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Requiem
Bin Okuma, a celebrated visual artist, has recently and quite suddenly lost his wife, Lena. He and his son, Greg, are left to deal with the shock. But Greg has returned to his studies on the East Coast, and Bin finds himself alone and pulled into memories he has avoided for much of his life. In 1942, after Pearl Harbor, his Japanese Canadian family was displaced from the W...more
Hardcover, 320 pages
Published
August 7th 2012
by Atlantic Monthly Press
(first published September 2nd 2011)
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In her novel Requiem, Frances Itani has captured one of the darkest legacies of North American history with rare style and beauty. Many of us now know that the United States interred citizens of Japanese descent during World War II but Itani broadens the vista to include the similar experience of those living on the west coast of Canada. Ripped from their homes, their possessions stolen virtually as they watched, thousands of Japanese Canadians spent up to five years in camps without housing oth...more
Itani is an amazing writer and her books never fail to capture me. Her writing just flows so naturally. This novel is about Bin, a painter, who has recently lost his wife to a stroke. The sudden death has hit both Bin and his son Greg very hard. Bin and his family were among the many Japanese to be forcibly moved from Canada's west coast after Pearl Harbour, and they spent the war years at an internment camp in the Fraser River valley. As Bin struggles with grief, he decides to drive from his ho...more
Oct 27, 2012
Phoebe
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Sue, Deborah, Lisa
Bin Okama is a moderately successful Japanese Canadian painter in his late fifties; grieving still over the sudden death of his wife some months earlier, he feels unable to move on with things. He hasn't cleaned out her possessions and he is haunted by a past that he has not yet truly resolved. He makes a trans-Canadian journey by car, with his hound dog Basil, to see the father who gave him up long ago, and to have some closure. As Bin is on his physical pilgrimage, he takes us into his past, t...more
I enjoyed this book of Atani's much more than Deafening and the reason is that in this one
she takes us into the mind of the main character instead of just telling what he does and what
happens around him. It's the story of a Japanese family yanked from Vancouver Island at the end of the war and moved into the interiour of B.C.. for political reasons. Although we hate this part of our history, I could see the same thing happening again to a faction of society we don't entirely trust. I do like the...more
she takes us into the mind of the main character instead of just telling what he does and what
happens around him. It's the story of a Japanese family yanked from Vancouver Island at the end of the war and moved into the interiour of B.C.. for political reasons. Although we hate this part of our history, I could see the same thing happening again to a faction of society we don't entirely trust. I do like the...more
This book was on the "Best Bets - 7 day loan" section of my library and I'm so pleased that I picked it up!
It is the story of the internment of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War and the effect this, and continuing prejudice after the war, had on the lives of those people. The story is told, however, in a personal and intimate way, from the perspective of Bin. As a small child, Bin and his family were interred in a camp in the mountains of the Fraser River Valley in BC. Their home a...more
It is the story of the internment of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War and the effect this, and continuing prejudice after the war, had on the lives of those people. The story is told, however, in a personal and intimate way, from the perspective of Bin. As a small child, Bin and his family were interred in a camp in the mountains of the Fraser River Valley in BC. Their home a...more
This novel examines the injustice of the internment of thousands of Japanese-Canadians during the Second World War and the scars that remain for the survivors and their families.
The narrator is Bin Okuma; chapters alternate between his boyhood at an internment camp in interior British Columbia and his westward journey from Ottawa to the camp 50 years later, after the sudden death of his wife Lena. Lena recognized that Bin is full of suppressed anger about his past and wished him to reconcile wi...more
The narrator is Bin Okuma; chapters alternate between his boyhood at an internment camp in interior British Columbia and his westward journey from Ottawa to the camp 50 years later, after the sudden death of his wife Lena. Lena recognized that Bin is full of suppressed anger about his past and wished him to reconcile wi...more
Author: Frances Itani
Published By: Atlantic Monthly Press
Age Recommended: Adult
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Book Blog For: GMTA
Rating: 4
Review:
"Requiem" by Frances Itani was wonderful written novel that gives a revealing look into the Japanese internment of the Canadians in British Colombian following the bombing of Pearl Harbour, during World War Two in 1942. This author has weaved this story into past and present with a 'heart felt family story shedding light on a painful period of Canada's history...more
Published By: Atlantic Monthly Press
Age Recommended: Adult
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Book Blog For: GMTA
Rating: 4
Review:
"Requiem" by Frances Itani was wonderful written novel that gives a revealing look into the Japanese internment of the Canadians in British Colombian following the bombing of Pearl Harbour, during World War Two in 1942. This author has weaved this story into past and present with a 'heart felt family story shedding light on a painful period of Canada's history...more
