So Far From the Bamboo Grove immerses the reader into a unique historical perspective. Rarely do we hear from people on the losing side of the war. We consider the other side our enemies and tend to ignore their feelings about war and struggle. Yet, Yoko's story shows the courage amid disaster and danger of an 11-year-old Japanese girl living in Korea. Faced with many life-threatening situations, this story is filled with triumphs as well as heartbreak. Only by having the right timing of events and meeting the right people along the way could things have happened as they did for Yoko's family. A bit of luck was needed. A survival tale, So Far From the Bamboo Grove, shows the strength and resiliency of the human spirit even when one doesn't even know she/he has this inner power.I enjoyed that the story line alternated between Yoko's story and her brother, Hideyo. Told with a simplicity and grace, Yoko passionately shares her story. It's a story that needs to be told. Of course, a war story can not come without its share of dangerous situations. They travel at night,, often without food and drink for days on end. Once Korean Communist soldiers approach them, but at the same time, bombs fly down, killing the three Korean soldiers and leaving Yoko wounded. Along his journey, Hideyo suffers in the cold and comes close to freezing ot death. At times, Yoko describes other graphic images and graphic situations. Early on during the story, a dead young baby is tossed from the train as well as other dead hospital patients on the train. Description of rape emerge as women scream. The utter reality of the situation is overwhelming, and danger is imminent.
Figuring out how to talk to students about such topics as war and rape can prove difficult. However, I liked many of the suggestions we talked about in class last week. Students need the chance to discuss consequences and results of war. Prefacing with students about this book may be necessary so students know they will encounter difficult material while reading. Having students journal about their feelings as they read this book is another option, or perhaps a teacher can include a question box regarding their thoughts and feelings.
Besides being a war story, this is also a coming of age story- the story of personal growth and development of Yoko Kawashima. Yoko begins as a scared, hesitant child with frequent tears. She complains early during the journey, but after her mother dies, she becomes increasingly self-sufficient, doing her part to help Ko make a little extra money. All the while, even after their mother dies, education remains a priority for both Ko and Yoko. Hideyo's journey and his ability to reunite with Yoko and Ko appropriately concluded this autobiographical novel in a promising and uplifting way. Hideyo's arrival showed the importance of family and ended the story with a reignited hope for the future of the Kawashima family.
This book is not worth reading because it was made for international political purposes, not for education. Most of the facts are distorted in this book:
ReplyDeleteThere were no North-Korean soldiers in 1945 (they existed after 3 years), and the location of where the author claims to have been when she was young did not have the right condition for bamboo trees to grow back then (Nanam). She also claims to have seen and heard bombs explode due to US air-force planes, but B-29s did not have fuel tanks large enough to fly all the way to Korea (nor were there ANY records of bombing in Korea at that time). Also, the United States ORDERED the Japanese soldiers occupying in Korea to be left ARMED until every Japanese civilians were escorted back to their homeland. Thus if Japanese civilians were REALLY raped, chances are, they were raped by their own people.
So what do we have left from this novel? Just a fictional book that distorts history in a very ironic way (Considering the fact that the Japanese soldiers RAPED and MURDERED Korean women at wartime for pleasure. They actually had the nerves to call these women 'Comfort Girls'). The book title should be renamed as "So Far from History and the Truth"
It's like Hitler claiming that he was tortured by the Jews in the Holocaust. Sounds like a nice book for young kids and adults eh?