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33rd out of 72 books
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98 voters
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Yarn: Remembering the Way Home
by
Kyoko Mori
As steadily and quietly as her marriage falls apart, so Mori's understanding of knitting deepens. Interspersed with the story of knitting, her narrative contemplates the nature of love, loss, and what holds a marriage together.
Paperback, 240 pages
Published
November 1st 2009
by GemmaMedia
(first published 2009)
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403)
Laurie Carlson
rated it
Shelves:
yarn,
spinning-wheel,
making-yarn,
how-yarn-is-made,
patterns,
knitting,
daughter,
wife,
divorce,
fiction,
handcrafting,
japanese,
lace,
love,
memoirs,
life-in-general,
birds,
character-female,
character-male,
crafts,
auto-biography,
teaching
Kyoko Mori, the author, spins a tale of her life here in the United States by weaving together all the details of her life and knitting them together making it as the pattern of her life unfolds into the finished product, always being worked on, as we all do. She connects her love of yarn into her daily life.
Kyoko Mori is originally from Japan and is here on a student visa. When her time has run out on her visa, she is not completely finished with her schooling. With her dissertation sti...more
Kyoko Mori is originally from Japan and is here on a student visa. When her time has run out on her visa, she is not completely finished with her schooling. With her dissertation sti...more
As a knitter & crocheter, naturally I enjoy reading about the subject, whether a non-fiction or a fiction book. This book is a memoir about Kyoko's life, starting with her childhood & a personal tragedy. She grows up, moves to America, gets married, and lives her life. The stories about her life, are intertwined with stories about learning to knit, making her first sweater, discovering circular knitting & Elizabeth Zimmermann. I'm a huge fan of EZ, so whenever someone talks about discovering ...more
Yarn: Remembering the Way Home
"Kyoko Mori is an artist with words. She stitches them together in phrases that make you catch your breath at the aptness of a metaphor or the sharp sting of truth."
— A blurb from the back cover of Mori's novel, "Stone Field, True Arrow," taken from my review of the book in The Capital Times newspaper
On my bookshelf are two hardcover books by Kyoko Mori: one a novel, the other a collection of essays. I'll probably ne...more
"Kyoko Mori is an artist with words. She stitches them together in phrases that make you catch your breath at the aptness of a metaphor or the sharp sting of truth."
— A blurb from the back cover of Mori's novel, "Stone Field, True Arrow," taken from my review of the book in The Capital Times newspaper
On my bookshelf are two hardcover books by Kyoko Mori: one a novel, the other a collection of essays. I'll probably ne...more
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Patty
rated it
I am so glad that my friend Ginger lent me this book. I never would have found it on my own and it is such a good read. I may have to try knitting after all. If I went by Mori's definitions I think I would be better off as a knitter than a weaver.
Mori really knows how to write. Much of this book is about her writing life and what she does obviously works for her. There were phrases that I just wanted to reread and savor. Her comments about thread and yarn were lovely and were t...more
Mori really knows how to write. Much of this book is about her writing life and what she does obviously works for her. There were phrases that I just wanted to reread and savor. Her comments about thread and yarn were lovely and were t...more
Kyoki Mori delivers a moving account of her life by threading together various knitting projects with different episodes in her life. As Mori's story unravels, you share pain when she loses her mother, the frustration she feels with her family, the slow demise of her marraige and the joy she finds when she takes charge of her life.
I don't read many memoirs, but I thoroughly enjoyed Mori's story.
Though at times the story is slow-paced, threads of Mori's youth weave seamles...more
I don't read many memoirs, but I thoroughly enjoyed Mori's story.
Though at times the story is slow-paced, threads of Mori's youth weave seamles...more
An INTERESTING read...in this memoir an ardent knitter and runner writes about her knitting projects and ties them into the tale of her youth, marriage and profession. This Japanese girl was expected to learn the womanly arts of homemaking to prepare herself for marriage, but her mother’s suicide broke her relationship with her father and she escaped to the U.S. for college and a profession (PhD.college teacher of writing) that would free her from any dependence on him. The marriage she then for...more
Having read two of the author's YA novels, I was excited to find that one of her memoirs involved yarn, which is a passion of mine. (Big fibre artist when I'm not reading and writing, you see.) I was interested to see just what lay inside.
What I found was a frank and honest telling of many parts of her life, ranging from events in her childhood to her marriage to open self-reflection. Arranged in sections relating to specific knitted garments and how they relate to her life as a whol...more
What I found was a frank and honest telling of many parts of her life, ranging from events in her childhood to her marriage to open self-reflection. Arranged in sections relating to specific knitted garments and how they relate to her life as a whol...more
In "Yarn," Mori intertwines an experiential -- and global -- history on knitting and weaving with her personal story of marriage and loss. What makes Mori's book unique is her paradigm. Her take on marriage comes from being a native of the restrained culture of Japan, where she was born and where her mother committed suicide when Mori was only 12. Mori was then raised by a father who was vacant at best, and a stepmother, who was her father's mistress before her mother's death. Mori mo...more
I loved this book. When I decided to read it, I didn't realize it was a memoir. I generally don't enjoy memoirs but gave this one a shot, and am very glad I did. I found the book to be absorbing and well written.
