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The Typist
Rife with the crisp dialogue, complex characters, and stunning economy of language for which Michael Knight's previous work has been praised, The Typist chronicles the early, halting rehabilitation of the grisly Pacific theater of the Second World War-specifically occupied Japan, where Western bureaucrats flooded into Tokyo, taking charge of their former enemies. When Francis Vancleave (Van) joins the army in 1944, he has every reason to expect his term of service will pass uneventfully. After all, the war is winding down and Van's one singular talent-typing ninety-five words a minute-keeps him off the battlefield and in General MacArthur's busy Tokyo headquarters, where his days are filled with paperwork in triplicate and letters of dictation. Little does Van know that the first year of the occupation will prove far more volatile for him than for the U.S. Army. Bunked with a troubled combat veteran cum-black marketer and recruited to babysit General MacArthur's eight-year-old son, Van is suddenly tangled in the complex-and risky-personal lives of his compatriots. As he brushes shoulders with panpan girls and Communists on the bustling streets of Tokyo, Van struggles to uphold his convictions in the face of unexpected conflict-especially the startling news that reaches his barracks from his young war bride, a revelation that threatens Van with a kind of war wound he could never have anticipated. Though grounded in the history of Japan's reconstruction era in the wake of World War II, The Typist is unmistakably contemporary in its portrayal of military occupations and of individual experience in an immensely complicated time. At once spare and captivating, it is a book about unlikely kinships, good intentions gone awry, and the many forks in the road to manhood.
208 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 3, 2010
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462 people want to read
About the author
Michael Knight
10 books13 followersMichael Knight is the author of the novels The Typist and Divining Rod, the short story collections Eveningland, Goodnight, Nobody, and Dogfight and Other Stories, and the book of novellas The Holiday Season. His novel, The Typist, was selected as a Best Book of the Year by The Huffington Post and The Kansas City Star, among other places, and appeared on Oprah’s Summer Reading List in 2011. His short stories have appeared in magazines and journals like The New Yorker, Oxford American, Paris Review and The Southern Review and have been anthologized in Best American Mystery Stories, 2004 and New Stories from the South: The Year’s Best 1999, 2003, 2004 and 2009. Knight teaches creative writing at the University of Tennessee and lives in Knoxville with his family.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 98 reviews
July 27, 2011
Only those who fully venerate war can think of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima as a glorified event. Indeed, most fictional books that are set in post-Hiroshima reconstruction are filled with vivid, colorful and poignant descriptions.
So it comes as a surprise that Michael Knight’s The Typist is such a gentle book. It is devoid of precisely what one might expect in a book set in the wake of World War II: no brow-beating, no heart-wrenching, no intrusive authorial political statements.
At its heart, The Typist is a coming-of-age book. The protagonist, Pfc. Francis Vancleave (Van) has one claim to fame: he types an astounding 95 words a minute. That skill keeps him off the battlefield, where his days are filled with mind-numbing letters of dictation and paperwork. That is, until he comes to the attention of General MacArthur, nicknamed “Bunny.” Bunny conscripts him to keep company with his young son, Arthur, an isolated boy, who enjoys staging figurine battles with his large assortment of toys.
Van is a man who is marginalized by life. As a married man – and we initially know little about his marriage – he does not enter into the “sport” of bedding the panpan girls who “smoked and teased and sent young boys over with indecent propositions.” Unlike his roommate, Clifford, he is a straight arrow, freshly minted from Alabama, more of an observer than a participant. He is able to lose himself in the games of his young charge (would Hannibel outfox Napolean?) and fits in beautifully in Arthur’s isolated world.
There is an authentic simplicity in Michael Knight’s sparse writing, a puissance that might elude a less gifted writer. As Van searches for his own legitimacy, Mr. Knight provides him with the luxury of reaching it at his own pace. This is slow, effortless, luxuriant prose, prose that casts a spell, prose that doesn’t waste a word and refuses to erect artificial roadblocks to the story. As far as comparisons, one work that comes instantly to mind is Walker Percy’s The Moviegoer. There is as much power in what is not stated as what is.
