Talking to High Monks in the Snow: An Asian-American Odyssey

by Lydia Minatoya

Winner of the 1991 PEN/Jerard Fund Award, Talking to High Monks in the Snow captures the passion and intensity of an Asian-American woman's search for cultural identity.

Genres: Japan, Nonfiction, Memoir, Travel, Biography, Biography Memoir, Asia

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

LYDIA MINATOYA was born In Albany, New York in 1950. She received her PhD in psychology from the University of Maryland in 1981 and is currently a college professor. She has written about her experiences growing up as an Asian American and her travels of self-discovery in Asia in Talking to Monks in High Snow: An Asian-American Odyssey (1993). She has also published a novel, The Strangeness of Beauty (1999), about several generations of Japanese Americans who return to Japan just before World War II and view the conflict from the perspective of insiders who are also outsiders.

(from www.litjunkies.com/Minatoya.doc)

Reviews

[Dylan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poetic, sometimes dreamlike vignettes slowly resolve into a life, and expand beyond that to reach into my world. A cultural tour that finds an honest beauty at each stop without a hint of pretense or hyperbole. I'd be very curious to know how different such a tour would be today.

[Kristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

B+

[Kathy Hale · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Japanese-American woman relates of her family and her journey discovering what it means to be if the Asian race in the modern world. This book gave me insight into the prejudices of Americans toward those of Japanese lineage in WWII as well as attitudes of today. The person also encountered in her teaching classes in China, Mao Tezung's Four Points Plan to eradicate sparrows. I had never heard of that so I had to research it.

[Lorraine McCleary · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young Japanese American woman writes of the subtle racism being raised in the US. Her grandparents were born in Japan, her parents born here, but her mother raised in Japan. On returning to the US, her mother was put into an internment camp in WW2. There she met her husband. Lydia, the author, goes to Asia as a young adult and finds the balance between east and west. An enlightening look at Asian American history and US blending.

[Russ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kept waiting for her to talk to high monks in the snow, but it never happened, so the title was misleading to me. However, I was privileged to hear Minatoya’s story, from America to teaching in China, to travels in Nepal. Along the way she connects us with her family and her search for understanding of her heritage.

[Karla Eaton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing is as fascinating to me as the lives people lead - especially when finding happiness and u deters ding of yourself is the focus. The author’s mixed race struggle is reminiscent of many others - like Trevor Noah - but each path is unique

[Shawn Leonard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book and poetic at times. Lydia takes us on her journey through the U.S., Japan, China, and ultimately Nepal. I was able to relate to her nomad lifestyle and internal struggles. A true one of one Asian American story.

Big fan!

[Tom Forbes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Memories, travel log and reflection to discover her place and value in the world. Worth the read for the descriptions of the places and people.

[Sedona MaCloud · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like the moving through time and location was confusing and hard to follow.

[Timothy Hallinan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful and beautifully written book about an Americanized Japanese-American coming to terms with her Japanese heritage. Her father works a difficult job for years, and when he retires he finds he was paid the same amount as his assistant -- but he is grateful for the work and the opportunity to do a good job. Minatoya's mother is more mysterious, more classically "Japanese" in her habits and attitudes. It takes an Asian journey, including time spent in Japan, for Minatoya to internalize the cultural conflicts she feels and find an identity that is comfortable for her. Sorry to be so dry. This book had me on the brink of tears several times.

[Erika Stanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A moving story - cross cultural, cross generational - of Japanese immigrants in America and their Japanese American daughter traveling abroad. Offered insight and perspective otherwise unavailable to me as an American child of German/English descent. The non-linear, sometimes fragmented stories were potent vignettes, peering into moments of recognition, memory, ancestry, communication, belonging, culture and independence. Really enjoyed this and look forward to reading more of Ms. Minatoya's work.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up at a used bookstore because the title sounded interesting and it was from a college freshmen English class. Nothing spectacular or earth-shattering. But it was interesting to read. From her recollections of her parents and grand-parents in the US interment camps during WWII to working in Japan and China to a month in Nepal it kept me wanting to read more, which is hard to do in this type of literary work.

[Debra]

Found this one at the library when I was looking. The book jacket states, the author, Lydia Minatoya adds a remarkabley distinctive voice and vision to the literature of the American experience...a facinating journey-rich in humor and insight-an evocative exploration of cultural identity by a woman caught between the traditions of her Japanese immigrant family and the values of her American world.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lacking a background involving family feuds, I found
it hard at first to take seriously how such a history
stamped the life of the author as a young Japanese-
American. But haunted she was. After teaching in Okinawa,
living in Nepal, and coming to know both sides of her
still-divided ancestral family in Japan, she reached
her own place with more understanding of the persistence
of family memory. The more credible for being so undramatized.

[Victor McGuire · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful story about a Asian American family odyssey. I used this book in the Multicultural Class I taught.
this book is wonderfully engaging.
"A poignant, sensitive, and often funny account of growing up bicultural in a land that's never quite sure what to do with its rich mix of race and color" Village Voice

[Stephanie Pugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I usually read fiction but this one is a memoir; Lydia Minatoya writes about her experience growing up in between cultures and identities as an Asian American. I especially loved her accounts of visiting Japan--I found it very true to my own experiences there. It's not quite as exciting as reading a novel, but I was touched by her life experiences. Overall, I would recommend this book.

[Kimberly Horch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this one in High School, but I thought it deserved a re-read because it's been so long. It's about the self discovery of a single, young adult woman... that includes no love story, which makes it kind-of awesome. Loaded with philosophy and lessons from other cultures, it took me on a unique journey to anthropological insights I simply couldn't have been privy to on my own.

[Onn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. It was difficult for me to keep interest because the author jumps all over the place in her storytelling. She has a wonderful vocabulary, and does lend a descriptive hand in depicting moments in time, but continuity suffers. The epilogue also seems disjointed with the rest of the book.

[Mary Cronk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am still reading this book -- halfway through.

I am so surprised how much I love this book as I never heard of it. Faith, from my book club has lent this to me as I expressed an interest to read books about Japan or Japanese Americans. This memoir is about both!

And most importantly, it is written so well!

I will finish this review when I complete the book.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was beautifully written. I'd actually like to re-read it with a dictionary at hand. The author has a vast vocabulary. The way she wrote was often poetic at times, and I was really impressed with the way she was able to recall such details in this insightful memoir of hers.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. The tone and style are incredible. It covers several facets of discovering cultural identity in the U.S. by a Japanese American woman. If you love artful and charismatic writing, then you'd love this.

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for Asian American Autobio sem. Minatoya keeps the reader at a distance, which isn't the most engaging technique for this type of memoir. Stilted writing, unimpressive ending, some touching moments but ultimately difficult to relate to the author.

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Born in America of Japanese parents, Lydia Minatoya never can avoid her "otherness ". Taking a teaching assignment in Japan, she learns to claim her multiple heritages. Along the way the reader sees Japan, China and Nepal through her perceptive eyes.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot of pearls in this. The language is beautiful and the her life lessons are relevant to anyone.

[Larrirosser · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this. Very satisfying look at the world throgh the eyes of a Japanese-American woman.

[alisonwonderland (Alison)]

This was a gift from Sue.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been to Japan three times and am into personal stories of Japanese people. I really like learning the small things about other cultures.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to read this for my English class freshman year of college. I don't remember a lot about it besides that I really liked it.

[Bonnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lyrical journey through an Asian American's future as she reconnects with her family's past. Beautiful sparse language with plenty of human insight.

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

2010- A memoir of a woman learning about her Japanese family's past, while discovering herself as she travels throughout Asia. A surprisingly good read.