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When the Emperor Was Divine
 
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When the Emperor Was Divine (Paperback)

by Julie Otsuka (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 160 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin; New edition edition (12 Jan 2004)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0141009055
  • ISBN-13: 978-0141009056
  • Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.6 x 1.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 549,391 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Product Description

Book Description

The critically acclaimed novel about the Japanese-American experience during the Second World War.


Product Description

Julie Otsuka's commanding and passionate debut novel explores unfamiliar history - that of Japanese Americans in World War II. With crystalline intensity and precision, Otsuka uses a single family to evoke the deracination of a generation who find themselves interned in their own country. With each chapter flawlessly executed from a different point of view - the mother; the daughter; the son; the family's return to their home; and the bitter release of their father - she has created a novel of unrelenting economy and suppressed emotion. When The Emperor Was Divine is a haunting evocation of a family in wartime and an unmistakably resonant lesson for our times. It heralds the arrival of a singularly gifted new novelist.

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Customer Reviews

7 Reviews
5 star:
 (4)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent little book!, 20 Jul 2004
By A Customer
A deceptively simple, deeply moving book. The story will break your heart, the writing will make it soar. Otsuka has a remarkable way with words - I eagerly anticipate her next book! Highly recommended.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars When The Emperor Was Divine, 15 Feb 2003
By P. Jannaway "pamjann" (Scotland, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This is a great book. It is not like any other novel I have read in a long time. Even though the characters are not named it does not prevent that connection to a characters story that makes a novel so much more of an experience. It tells the story of Japanese-Americans in the USA during WW2 in a matter-of-fact, unsentimental manner that makes you understand more than if it were written in any other way. It is a striking story of such fear in a nation that they reacted against all the 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation Americans born of a Japanese lineage and their confinement in internment camps for the duartion of the war. It is a book you can't help but read and sympathise with its characters.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Harrowing, 1 Sep 2008
By kehs (Hertfordshire, England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
This is a disturbing tale of the effects that WW11 had on Japanese-American people. To read about the internment of them is harrowing stuff. We follow one family through different stages of their experience, beginning with the father being arrested at his home, followed by the mother packing their suitcases, to the train journey and finally their arrival at the camp. This is a brilliantly written tale of an event in history that must never be forgotten.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Eye Opening and Beautiful
A short, starkly written novel but beautiful and so well written. I had no knowledge of the way that Japanese Americans had been treated during World War II and this is a really... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Lincs Reader

4.0 out of 5 stars Captivating
This is Julie Otsuka's first novel, and it draws on her heritage as an American of Japanese descent, exploring the experience of a Japanese family during the Second World War,... Read more
Published 17 months ago by William Burn

4.0 out of 5 stars Captivating
This is Julie Otsuka's first novel, and it draws on her heritage as an American of Japanese descent, exploring the experience of a Japanese family during the Second World War,... Read more
Published 17 months ago by William Burn

5.0 out of 5 stars beautiful, poetic, moving
This is an amazing read - and so carefully paced it reminds you of music. It is shocking and moving - but a measured work of writing. Read more
Published on 6 Dec 2004 by endlessreader

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