There is a subtle theme of football that runs through the book – and also in the magnificent story that precedes The Typist, called The Atom Bowl. MacArthur, in shocking disregard of sensibilities, holds a football game to rally spirit in what he dubs the Atom Bowl; “the players trotted out and suddenly the ball was in the air, the Giants kicking to the Bears in the city of Hiroshima, on the island of Honshu, in the occupied nation of Japan.” If there is any doubt of how Michael Knight expects us to read this scene, it is dispelled by the opening story. In it, a young boy interviews his “pawpaw” – the last surviving participant of the Atom Bowl. As his pawpaw relives these “gory days”, the boy asks him, “What about you? Did you ever feel guilty or anything?” The response: “For what?”
This small, quiet novel centering on a rootless man in search for something he only dimly understands packs a disproportionate wallop. By juxtaposing complex characters with an economy of language, Michael Knight has created a compelling meditation of a sliver of history.
So it comes as a surprise that Michael Knight’s The Typist is such a gentle book. It is devoid of precisely what one might expect in a book set in the wake of World War II: no brow-beating, no heart-wrenching, no intrusive authorial political statements.
At its heart, The Typist is a coming-of-age book. The protagonist, Pfc. Francis Vancleave (Van) has one claim to fame: he types an astounding 95 words a minute. That skill keeps him off the battlefield, where his days are filled with mind-numbing letters of dictation and paperwork. That is, until he comes to the attention of General MacArthur, nicknamed “Bunny.” Bunny conscripts him to keep company with his young son, Arthur, an isolated boy, who enjoys staging figurine battles with his large assortment of toys.
Van is a man who is marginalized by life. As a married man – and we initially know little about his marriage – he does not enter into the “sport” of bedding the panpan girls who “smoked and teased and sent young boys over with indecent propositions.” Unlike his roommate, Clifford, he is a straight arrow, freshly minted from Alabama, more of an observer than a participant. He is able to lose himself in the games of his young charge (would Hannibel outfox Napolean?) and fits in beautifully in Arthur’s isolated world.
There is an authentic simplicity in Michael Knight’s sparse writing, a puissance that might elude a less gifted writer. As Van searches for his own legitimacy, Mr. Knight provides him with the luxury of reaching it at his own pace. This is slow, effortless, luxuriant prose, prose that casts a spell, prose that doesn’t waste a word and refuses to erect artificial roadblocks to the story. As far as comparisons, one work that comes instantly to mind is Walker Percy’s The Moviegoer. There is as much power in what is not stated as what is.
There is a subtle theme of football that runs through the book – and also in the magnificent story that precedes The Typist, called The Atom Bowl. MacArthur, in shocking disregard of sensibilities, holds a football game to rally spirit in what he dubs the Atom Bowl; “the players trotted out and suddenly the ball was in the air, the Giants kicking to the Bears in the city of Hiroshima, on the island of Honshu, in the occupied nation of Japan.” If there is any doubt of how Michael Knight expects us to read this scene, it is dispelled by the opening story. In it, a young boy interviews his “pawpaw” – the last surviving participant of the Atom Bowl. As his pawpaw relives these “gory days”, the boy asks him, “What about you? Did you ever feel guilty or anything?” The response: “For what?”
This small, quiet novel centering on a rootless man in search for something he only dimly understands packs a disproportionate wallop. By juxtaposing complex characters with an economy of language, Michael Knight has created a compelling meditation of a sliver of history.
March 5, 2011
The Typist is a small, quiet novel that is best described as evocative. Unlike many books that I read, The Typist felt like it was more about setting than character or plot. Both of these exist, but took a backseat to the setting of post-war Japan. As my husband and I discussed this book over dinner last night (dinner alone, no less!), he mentioned that there was so much that went unsaid in this book. The author could have taken the book in multiple different directions, but he chose to follow the path of this book and let those other paths go untrod. This choice of the author leaves you with a spare book, free from distracting side plot lines or characters who pop in for just one scene.