I haven't read any of Mori's previous work so I was relatively unfamiliar with her life. Her story is not a cheerful one and she tells it through simple revelatory moments. The book focuses mostly on the suicide of her mother and the dissolution of her marriage. Deali...more
I haven't read any of Mori's previous work so I was relatively unfamiliar with her life. Her story is not a cheerful one and she tells it through simple revelatory moments. The book focuses mostly on the suicide of her mother and the dissolution of her marriage. Deali...more
I can't believe I finished this book, and I can't believe that it was published. The knitting/weaving/spinning component compelled me to read it, and I kept thinking the story would get more interesting. I think it would be really interesting to talk with Mori perhaps at a dinner party about her life and her devotion to fiber crafts, but to spend a few days reading about it was way too much of a commitment. She mentions in passing in the Epilogue that she keeps a black/white composition noteb...more
Kyoko Mori and her husband are more like college roommates than like husband and wife (or, at least, the husbands and wives I know). Each partner guards his/her independence carefully; when the marriage breaks up, it seems to happen just because each of them has simply found another place to live. (Chuck never seems to be able to make much progress on the renovation of their house and eventually Kyoko moves most of her stuff, and their cat, to an apartment she has been using as an office.) Mo...more
Laurie Carlson
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
auto-biography,
character-female,
contemporary,
crochet,
disabled,
how-yarn-is-made,
knitting,
lace,
love,
making-yarn,
memoirs,
non-fiction,
publisher-provided-in-exchange-for,
spinning-wheel,
teacher,
teaching,
wife,
yarn,
patterns,
divorced,
divorce,
yarn-patterns,
weaving,
life-in-general
Yarn by Kyoko Mori
NonFiction and Autobiography
This book is not just about yarn, as I thought it was at first. It is a very nice novel to read. It flows very nicely as Kyoko Mori, a New York Times Notable author takes us through her life from the point where her Visa is set to expire before she is done with all her college degrees she is after. College is what got her her Visa here to the States. She did not want to go back home to Japan without having finished them.
A friend ...more
NonFiction and Autobiography
This book is not just about yarn, as I thought it was at first. It is a very nice novel to read. It flows very nicely as Kyoko Mori, a New York Times Notable author takes us through her life from the point where her Visa is set to expire before she is done with all her college degrees she is after. College is what got her her Visa here to the States. She did not want to go back home to Japan without having finished them.
A friend ...more
This book could not be more up my alley: it's a memoir, it's by a writer I love (whose earlier memoir is one of my favorites ever), and it's about (drumroll) knitting. Hooray! So I was thrilled to find it at our local Borders' closing sale. And it is wonderful, plain-spoken, honest, and thoughtful. Among other things, it's inspiring to read such a forthright book about a woman's unusual life choices; it always makes me feel a little more courageous and inspired. And it's also fascinating t...more
A very fine memoir by a superb writer, weaving her history with her knitting. Her mother committed suicide when she was a girl, unable to bear her life as a wife in a dead marriage in a society where women are not allowed to be themselves. Her step mother goaded her father into abusing her- and these things take a life time to sort out, if ever. She becomes a teacher and marries a sweet, unambitious guy named Chuck. They never bond as a couple, just coexist for a number of years, until it’s… ...more
Having read her previous book, “Polite Lies,” I was familiar with Mori’s personal story and there’s quite a lot of reiteration in this book. The “yarn” in the title refers not only to Mori’s love of knitting and weaving but also in the story or “yarn” of her life.
You don’t have to be a knitter to appreciate her stories, although I’d venture to guess that fellow knitters might find even deeper meaning in some of her observations and impressions.
Mori is a good writer and s...more
You don’t have to be a knitter to appreciate her stories, although I’d venture to guess that fellow knitters might find even deeper meaning in some of her observations and impressions.
Mori is a good writer and s...more
I love the author's voice in this book: it's quiet and sincere. The yarn metaphor had the potential to be seriously strained, but Mori does a good job of holding it back. Although the book is about the effects of her mother's suicide when Mori was a child (some might say it's about the dissolution of Mori's marriage, but in my view that's related pretty strongly to the suicide), there is no talk of unravelling, getting wound up, spinning a tale, or other cringe-worthy phrases. Instead, she write...more
Although it sounds like a gimmick, Mori makes the knitting metaphor work (quite well actually) to structure her memoir. I got this book from the library after reading Polite Lies: On Being a Woman Caught Between Cultures, which I'd advise reading before this one. There is some overlap regarding her family background in Japan, but Polite Lies gives context that may be missing in reading Yarn first.
