|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
Book Reviews Title One
Hundred And One Ways Fiction-Net
Rating Buy It
From Amazon.co.uk - BUY
NOW! Cover
Story If Kiki
Takehashi’s life is romantically different
from that of her reserved Japanese-American mother,
it is light-years away from that of her
grandmother, whom she knows only through old family
stories. Kiki has recently become engaged to Eric,
a handsome, successful New York City lawyer. But at
the same time she is haunted - quite literally - by
the memory of her friend Phillip, killed the
previous year in a mountaineering
accident. Kiki has never
met her grandmother Yukiko, for whom she is named.
Still, thoroughly American though she is, she feels
a secret kinship with her. Kiki is swept up by the
story of this strong, proud, passionate woman who,
against all odds, in a time and place far different
from her own, was sold by her impoverished family,
became a famous geisha, and found the love that has
so far eluded the rest of the Takehashi
women. We
Say It is said that
the only way to know who you are, is to know where
you come from. Despite the emphatic assertion that
you will not grow up to be anything like your
parents or other family members, the fact is that
we all share aspects of our ancestor’s
personalities or physical traits whether we like it
or not. Mako Yoshikawa’s novel, One Hundred
and One Ways explores one woman’s link to the
women who have come before her. While the novel
explores the common thread of three generations of
Japanese women, it is also a novel about
relationships and of loss. What makes this novel
work is Yoshikawa’s ability to tell a love
story that moves beyond the cultural framework in
which it is set. Yoshikawa weaves
a story of lost loves, and triumph through the eyes
of Kiki Takehashi. Kiki is a Japanese-American who
struggles with her relationship with two very
different men. Initially she may be seen as a young
woman who is searching for her place, but upon
closer examination, we find a young woman who is
actually quite aware of her capacity to love
deeply. What causes Kiki’s confusion is the
heartbreaking and devastating loss of her friend
Phillip. In many ways this novel is about the
healing process that must occur when a loved one is
lost. At times I felt
the story concentrated on Kiki’s sexual
relationships a little too much. While the
information is pertinent, at times I felt it was
overdone. Kiki’s observations that men viewed
her as a woman who possessed mysterious knowledge
on how to please a man sexually is a central theme.
Her own sexuality is a subject she scrutinizes
closely throughout the novel. She explores her own
relationships through the examination of her mother
and grandmother’s relationships. While her
grandmother was a Geisha, and her mother married a
Japanese man only to emigrate to the United States,
Kiki finds that she shares some common threads with
these women when it comes to love. Overall I was
impressed with Yoshikawa’s first novel. While
some may argue that the frankness and honesty of
the novel is its strength, I find that to be a
direct contradiction to the essence of Kiki’s
character. Kiki is described as a woman who is lost
in her own world. Kiki is misunderstood by others
for a variety of reasons. While she is American in
every way, her appearance to many may seem exotic
or unusual. I sometimes felt that Kiki’s frank
discussion of her sexuality, while enlightening,
detracted from my sense of her character. I felt
that this was the novel’s only weakness.
Through her stories and observations, I felt I
received a much more complete picture of
Kiki’s character. Kiki finds that her mother
and her grandmother’s stories hold meaning and
understanding for even if they are from another
time. If one looks beyond the references to the
Japanese culture, it is easy to find a novel that
is well written and often heartbreaking. I would
not rate this a spectacular novel, but I did like
it. If you are looking for an intelligently written
love story, then One Hundred and One Ways will fit
the bill. Review by: Yumi
Nagasaki-Taylor |
|||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
