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When the Emperor Was Divine (2002)

by Julie Otsuka

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
2,4001196,847 (3.78)258
Fiction. Literature. HTML:From the bestselling, award-winning author of The Buddha in the Attic and The Swimmers, this commanding debut novel paints a portrait of the Japanese American incarceration camps that is both a haunting evocation of a family in wartime and a resonant lesson for our times.
On a sunny day in Berkeley, California, in 1942, a woman sees a sign in a post office window, returns to her home, and matter-of-factly begins to pack her family's possessions. Like thousands of other Japanese Americans they have been reclassified, virtually overnight, as enemy aliens and are about to be uprooted from their home and sent to a dusty incarceration camp in the Utah desert.
In this lean and devastatingly evocative first novel, Julie Otsuka tells their story from five flawlessly realized points of view and conveys the exact emotional texture of their experience: the thin-walled barracks and barbed-wire fences, the omnipresent fear and loneliness, the unheralded feats of heroism. When the Emperor Was Divine is a work of enormous power that makes a shameful episode of our history as immediate as today's headlines.
Don’t miss Julie Otsuka’s bestselling new novel, The Swimmers..
… (more)
  1. 10
    Obasan by Joy Kogawa (kiwidoc)
    kiwidoc: Explores Japanese internment in Canada
  2. 00
    Camp notes and other poems by Mitsuye Yamada (susanbooks)
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» See also 258 mentions

English (114)  French (2)  Spanish (1)  All languages (117)
Showing 1-5 of 114 (next | show all)
Dieses Buch über eine japanische Familie, die während des zweiten Weltkrieges in ein Internierungslager muss, hat mich sehr bewegt, gerade wegen der sachlichen Sprache, der Knappheit und dem Abstand zwischen Erzähler und Figuren. Die Familie bleibt namenlos und steht deshalb für viele andere, denen ähnliches widerfahren ist. Der Schreibstil gab mir an einigen Stellen eher das Gefühl, einen Bericht oder einen Artikel zu lesen als einen Roman.
Besonders bewegt hat mich der Versuch der Familie nach Kriegsende in einer Gesellschaft wieder Fuß zu fassen, die von verschiedensten Emotionen zu ihnen geprägt ist.
Eine Autorin, von der ich definitiv mehr lesen werde. ( )
  Ellemir | Dec 18, 2024 |
This is a well-trod subject for me, but I have fresh tears of anger, sorrow, and bitterness for it every time.

The book, with its numerous hard-hitting details, speaks for itself.

R. I. P., White Dog. We barely knew ye. ( )
  word.owl | Nov 12, 2024 |
This story follows a Japanese family internment during World War II. It is told from 5 different perspectives and renders each voice with heartbreaking clarity. Each time I read a story of this disgraceful occurrence I learn more and feel worse. When they left the camps after the war they were given train fare and $25; to go back to devastated homes or no homes and no possessions. This was a very powerful, short book. ( )
  Linda-C1 | Sep 26, 2024 |
Good book - poignant... very strong voice and dealt well with a very sad and sensitive topic ( )
  asl4u | Jul 21, 2024 |
A simple depiction of such a complex time! I appreciated learning more about the camps that were within our very own borders. ( )
  snewell2 | Jun 24, 2024 |
Showing 1-5 of 114 (next | show all)
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Fiction. Literature. HTML:From the bestselling, award-winning author of The Buddha in the Attic and The Swimmers, this commanding debut novel paints a portrait of the Japanese American incarceration camps that is both a haunting evocation of a family in wartime and a resonant lesson for our times.
On a sunny day in Berkeley, California, in 1942, a woman sees a sign in a post office window, returns to her home, and matter-of-factly begins to pack her family's possessions. Like thousands of other Japanese Americans they have been reclassified, virtually overnight, as enemy aliens and are about to be uprooted from their home and sent to a dusty incarceration camp in the Utah desert.
In this lean and devastatingly evocative first novel, Julie Otsuka tells their story from five flawlessly realized points of view and conveys the exact emotional texture of their experience: the thin-walled barracks and barbed-wire fences, the omnipresent fear and loneliness, the unheralded feats of heroism. When the Emperor Was Divine is a work of enormous power that makes a shameful episode of our history as immediate as today's headlines.
Don’t miss Julie Otsuka’s bestselling new novel, The Swimmers..

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On a sunny day in Berkeley, California, in 1942, a woman sees a sign in a post office window, returns to her house, and matter-of-factly begins to pack her family's possessions. Like thousands of other Japanese Americans they have been reclassified, virtually overnight, as enemy aliens and are about to be uprooted from their homes and sent to a dusty internment camp in the Utah desert. In this lean and devastatingly evocative first novel, Julie Otsuka tells their story from five flawlessly realized points of view and conveys the exact emotional texture of the experience: the thin-walled barracks and barbed-wire fences, the omnipresent fear and loneliness, the unheralded feats of heroism. When the Emperor Was Divine is a work of enormous power that makes a shameful episode of our history as immediate as today's headlines. (0-385-72181-1)
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