else in their life together. All captive elephants should be as lucky as Tarra is now." -Richard Farinato, Director, Captive Wildlife Protection, Humane Society of the United States What happens when you fall in love with a three-foot-tall, 700-pound infant covered with thick black hair?
Carol Buckley was a college student, studying exotic animal care, when she looked up from her homework one day to see a baby elephant walking past her house. The local tire dealer had bought the tiny elephant as a promotion gimmick for his store and was taking her for a stroll. Carol quickly volunteered to help care for and train Tarra, tried to meet the baby elephant’s emotional and social needs, and ended up buying her.
Tarra was bright, playful, and loved attention, so Carol taught her to do lots of tricks (including rollerskating and the hula), and for about twenty years they appeared at circuses, theme parks, and zoos, changing their lifestyle as Tarra’s needs changed and balancing the performing life with time at their farm.
But Carol began to dream of a place where elephants could just be elephants, where abused elephants could find a haven, and where old elephants could live out their days peacefully. She established The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee, an 800-acre refuge now home to Tarra and five other elephants, with room for many more. A place just for elephants—no visitors—The Elephant Sanctuary has been featured on the award-winning PBS Nature documentary "Urban Elephants." Carol Buckley and Scott Blais were named "Heroes of the Planet" by Time Magazine for their work at The Sanctuary....more
08/08: Chi-An's story, married to Wei Xin. Her son is Tacheng "Great Endeavors," and her daughter is Mei "America." This was a moving, convicting, and08/08: Chi-An's story, married to Wei Xin. Her son is Tacheng "Great Endeavors," and her daughter is Mei "America." This was a moving, convicting, and well-written glimpse of the hell of a world without God....more
Inside Cover: In 1271, the great explorer Marco Polo set off on an adventure f a lifetime -- traveling the Silk Road by horseback with his father and Inside Cover: In 1271, the great explorer Marco Polo set off on an adventure f a lifetime -- traveling the Silk Road by horseback with his father and uncle, from Italy to Cathay (modern-day China) and beyond, to learn about the family's silk cloth business and to meet the great emperor of China -- Kublai Khan. As he traveled through Eastern Europe, the Middle East, across Mt. Ararat, and into the Far East, Marco Polo was amazed by the people he met, by how different the landscape looked, and by the many unusual animals he encountered along his great journey. From giant Asian elephants to Persian lions, this is the story of the historic adventures of Marco Polo and the animals he saw along the way....more
Inside Cover: Many people say Marco Polo was the greatest explorer that ever lived, traveling 33,000 miles by land and sea from Venice, Italy, to whatInside Cover: Many people say Marco Polo was the greatest explorer that ever lived, traveling 33,000 miles by land and sea from Venice, Italy, to what today is known as Beijing, China.
His famous book, "The Travels of Marco Polo," indicates that he was a man of extraordinary bravery, brilliance, and strength. With his uncle and father, he traveled across Turkey, Armenia, the Middle East, the rugged mountains of Afghanistan, and the infernally hot Taklimakan Desert before finally reaching China in 1275.
Welcomed by the great emperor Kublai Khan, Marco Polo was amazed by the inventions, riches, and religious tolerance of the Khan's kingdom, where Marco remained for the next twenty years....more
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