Definitely recommended
Definitely recommended
This is fine, but feels quite sanitized and safe and unenthusiastically executed. The metaphor of yarn gets heavy play, like it finds itself in pun-territory at some point with the notion of "telling a yarn," and then the reader quickly sees how yarn is also a substance that can make a blanket or bind things together and so on...ultimately, the motif is a bit tired and the motif is the centerpiece of the book. The danger with memoir is always that you'll end up being solipsistic, and M...more
The first scarf I knitted rolled up into itself like a turtle hiding in its shell. No amount of tugging, stretching, ironing, or whining would make it lay flat. This, you can imagine, irritated me greatly. I’d spent hours on the project, and when finally I had a finished product – one that I hoped would keep me warm all through the winter – its lame width left an unfortunate gap on my vulnerable neck.
Kyoko Mori’s new book, Yarn: Remembering the Way Home, opens in a similar vein. Her ...more
Kyoko Mori’s new book, Yarn: Remembering the Way Home, opens in a similar vein. Her ...more
I was hesitant about reading a book with a ball of yarn on the cover, call me judgmental, but I really did not think the content would interest me. I reluctantly opened the cover and began reading the book for my book club. Within the first few pages I was blown away by the poignancy of Mori's voice. The delightful tone of female independence within marriage spoke to me in an weightful way even when the character's marriage begins to ebb. Mori's tone with regard to relationships in this book are...more
Mori writes very clearly, and Yarn held my interest through her narrative and the information she weaves in about knitting and the other fiber arts she has learned. She's a very structured, controlled writer, and sometimes I wish she'd dig a little deeper into how she feels about things. This, after all, is described as being about "losing love," and while a little distance is good, it seemed a little cold. Or maybe that's how she really felt.
This author wrote so eloquently that I felt like she was sitting with me and telling me her story. The way she blends her progress in knitting with her progress in life gives the story an added depth because, as a knitter, I easily understood what she meant. While I had expected to enjoy this book I hadn't expected to enjoy it as much as I did. Being familiar with the setting of the book increased my enjoyment as well. Now I may read other books she has written.
Mori definitely kept my attention through the book and there were a few immigrant experiences I could relate to. The description of the guild personalities was so accurate it was scary! However, I felt very sad through the whole book. I felt no joy in the discovery, or resolution in her plight. That I find as a current theme when a writer writes about writing - it distracts from the story they are telling.
I eventually became bored with this book and picked up something else to read. The writing was good, and the integration of needlecraft/fiber arts with the author's life experiences was a nice idea. But beyond her childhood in Japan, this was a bit like reading the diary of your not-so-exciting next-door neighbor. Although I appreciate the author's thoughtful self-reflection, it didn't lead me to any profound realizations...unless I missed a big revelation at the end!
This is a fabulous autobiography. It is well-written and enjoyable. Kyoko Mori brings together her tale in a well-spun yarn, as the title suggests, but also discusses her love of knitting that brings the different pieces of her life together through different stitches. I highly recommend this autobiography to anyone who happens to love knitting, yarn, Kyoko Mori's writing, or an enjoyable autobiography.
Holly
marked it as to-read
mentioned in yarn a go go
It's the story of a Japanese-born woman coming to terms with her relationship with her American husband, and how everything relates to the death of her mother.
I loved this book: spare, a bit dark, and lovely. Also, she taught me things about knitting I've never HEARD of, which was delightful. Salish wool dogs, indeed!
It's the story of a Japanese-born woman coming to terms with her relationship with her American husband, and how everything relates to the death of her mother.
I loved this book: spare, a bit dark, and lovely. Also, she taught me things about knitting I've never HEARD of, which was delightful. Salish wool dogs, indeed!
Of course I picked up this book because of "Yarn" in the title, and pictured on the cover, but it is so much more than a knitting story. There is a lot going on in this story, but the best thing I took away from it was a reminder that moments of quiet and reflection and simplicity are important, especially in the life of a writer.
an interesting memoir, using her lifelong love of knitting as a parallel to her life the author gives some interesting insight into growing up in Japan in the 60s and the history of knitting. As a knitter, I enjoyed the historical aspect - who knew that knitting was initially "man's work" - as only men were admitted to craft guilds. Or that sailors would knit their own sweaters on long journeys....etc....The life portrayed is pretty bleak in many ways, but still a good read.
Kyoko Mori left a suffocating upper-class life in Japan to attend college in the US, where she subsequently earned a PhD and became a teacher and writer. In this memoir, she connects various incidents of her youth – the rigid caste system, her mother’s suicide, her stepmother’s abuse, her inability to knit mittens for home ec. – to her choices later in life. Re-learning to knit as an adult, she finds that she can bring a creativity to her projects that wasn’t allowed when she was a child, and ...more
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Kyoko Mori was born in Kobe, Japan, in 1957. As a young girl, she learned numerous ways to be creative, including drawing, sewing, and writing, from her mother and her mother's family. From those family members, Mori says, "I came to understand the magic of transformation — a limitless possibility of turning nothing into something."
Mori's life changed completely at age 12, wh...more
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Mori's life changed completely at age 12, wh...more
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