The main character, Van, is one I never quite figured out. He keeps emotional distance from everyone in the novel, but instead of leaving me frustrated, it left me intrigued. This leads me to my only complaint about this book: it's so short (a mere 185 pages), so easy to read, so well-written that it's difficult to read it slowly. Yet it's a book that merits savoring. My suggestion? Don't grab this as your next beach read. If you do that, you'll devour it in a few hours. Instead, read one or two chapters at night before bed for a few nights. If you have the self-discipline to read The Typist this way, I think you might enjoy it even more than I did. It's a lovely book and I'm eager to read more of Michael Knight's evocative prose.
The main character, Van, is one I never quite figured out. He keeps emotional distance from everyone in the novel, but instead of leaving me frustrated, it left me intrigued. This leads me to my only complaint about this book: it's so short (a mere 185 pages), so easy to read, so well-written that it's difficult to read it slowly. Yet it's a book that merits savoring. My suggestion? Don't grab this as your next beach read. If you do that, you'll devour it in a few hours. Instead, read one or two chapters at night before bed for a few nights. If you have the self-discipline to read The Typist this way, I think you might enjoy it even more than I did. It's a lovely book and I'm eager to read more of Michael Knight's evocative prose.
September 7, 2010
Nice prose. Could use more plot and character development. An enlisted man relates his experiences in Tokyo during the American occupation following WWII.
Someone got a little too Hooked on Phonics. The word is corpsman, not "coreman."
Someone got a little too Hooked on Phonics. The word is corpsman, not "coreman."
May 17, 2010
Michael Knight is one of my favorite authors, and I was lucky enough to score an Advanced Readers Copy of this. Knight continues to do here what he has done in his previous short story collections and novellas: he creates perfectly realized, three-dimensional characters, and then proceeds to evocatively and lyrically describe their experiences and interactions with their location and with other people. This book is for anyone who enjoys characters so real you feel as though you know them; readers who love to be immersed in the location of a story; and readers who revel in beautiful, engrossing writing.
May 18, 2025
I am reading my way through a list of novellas recommended by Margaret Renkl, which is introducing me to new authors but more importantly, writing that depends on clarity and focus. There is nothing superfluous here, every word carefully chosen, every sentence carefully crafted.
The time after the bombs were dropped in Japan, forcing a surrender, and the peace-keeping and rebuilding attempts after the end of WW II is a period of history almost forgotten. In the “Acknowledgements,” the author identifies this is a work of fiction although he uses creative license with his research on the protagonist, Van, General MacArthur, and certain events such as a football game played by former college star athletes.
The protagonist, Francis Vancleave, known as “Van,” enlisted in the army in 1944. Reflecting his naïveté and inexperience, he marries another teenager at the end of basic training. A handful of circumstances that have honed his typing skills brought his talent to the attention of his commanding officers, and finally to a prestigious position in the typing pool, carrying out the directives of General MacArthur, aka “Bunny.”
There’s an unreal feel to Van’s life and for most of the book; he has carved out a place for himself on the other side of the world, which couldn’t be more foreign to him. Van observes the destruction left by the bombings, the attempts at rebuilding and building a local economy while he fulfills his endless typing responsibilities, remains faithful to his wife, and tries to keep his distance from some typical GI past times.
There is a depth to Van; for all his innocence entering the Army, he is astute, a keen observer, kind. After sending a birthday gift to MacArthur’s eight-year-old son, Arthur, Van is asked to keep Arthur company on Saturdays, a relationship that is sweet, yet revealing to Van about their vastly different worlds. How this young soldier navigates his black market-roommate, brushes with Communists, panpan girls, and surprising news from home presents moral conflicts to Van who expected his time in the Army to be as uneventful, as matter-of-fact as his typing skills.
Despite the time period, the story threads of military life make “The Typist” feel very relevant; Van’s thoughts and MacArthur’s opinions reflect the opposing realities of war and the required morality. The theme of love, which pervades the novella, is timeless, and more complicated than I expected. Finally, I was so immersed in Van’s life in Tokyo, especially with Arthur, I did a bit of reading about Arthur (now 87) who became a concert pianist and has lived a very private life.
