Kundenrezensionen

Song of the Exile (Ballantine Reader's Circle)

5 Sterne:		(4)
4 Sterne:		(2)
3 Sterne:		(3)
2 Sterne:		(1)
1 Sterne:		(0)

 

 

To Kiana Davenport's credit, she didn't try to recreate her former book "Shark Dialogues" and moved on instead to break new ground.

The story starts during a time of innocence for Hawaii, shortly before WW2 and extends through the time of statehood in the 1950s. This is more than just the story of Hawaii, however. It is the story of a native Hawaiian jazz musician, Keo, who travels to New Orleans, Paris and then Shanghai, and finds himself in a brutal Japanese prison during the war. It is also the story of Sunny, his Korean-Hawaiian girlfriend, who finds herself a Japanese "comfort woman".

The author doesn't spare the reader the horrors of the war. Her searing words shed light on this dark time in history with an intensity that made me shudder with its graphic violence and unremitting horrors. Over and over the reader experiences the starvation, disease, pain and physical and mental deterioration of people who are forced to live in unspeakable conditions where human endurance under such circumstances is tested to the limit.

Woven throughout the plot is the story of their families, life in Hawaii, and the spirituality of the Hawaiian people. The reader also feels the cadence of Hawaii and the magic in her words as she describes Keo's music.

I would have liked this book to be lighter. I would have liked to smile rather than cringe at the unrelenting horror. I would have liked a happier ending. But that is not the story that the author wanted to tell. And so I accept it on its own terms. And, if nothing else, it makes me appreciate the good life I have.

I recommend this book but be forewarned. It will haunt your dreams and inspire nightmares.

If all you are looking for is a good love story, set in unusual places, with well-drawn characters, you will love this book. If you are looking for a book that contains fully integrated themes, a controlling idea, and a sense that the author has shaped and limited her subject matter, you may be as disappointed as I was.

There is no doubt that Kiana Davenport is prodigiously talented with the ability to describe ineffable beauty and horrific ugliness, to use vivid verbs better than most other writers, to create characters the reader cares about, and to keep her various narratives moving along smoothly. Unfortunately, she also gave this reader, at least, the feeling that she was also "pushing buttons," calling up subjects and images that the reader may already be well familiar with in order to add to the emotional impact of her story--Hitler's treatment of gypsies and people of color, Japanese atrocities against comfort women, the excitement of the early jazz scene in New Orleans, the plight of the women left behind during a war, injustices against Hawaiians.

Her additional resentment against Americans that she feels have spoiled the "paradise" of the native Hawaiians--the earliest missionaries, the sugar barons, and even those who argued for statehood--is palpable, and the political speeches near the end of the book sound more like newspaper reports used in a term paper than part of a narrative whole. In short, a story that starts in Hawaii, moves to New Orleans, to Paris during World War II, to Shanghai, to Japanese prison camps, and ultimately back to Hawaii during the push for statehood, is a story of such enormous scope that this reader, at least, wished the author had limited her material more effectively and concentrated on developing relationships more fully. The theme of prejudice against Hawaiians, however realistic it may be, is just not enough to bridge the enormous spatial dislocations of the narrative and keep the reader enthralled with her characters.

If all you are looking for is a good love story, set in unusual places, with well-drawn characters, you will love this book. If you are looking for a book that contains fully integrated themes, a controlling idea, and a sense that the author has shaped and limited her subject matter, you may be as disappointed as I was.

There is no doubt that Kiana Davenport is prodigiously talented with the ability to describe ineffable beauty and horrific ugliness, to use vivid verbs better than most other writers, to create characters the reader cares about, and to keep her various narratives moving along smoothly. Unfortunately, she also gave this reader, at least, the feeling that she was also "pushing buttons," calling up subjects and images that the reader may already be well familiar with in order to add to the emotional impact of her story--Hitler's treatment of gypsies and people of color, Japanese atrocities against comfort women, the excitement of the early jazz scene in New Orleans, the plight of the women left behind during a war, injustices against Hawaiians.

Her additional resentment against Americans that she feels have spoiled the "paradise" of the native Hawaiians--the earliest missionaries, the sugar barons, and even those who argued for statehood--is palpable, and the political speeches near the end of the book sound more like newspaper reports used in a term paper than part of a narrative whole. In short, a story that starts in Hawaii, moves to New Orleans, to Paris during World War II, to Shanghai, to Japanese prison camps, and ultimately back to Hawaii during the push for statehood, is a story of such enormous scope that this reader, at least, wished the author had limited her material more effectively and concentrated on developing relationships more fully. The theme of prejudice against Hawaiians, however realistic it may be, is just not enough to bridge the enormous spatial dislocations of the narrative and keep the reader enthralled with her characters.

