Tell Us About Your Summer Reads

With only one week left until the new season of Duvall Reads begins, we'd love to hear what our readers did during the hiatus. Were there any books that inspired you this summer? Were there any low brow reads that you want to confess? Let us know! We want to hear from you.

Review: Hotel on the Corner of BItter and Sweet

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

Jamie Ford, 285 pgs (Ballantine Books, 2009)

Exclusive Book Review for The River Current News, by David Eaton Mauk

Between bitter and sweet. A theme that resonates through this pleasurable stroll through Seattle history while the world is at war, seen from a timeframe of 1986. Jamie Ford pulls off this neat trick of multiple time periods, multiple story lines and multiple themes through the life of Henry Lee, a first generation Chinese-American in Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.

Relationships between fathers and sons is one of the threads weaving from cover-to-cover. A father dragging his legacy into a world where its relevance is marginal. A son who feels the burden of pleasing this father when the forces of nature, culture and current events push him further away.

“But to his parents, the war was always seen from the Chinese side. They fought a different war. Still, Henry was thirteen now, a man’s age in his father’s eyes. Those same eyes that no longer regarded Henry as his son. Yet here he was, being given the one thing his father had always wanted most for Henry - a chance for him to return to China, a place he’d never known, never been, to live with relatives he’d never met. To his father this was the most precious thing he could give Henry. And as much as Henry feared this day would come, part of him wanted to go, at least to be able to come back with an understanding of what made his father who he was.”

We feel the angst of Henry's displacement finding his identity in a world distrustful of races other than their own. In 1942 America is at war with Japan, while Americans are complicit in interring those of Japanese heritage no matter whether they are US born, lacking language, or identity with the land of their fore bearers. It is also a time when African-Americans are treated as second-class citizens. It's not a stretch to see reflections of the racial profiling witnessed today in the practices of this past.

Henry finds himself on scholarship at an all white school, with only one other outsider, Keiko, a a twelve year old Japanese-American girl. They form a singular bond formed from their isolation. Another outsider is Sheldon, a black jazz musician who forms the third ingredient of this melting pot. It's through Sheldon that we enter the dynamic world of the Seattle jazz scene of that era, dominated by black musicians, some of whom like Ray Charles and Quincy Jones are taking their first formative steps towards fame. The music and single recording of Oscar Holden takes on added meaning as the story of prevailing through adversity and loyalty unfolds in the vicinity of the Panama hotel.

As tensions mount in the war with Japan, Henry and Keiko feel the stress of their minority status among adolescent boys acting out with bigotry and spite. The roundups of those of Japanese descent begin, sweeping two innocent kids into an oncoming storm. The sweetness of their affection counterbalances the bitter taste of this sordid chapter in American history. Henry’s father lives in this bitterness, while Keiko’s father accepts how the present offers new opportunities that sweeten the future.

In 1986 Henry is a widower, suffering in his own dysfunctional role as a father to his modern son. Marty is a second generation Chinese American engaged to a smart, blond woman representing an even greater break from past legacies. As Henry shares his recent discovery of old trunks of those interred in 1942 in the Panama Hotel, they search for evidence of Keiko, Henry's first love.

At this point in the story the author stages the question of whether Henry will be able to repair the break in his relationship with the past, his son and the love he lost. The book ends with a melody of bittersweet notes wrapping up the story-lines that crossed 44 years in the Pacific Northwest. Ford's writing lacks style, with a simplistic structure to his prose. His characters however take life on the page and like a memorable jazz riff, stay with you after the experience.

The Book Thief

Reading The Book Thief was a great treat. Our Thursday book group was filled with interesting discussion starting with the effect of Death as the narrative voice of the novel. We agreed that having the story revolve around the daily lives of children in a small German town during the atrocities of Nazi rule & war-making contributed to the readability of the book.

The Book Thief is filled with great characters. Rudy, the Jesse Owens worshiping youngster who aims to please on one hand & do the right thing on the other, which in the tragedy of war is easy to confuse. Hans, the gentle father figure who knows what's morally right & acts on it, only to suffer as a result. Ilsa, an illusive woman who has disappeared from living in the outside world until the book thief makes regular visits to her library. Which of course leads to Liesel, the 11-year old book thief with a heart of gold, fiery spirit & passion for living.

For those who haven't read this book, written for young adults by Australian author Markus Zusak, do yourself a favor & add it to your reading list this summer. You will be rewarded by this remarkable book.