The time after the bombs were dropped in Japan, forcing a surrender, and the peace-keeping and rebuilding attempts after the end of WW II is a period of history almost forgotten. In the “Acknowledgements,” the author identifies this is a work of fiction although he uses creative license with his research on the protagonist, Van, General MacArthur, and certain events such as a football game played by former college star athletes.
The protagonist, Francis Vancleave, known as “Van,” enlisted in the army in 1944. Reflecting his naïveté and inexperience, he marries another teenager at the end of basic training. A handful of circumstances that have honed his typing skills brought his talent to the attention of his commanding officers, and finally to a prestigious position in the typing pool, carrying out the directives of General MacArthur, aka “Bunny.”
There’s an unreal feel to Van’s life and for most of the book; he has carved out a place for himself on the other side of the world, which couldn’t be more foreign to him. Van observes the destruction left by the bombings, the attempts at rebuilding and building a local economy while he fulfills his endless typing responsibilities, remains faithful to his wife, and tries to keep his distance from some typical GI past times.
There is a depth to Van; for all his innocence entering the Army, he is astute, a keen observer, kind. After sending a birthday gift to MacArthur’s eight-year-old son, Arthur, Van is asked to keep Arthur company on Saturdays, a relationship that is sweet, yet revealing to Van about their vastly different worlds. How this young soldier navigates his black market-roommate, brushes with Communists, panpan girls, and surprising news from home presents moral conflicts to Van who expected his time in the Army to be as uneventful, as matter-of-fact as his typing skills.
Despite the time period, the story threads of military life make “The Typist” feel very relevant; Van’s thoughts and MacArthur’s opinions reflect the opposing realities of war and the required morality. The theme of love, which pervades the novella, is timeless, and more complicated than I expected. Finally, I was so immersed in Van’s life in Tokyo, especially with Arthur, I did a bit of reading about Arthur (now 87) who became a concert pianist and has lived a very private life.
April 18, 2023
Another mid required college read. LAST ONE THOUGH 🎉
July 4, 2012
I liked the way Michael Knight writes in this novella. But I think the drama could've been a little more dramatic. This is a quiet story of Francis Vancleave, who is stationed in Tokyo in 1944. He is an excellent typist, and this skill keeps him off the battlfield while he works for General MacArthur (his men call MacArthur "Bunny" to each other in this book). Francis's experiences here make up the book, and include a baysitting job with MacArthur's eight year old son. But ultimately, I was left unmoved by the story. Stewart O'Nan, by comparison, also writes "quiet" short novels, but they also can pack a powerful punch dramatically.
January 29, 2013
This novel offers a keen portrait of a rarely depicted terrain: the post-WWII American occupation of Japan. Don't expect bullets and mortars, here: all the battles are waged within. Our main character Van is a quiet, perceptive guide to this world of subtleties, where the true rules of behavior are elusive. Sex, rank, back-alley bartering and babysitting are all more loaded than they appear. And don't miss the great guest appearance by the great general himself: Douglas MacArthur. A fast and rewarding read that will linger.
November 20, 2010
This is a spare, elegant book based on the post-war occupation of Japan. It follows an ordinary serviceman who serves as a typist for General McArthur's staff, and his subsequent involvement with McArthur's son, as well as interaction with a handful of locals. It gives a brief glimpse into the life of a person who is quietly uncertain, decent, and non-remarkable - which makes surprisingly satisfying reading.
January 15, 2022
THE TYPIST by Michael Knight -- It is the end of World War II. The atomic bombs have been dropped. Japan has surrendered. And General MacArthur is in his headquarters in Tokyo overseeing the reconstruction of Japan. Francis Vancleave (Van) enlisted in 1944. When asked if he had any special skills, he said, "I can type 100 words a minute." He was recruited to work in MacArthur's office endlessly typing letters, documents, orders, and more. While there is a plot and characters, THE TYPIST is much more a memoire, or a kind of diary. Van's talent comes under the notice of MacArthur, and when he sends a small birthday to MacArthur's young son, he is assigned duty to become a son and companion to the boy. The beauty of the book and Knight's writing style is that they provide us with a portrayal of what enlisted military life was like in occupied Japan, relationships between local Japanese and Allied soldiers, conflicts, loves, tragedies, and growing into adulthood under difficult circumstances.
