Bailed at 19%. Don't want to read about the family doctor seducing a 16-year old young woman.

However, beautiful prose, atmospheric, fascinating descriptions of Japanese culture. ( )

fiction (Nagasaki survivors; still dealing with the aftermath 40 years later). REVIEWED FROM UNCORRECTED ARC. This is one of those quiet reflection books where the story slowly unwinds and the narrator thinks a lot to herself. Which is generally fine--just not what I feel like reading right now. ( )

A work colleague lent this to me, I guess...because I'm half-Asian (in the same way that another colleague was excited to tell me and my manager who is also Asian that they watched The Farewell) and I guess, I might somehow relate to the characters??? I do not relate to the characters at all and the dynamic of my family (discussion of which probably prompted them to suggest this book) is nothing like this. Probably because we are not Japanese. Also because we are not a fictional family in a book.

Plus I feel like we'd been talking about how members of my family from both the Asian and European sides were Japanese prisoners of war (not all of them survived) so "oh I read a book a bit about that time period, I think you might like it" is kind of a weird response to that knowledge.

Anyway, I've had the book for way too long and I've not finished it - partly I guess because I'm having the same problem as I had with Twilight, which was that I just don't like any of the characters. There, they were all hateful. Here, they felt all kind of samey.

The other thing that was kind of distracting for me is that it felt like everyone was named after something or someone else I was aware of from popular culture or something - Amaterasu is also the name of a Japanese goddess, Takahashi is the name of a character in Johnny Mnemonic (and obviously also a super popular Japanese family name). I don't think it was intentional on the author's part, and for all I know, there are only a limited number of Japanese names and they crop up a lot in science fiction.

My big question, however, is how many years is too many before you give back a book someone lent you? (And did they lend it to me or did they give it to me because they were moving and needed less clutter?) ( )

Originally posted on my blog, Musings of a Bookish Kitty

A Dictionary of Mutual Understanding by Jackie Copleton
Penguin Books, 2015
Fiction; 304 pgs

Amaterasu Takahashi has gone through the motions of living for much of the past forty years. She drinks too much, perhaps, but she has settled into a quiet existence. With that knock on the door and the man before her claiming to be the grandson killed in the atomic bombing, or pikadon, of Nagasaki, Ama refuses to believe it possible. After she shuts the door, she opens the letters he brought her and begins to read, forcing herself to relive the past she has worked so hard to forget. Soon she is digging the journals of her deceased daughter out of the closet and begins to read those as well. The past comes flooding back--not only of the events surrounding the attack on Nagasaki, but also of Ama's own childhood.

Told in a non-linear fashion, A Dictionary of Mutual Understanding is Ama's reflection on the past via letters, her daughter's journal, and her own memories. The reader learns of Ama's secrets and biggest regrets, about the role they played in her later actions, about her daughter's affair, and the fallout of that.

The relationship between Ama and her daughter, Yuko, was a complicated one, especially after Yuko began sneaking out. Yuko was bored with her life and falling in love was the best thing that had happened to her. Her parents were furious, not just because of her sneaking around, but with whom she had chosen to sneak around with. Their very family reputation was at stake--but it was really more than that. Much more than Yuko would ever know. Ama's own story is very different from her daughter's in many respects, but it is one she never talked about--of poverty and hostess bars--and it colored her reactions and behavior toward her daughter during those final years of her daughter's life. Ama had only wanted to protect her daughter, to save her, but she wonders now if she had made a mistake.

What stands out in the novel is the devastating impact of the atomic bomb dropped by the United States on Nagasaki. It was the second of its kind to hit the country of Japan, and it's impact was horrific and long lasting. Ama had been scheduled to meet her daughter at a church in the city, but had been running late. Her daughter's body was never found, but her death a foregone conclusion. Ama and her husband were sure their grandson, Hideo, had been killed too. Ama had dropped him off at school that same morning. They had searched for both Hideo and Yuko for weeks after, finding no evidence of their survival.

Each chapter begins with an English word, followed by the Japanese translation and a definition in relation to the Japanese culture. It is a nice touch, adding more nuance to the story being told.

I liked this novel on many levels. It is a sad story to say the least, one of loss and grief, of regrets and secrets kept. It is also the story of forgiving oneself and finding peace with the past. Jackie Copleton's beautiful writing drew me in, and made me feel like I was part of the story, seeing everything as it unfolded and came together.


Source: E-copy from publisher via the First to Read Program for an honest review. ( )

Survivors of Nagasaki seek redemption and recognition many years after the tragedy. Worth reading. Library book. ( )