Requiem by Frances Itani is truly a wonderful book. She is an extraordinary researcher and scholar who has managed to weave historical fact and fiction into a work of art. The story told is about one Japanese-Canadian family caught up in the chaos that was World War 11 during the 1040s. After the attack on pearl Harbor, the Canadian government rounded up the Japanese families living in British Columbia's west coast. Families were allowed to take what possessions they could carry and their homes...more
I found it a little hard to get into this book. A middle aged man, having just buried his wife, sets off on a journey of memory and healing. The chapters alternate between the present; his road trip with his grieving dog, his memories of his wife, his grief, and those of the past; as a child growing up in a Japanese internment camp on the west coast. This is a story not often told, certainly not often taught, and sadly, being forgotten. The writing is clear and matter of fact, the details distur...more
Dec 29, 2011
Lucinda
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
contemporary-fiction
I was initially unimpressed with Itani's structure for Requiem - jumping between the events of the Japanese internment as experienced by a young boy named Bin, and Bin as an aging man in 1997 who has just experienced the sudden loss of his (very dear) wife. The connections between the past experiences and his present sufferings are vague and his personality (quiet, reserved and melancholy) doesn't really help things along. It is only when the chapters about the past get longer and the ones about...more
Because I loved "Deafening," I was a bit disappointed in "Requiem." The first half of the book didn't come to life for me, because it seemed that Frances Itani was telling the reader about the Japanese internment in Canada rather than showing the reader what happened. However, about half way through the book, Bin Okuma, a successful artist, and his wife, Lena, came alive for me as Bin goes on a trip back to BC where he and his family were interred during WWII. Since Lena had recently died, the r...more
It has been such a hot summer that when I saw the snow-covered book cover for Requiem by award-winning author, Frances Itani, I wanted to dive right in and make snow angels. When I read the publisher’s description, I realized that I hadn’t read any novels about the World War II Japanese internment camps even though it’s something I’ve wanted to know more about. To be honest, until I moved to the West Coast, I was only vaguely aware of them. I knew only general info from my history lessons but I...more
Nov 12, 2012
Janice
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
favorites-of-2012,
historical-fiction
For the first time in a long time, I felt somewhat bereft to be nearing the end of a book, so reluctant was I to leave behind the characters, and the beautiful writing of this novel. I have read several books about the interment of Japanese Americans during WWII, but until now I was unaware that Japanese Canadians were dealt this same kind of forced move into camps where they were retained for the duration of the war. This story is told in the voice of Bin Okuma, and moves fluidly between the ye...more
There have been a few recent novels about the US and Canadian wartime internment of the Japanese population (I’m thinking of When the Emperor Was Divine , Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet...) and this beautiful book by Frances Itani is an excellent further telling of the story of this shameful period in North American history. The modern day story sees Bin Okuma, a middle-aged Japanese-Canadian artist in Ottawa, deciding to undertake a road trip – accompanied by his dog – to visit the cam...more
I knew next to nothing about the Japanese internment and do not know how to put my thoughts down as to how I felt reading about this shameful part of our history. My parents lived in Denmark during WWII so I have only known that part of their history and that was what was taught in schools. I never knew our part in how we treated people here at home, in Canada during that time and I feel saddened by what we did. Was an apology enough? I don't know and I'm not the one who can answer that. I had p...more
This book is a beautifully told story of the extreme and unfair hardships imposed on Japanese Canadians who were interned in a camp in Fraser, B.C. following the attack on Pearl Harbor. It parallels this with the current story of one of those young boys who in his later life is grieving over the death of his wife and decides to return to the camp and face some of the bitter memories that he has buried for all the years in between. The writing is so well done and I felt the anguish of lives that...more
The Japanese internment camps are part of Canada's quietly shameful past. As such, we are missing out on the opportunity to learn about one of country's defining moments and a culture that has had a powerful influence on our development. Frances Itani once again crafts a story that transports me all across Canada with the power to illustrate so well that my own feet could feel the rough stones as Bin ran to his mother by the river in the BC camp and then feel the power of the sea out in PEI as B...more
Thanks to Francis Itani for this powerful and beautifully written book reminscing, reconciling and remembering the internment of Japanese families in Canada during World War II. Some of her writing and descriptions of events and people were so stunning and moving that I marked them to read aloud to loved ones because I couldn't bear not sharing.
The reading of this lovely novel about coming to terms and reconciliation is one of the most moving stories and best writing I have read in a long time.
I...more
The reading of this lovely novel about coming to terms and reconciliation is one of the most moving stories and best writing I have read in a long time.