August 20, 2017
Wish there were half stars.....this should be a 4.5. An exquisite, well-written short novel placed in post-war occupied Japan. The idea of a skilled typist working directly for Macarthur is an interesting trope, and keeps the protagonist in the center of the action. Knight's ear for dialogue is uncanny and his research is good, so he reflects the period well. The story has a couple of interesting twists and turns, so the book is hard to put down, as the cliche would have it.
This novel is not as dense as Shirley Hazzard's "The Great Fire", but the story is a lighter one and in some ways, easier to handle. The ending seemed too predictable when I was reading it, but after a couple of days of reflection, I think it was pitch-perfect.
This novel is not as dense as Shirley Hazzard's "The Great Fire", but the story is a lighter one and in some ways, easier to handle. The ending seemed too predictable when I was reading it, but after a couple of days of reflection, I think it was pitch-perfect.
June 4, 2018
A short, well written story of only 190 pages. This book is a fast read, but you don't necessarily want to read it quickly. I wanted to enjoy what was written by soaking it all in.
It takes place in WW 11. Francis Vancleave, "Van" is the main character, and the Typist, though there are many in General MacArthur's, "Bunny", busy Tokyo head office. We go through the life of Van during his time in the war, and what the outcome of what takes place during that time. We also learn some history along the way too.
A bit of a spoiler: I thought the ending came to an end abruptly, it wasn't as smoothly done as the rest of the story. As to the ending, this is exactly what I would have expected Van would had done.
It takes place in WW 11. Francis Vancleave, "Van" is the main character, and the Typist, though there are many in General MacArthur's, "Bunny", busy Tokyo head office. We go through the life of Van during his time in the war, and what the outcome of what takes place during that time. We also learn some history along the way too.
A bit of a spoiler: I thought the ending came to an end abruptly, it wasn't as smoothly done as the rest of the story. As to the ending, this is exactly what I would have expected Van would had done.
May 28, 2025
This novella follows a years or so in the life of Francis, a young enlisted man sent to serve in the typing pool for General "Bunny" McArthur in post-WWII Japan. It reveals everyday aspects of military occupation, including the life of the American soldiers and their interactions with Japanese civilians, such as panpan girls and youngsters out to make a buck (or rather some yen). Key people include General McArthur's 8 year olds son Arthur, Francis's roommate Clifford who is caught up in some shady dealings, and Francis's young war bride. This is written so well - capturing the tone without undue sentimentality.
July 13, 2021
I’m not sure what to say about this book. I feel like it delivered on the promises, and I enjoyed the style of the writing. Despite all of this, it was missing a certain level of spark and excitement. There were moments where the prose took away from the momentum and slowed down my reading experience.
April 8, 2023
This is short - and an easy read. I got through it in one day waiting. It is an interesting premise and had a lot of promise, but it soft of builds up to an anti-climax that was disappointing. The ending was predictable and expected, which is not necessarily bad, but by then I was looking for a twist or even another 'dropped shoe' to make the entire story come together.
January 16, 2021
Very interesting book. It kept me captivated and curious to see where it was leading. I have to say the ending i saw coming. Overall a good read. Gives some insights on what life for a typist might of been like in the military at that time.
October 9, 2021
Well written short novella about American soldiers in post WW2 Japan in 1945.
I enjoyed it but wouldn’t call it a page turner/can’t wait to see what happens next type of book.
The main character Van is predictable but I liked him and his quiet character development.
I enjoyed it but wouldn’t call it a page turner/can’t wait to see what happens next type of book.
The main character Van is predictable but I liked him and his quiet character development.
January 6, 2024
Great storytelling. Well-paced. The main character is a typist with the US military in post world war 2 Japan. My only problem was that while it was mostly observational about the situation, it leaned a bit pro war and pro USA military.