I am not quite through this magnificent novel as I write this, and in fact am reluctant to reach the end, for it is a marvelous story, rich in imagery, vivid (very) in tales, and it reads like sensitive poetry. Any true fan of Hawaiiana should love this book.

Unlike many other readers, I am not reading this book because of any interest in Hawaii, or even in World War II. It was a Christmas gift to me from someone who heard the author on the radio, but hadn't read the book herself. When I first looked at it, I thought, "This is not something I want to read!" It is full of graphic violence and horror. However, as I read on, I was mesmerized by the writing itself. Because the book is too heavy for my daily commute, it's taking me a very long time to read, and I find that I'm actually trying to make it last longer. I've never come across any writing about music (and it's not just jazz) to compare with Davenport's. I would say to anyone who's afraid to read the book because of the terrible images of suffering: The writing is so beautiful and intense that reading it is a joyful experience in itself. (What's really depressing to me is something that's badly or slickly written.)

I was an ambivalent reader of Shark Latitudes. The writing and imagery in her previous book were wonderful, but the allegories just a bit far fetched. Thus, I read Kiana Davenport's new book with the hope that she would use her considerable writing skills "for good". Unfortunately, I think she went the wrong direction. This book was unidirectionally depressing. While this is certainly acceptable (consider any novel about China or Ireland in the 1900's), where was the moral or redeeming outcome to make it worthwhile? I did not find it here.

If all you are looking for is a good love story, set in unusual places, with well-drawn characters, you will love this book. If you are looking for a book that contains fully integrated themes, a controlling idea, and a sense that the author has shaped and limited her subject matter, you may be as disappointed as I was.

There is no doubt that Kiana Davenport is prodigiously talented with the ability to describe ineffable beauty and horrific ugliness, to use vivid verbs better than most other writers, to create characters the reader cares about, and to keep her various narratives moving along smoothly. Unfortunately, she also gave this reader, at least, the feeling that she was also "pushing buttons," calling up subjects and images that the reader may already be well familiar with in order to add to the emotional impact of her story--Hitler's treatment of gypsies and people of color, Japanese atrocities against comfort women, the excitement of the early jazz scene in New Orleans, the plight of the women left behind during a war, injustices against Hawaiians.

Her additional resentment against Americans that she feels have spoiled the "paradise" of the native Hawaiians--the earliest missionaries, the sugar barons, and even those who argued for statehood--is palpable, and the political speeches near the end of the book sound more like newspaper reports used in a term paper than part of a narrative whole. In short, a story that starts in Hawaii, moves to New Orleans, to Paris during World War II, to Shanghai, to Japanese prison camps, and ultimately back to Hawaii during the push for statehood, is a story of such enormous scope that this reader, at least, wished the author had limited her material more effectively and concentrated on developing relationships more fully. The theme of prejudice against Hawaiians, however realistic it may be, is just not enough to bridge the enormous spatial dislocations of the narrative and keep the reader enthralled with her characters.

A view of the chaotic world of the native Hawaiian during the horrible period of the Second World War.While the primary theme is the atrocities inflicted on the "comfort girls", it carries the message of the author's love of Hawaii and its native people. Very carefully researched and almost poetic in portions. The love of jazz music is perhaps dealt with to an extreme,yet presents an educational tertiary theme. Highly recommended!

There are not many books that move me to tears, but this one did. Several days after finishing this book, I am still affected by it. It is basically a love story about two people born in the Hawaiin islands. The man (Keo) is destined to become a great jazz player, and he falls in love with a Korean-Hawaiin woman (Sunny) who is haunted by her own issues. They end up going to Europe to pursue Keo's jazz career and end up parting as Sunny begins a search for her long-lost sister. When she leaves, she does it without actually telling Keo she is going. He finds out by waking up and finding her gone with a note. Keo begins his life-long search for his one true love. But unbelievably they both end up as captives during World War II. But life does go on after that, and they are both released from a hell you would not believe. I do not want to give too much away but there is much joy and sadness in this book. Just look at the cover. See how hauntingly beautiful Sunny is and read her and Keo's story.

Set in Hawaii, France, New Orleans, Shanghai...this novel takes the reader through a love story during World War II. Beautiful writing. Heart wrenching story. Highly recommended.