I...more
I seem to have picked Itani as an author whose new books I will pick up no matter what. I had a hard time at first because it read like a history lecture in spots, but the narrator was looking back telling his story, and including these parts seemed to fit with how he was taking account of what he had been through. I don't actually know how you would do that without including the broader context. Do authors ever use historical blurbs to set the scene before the novel starts? Or just figure the r...more
I liked Deafening, her earlier novel, but this one fell flat because I just couldn't engage with the protagonist. He seemed distant from the reader. The problem is with "voice" I think. Everything is told through Bin and he is all past tense. There isn't much dialogue. He goes back and forth from the camps in the forties to present day, but he is always both vague and bitter. We only know the other characters through him, and that is the author's mistake I believe. Lena and Greg don't really see...more
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The author is a poet and her language in this book reflects this beautiful talent. Her moving story is completely engaging and compelling. This story of the imprisonment of Japanese Canadians during WWII's war hysteria (just as it happened to Japanese Americans) provides a backdrop to portray how humans survive their worst life experiences. Itani maintains an authentic tone, her eye keen to reveal deep emotions but without fetishizing the subjects. Along the way, she takes the motif of the river...more
via NetGalley
A quiet but profound novel about a Japanese-Canadian man, Bin, who spent several childhood years in a camp with his family during WWII. During those years, his "First Father" gave him away to a childless man, Oksuma. Oksuma is kind, and encourages Bin with his art, but Bin misses his First Father, mother, and brother and sister; after they leave the camp, they do not see each other often. Though Bin loves Oksuma, being given away affects him deeply; he also represses anger about wha...more
A quiet but profound novel about a Japanese-Canadian man, Bin, who spent several childhood years in a camp with his family during WWII. During those years, his "First Father" gave him away to a childless man, Oksuma. Oksuma is kind, and encourages Bin with his art, but Bin misses his First Father, mother, and brother and sister; after they leave the camp, they do not see each other often. Though Bin loves Oksuma, being given away affects him deeply; he also represses anger about wha...more
This beautifully written novel focuses on the story of the internment of Japanese Canadians in British Columbia following the bombing of Pearl harbour, during WW2. The narrator, Bin Okuma, alternates the story of this internment, alongside his journey back to the camp some fifty years later. Told in three separate time strands, we are privileged to witness Okuma’s modern day journey, together with his rendition of times past, and also the story of his marriage, to his recently deceased wife, Len...more
An interesting insight into internment of the Japanese in Canada.
I found this book fascinating because, although I had read books about the internment of Japanese Americans following the bombing of Pearl Harbour in 1942, I hadn't read about the experiences of the Japanese in Canada.
This novel is based around Bin Okuma, a Canadian painter of Japanese descent who had married a Canadian girl. They had one son, who was studying at university, when his mother suddenly died of a stroke.
Bin finds himse...more
I found this book fascinating because, although I had read books about the internment of Japanese Americans following the bombing of Pearl Harbour in 1942, I hadn't read about the experiences of the Japanese in Canada.
This novel is based around Bin Okuma, a Canadian painter of Japanese descent who had married a Canadian girl. They had one son, who was studying at university, when his mother suddenly died of a stroke.
Bin finds himse...more
In the novel "Requiem," Frances Itani chronicles the internment of a young Canadian-Japanese boy named Bin, and his family; living in a fishing community, his family and their friends are considered threats to the security of the country. Their boats and fishing licenses are taken away, their property looted and sold, they themselves shipped on trains to camps where they are forced to pay for their own imprisonment, building shanties, hauling water, and trying to coax gardens out of the bare gro...more
A readable book. Covering the life, through flashbacks, of a young Japanese-Canadian boy interred with his family in a Canadian detention camp during WWII. The author has things to say, but takes a lot of effort to get them across. The subject matter is interesting. A story of a split family, A boy lost in where he belongs. Repressed anger, anger not so repressed, and then carrying on in the face of anger and not letting it consume one. The main charector is not necessarily deaf to the world but...more
This was a very moving book about the Japanese interment camp in Canada, describing how the families lived in the camps. We meet the Oda family, mother, father and three children. Bin is the youngest. Live is not east in the camps, but at least they are all together. Then Bin's father makes a monumental decision that changes Bin's life forever. You wonder how and why he could do such a thing. And in the end, you will see, that it was really all for love.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
This is one of the best books I have read in a very long time. This was a subject that I knew very little about - the Japanese Internment during WWII. I knew that it happened, but had never before given too much thought to the feelings of the people involved and how it impacted their lives not just during the time of internment, but ongoing. Usually, I don't like to read an overly descriptive author; however, in this book, each word seemed to paint the picture of this life.
An excerpt from one of our Girl Guides book club reviewers:
"Although the historical content of the book is very interesting and well written, the best parts of the book have nothing to do with the internment camps, but with Bin’s personal struggles and journey to find solace. This is not a book I would typically pick, but I could not put it down, I highly recommend it to everyone." -- Tania
http://girlguidescanblog.ca/2011/11/0...
"Although the historical content of the book is very interesting and well written, the best parts of the book have nothing to do with the internment camps, but with Bin’s personal struggles and journey to find solace. This is not a book I would typically pick, but I could not put it down, I highly recommend it to everyone." -- Tania
http://girlguidescanblog.ca/2011/11/0...
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Frances Susan Itani is a Canadian fiction writer, poet and essayist.
Itani was born in Belleville, Ontario and grew up in Quebec. She studied nursing in Montreal and North Carolina, a profession which she taught and practised for eight years. However, after enrolling in a writing class taught by W. O. Mitchell, she decided to change careers.
Itani has published ten books, ranging from fiction and po...more
More about Frances Itani...
Itani was born in Belleville, Ontario and grew up in Quebec. She studied nursing in Montreal and North Carolina, a profession which she taught and practised for eight years. However, after enrolling in a writing class taught by W. O. Mitchell, she decided to change careers.
Itani has published ten books, ranging from fiction and po...more
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I will definitely read this one, thanks for the recommendation. Did you read The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford, a simil...more
Apr 10, 2012 05:58am