February 4, 2018
Interesting...but do not understand the ending. I am confused about what happened.....
February 17, 2018
Loved it. Just loved it.
February 24, 2019
a joy to read but sort of unsatisfying how it develops. Not even sure why MacArthur had to be involved.
February 28, 2019
Good but a little dry and lacking in feeling.
July 10, 2019
A slow build, but the last third of the novel was worth it. Knight is an expert at depicting settings and sketching characters with just the right economy of prose.
November 14, 2021
This is such a well-written story.
June 10, 2023
Wonderful. Wonderful. Wonderful.
March 13, 2017
Francis Vancleave is the typist. He is assigned to the typing pool in General MacArthur’s Tokyo headquarters following the Japanese WWII surrender. MacArthur takes a liking to Van and invites him to be his son’s buddy. In the meantime, he is living with a roommate who, as it turns out, is deep into black market dealings. Van then learns that his wife back home is having another man’s baby. And just maybe he is falling for a Japanese girl named Fumiko. Not much excitement in terms of plot, still an excellent novel.
The magic is that the author has managed to write a peaceful novel amidst scenes of the aftermath of total war and nuclear destruction. We see the bombed out buildings, the water-filled bomb craters where the local kids swim, the men women and children disfigured by the engines of war. American occupiers are working to “scrape away the evidence of destruction, to make way for something new.” The thing that struck me most about The Typist was how well the Japanese treated the thousands of GI’s who occupied their homeland in the post-atom bomb years.
The magic is that the author has managed to write a peaceful novel amidst scenes of the aftermath of total war and nuclear destruction. We see the bombed out buildings, the water-filled bomb craters where the local kids swim, the men women and children disfigured by the engines of war. American occupiers are working to “scrape away the evidence of destruction, to make way for something new.” The thing that struck me most about The Typist was how well the Japanese treated the thousands of GI’s who occupied their homeland in the post-atom bomb years.
Read
November 14, 2010A boy standing alone in a snow-covered and bombed-out landscape, looking up at the moon, thinking of someone far away.
This is what The Typist made me think of.
It is not what the book is about. It is about a U.S. soldier stationed in Tokyo post-WWII. He's a typist under the command of MacArthur. He has a newly-wed wife back home and a roommate named Clifford who will, eventually, make the tragic and common mistake of falling in love.
The typist is also a fan of college football. He is an Alabama man. This will be important later.
Tokyo here is a city of pan-pan girls, industrious street kids, and make-shift diamonds chalked between ruined buildings. It is a city under an American occupation, somewhat in awe of MacArthur and doing what it has to in order to survive. What ugliness remains from the war is presented quietly, and often in passing, as with boys playing baseball among the ruins, or a dance-hall girl's pale, burned skin and crooked hand.
For much of the book, the typist exists as a witness to the louder world around him. He types out his roommate's letters to home (Clifford's mom complains of his hand-writing) and declines to partake in the dance-hall culture that Clifford enjoys and resolutely forgets to mention to his mother. Sometimes he takes walks into the city, to a sake and noodle bar, to practice what Japanese he's learned. Things change, though, as they always do. He agrees to accompany Clifford on a double-date into town. Clifford’s girl, Namiki, refused to go otherwise. It is here that the typist meets a dance-hall girl named Fumiko who keeps one arm always hidden within her kimono’s folds.
In thanks, Clifford pulls a string or two to get the typist an invitation to watch the Army-Navy game with MacArthur. Not long after this, the typist finds himself playing war with MacArthur's son and the boy's collection of tin soldiers. A friendship evolves while, in the meantime, the typist deals with his wife being pregnant with another man's child, and his dawning affections towards a quiet woman scarred by something very loud and violent.
Knight has a way of painting scenes both beautiful and distressing. There is the general's son, alone in a row boat, paddling around a small, impeccable pond. In another, the typist watches Namiki working as a department store mannequin, holding herself stilly beautiful as onlookers wait for the brief, but inevitable moment when she falters and changes position. And, late in the book, the typist and Fumiko bear witness to a snowy and bizarrely competitive football game held inside a make-shift stadium built within the heart of Hiroshima.
The typist was born in the town of Mobile, a place far away from snow and Udon. His father was tug-boat captain. a In Tokyo, the typist often thought of his father alone on a small boat, pushing and pulling much larger ships along dark rivers. By the time of his discharge, though, he carries with him new scenes to ponder, scenes of love and suicide, of snow and football, and of a brief moment of companionship offered by, and accepted from, a scarred woman on a train.
Knight leaves us with the typist at home and transformed, a stranger in a familiar, but different place, populated by familiar, but different people--carrying with him the weight of memories strange and beautiful and violent. Memories like that of a boy in a snow-covered and ruined city, maybe watching the moon, or maybe watching a game of football. It’s all you can do sometimes to remember that such things really happen.
This is what The Typist made me think of.
It is not what the book is about. It is about a U.S. soldier stationed in Tokyo post-WWII. He's a typist under the command of MacArthur. He has a newly-wed wife back home and a roommate named Clifford who will, eventually, make the tragic and common mistake of falling in love.
The typist is also a fan of college football. He is an Alabama man. This will be important later.
Tokyo here is a city of pan-pan girls, industrious street kids, and make-shift diamonds chalked between ruined buildings. It is a city under an American occupation, somewhat in awe of MacArthur and doing what it has to in order to survive. What ugliness remains from the war is presented quietly, and often in passing, as with boys playing baseball among the ruins, or a dance-hall girl's pale, burned skin and crooked hand.
For much of the book, the typist exists as a witness to the louder world around him. He types out his roommate's letters to home (Clifford's mom complains of his hand-writing) and declines to partake in the dance-hall culture that Clifford enjoys and resolutely forgets to mention to his mother. Sometimes he takes walks into the city, to a sake and noodle bar, to practice what Japanese he's learned. Things change, though, as they always do. He agrees to accompany Clifford on a double-date into town. Clifford’s girl, Namiki, refused to go otherwise. It is here that the typist meets a dance-hall girl named Fumiko who keeps one arm always hidden within her kimono’s folds.
In thanks, Clifford pulls a string or two to get the typist an invitation to watch the Army-Navy game with MacArthur. Not long after this, the typist finds himself playing war with MacArthur's son and the boy's collection of tin soldiers. A friendship evolves while, in the meantime, the typist deals with his wife being pregnant with another man's child, and his dawning affections towards a quiet woman scarred by something very loud and violent.
Knight has a way of painting scenes both beautiful and distressing. There is the general's son, alone in a row boat, paddling around a small, impeccable pond. In another, the typist watches Namiki working as a department store mannequin, holding herself stilly beautiful as onlookers wait for the brief, but inevitable moment when she falters and changes position. And, late in the book, the typist and Fumiko bear witness to a snowy and bizarrely competitive football game held inside a make-shift stadium built within the heart of Hiroshima.
The typist was born in the town of Mobile, a place far away from snow and Udon. His father was tug-boat captain. a In Tokyo, the typist often thought of his father alone on a small boat, pushing and pulling much larger ships along dark rivers. By the time of his discharge, though, he carries with him new scenes to ponder, scenes of love and suicide, of snow and football, and of a brief moment of companionship offered by, and accepted from, a scarred woman on a train.
Knight leaves us with the typist at home and transformed, a stranger in a familiar, but different place, populated by familiar, but different people--carrying with him the weight of memories strange and beautiful and violent. Memories like that of a boy in a snow-covered and ruined city, maybe watching the moon, or maybe watching a game of football. It’s all you can do sometimes to remember that such things really happen.
August 23, 2011
Because it is so carefully and economically (and beautifully) written, Michael Knight's most recent novel, The Typist, is the kind of book you read and think that you yourself can write. In that way, reading The Typist is incredibly inspiring; yet, as many know, the books that appear simple are really the most difficult and complex. The Typist is a deceptively simple, short book - only a little over 200 pages, and my copy is shorter and more narrow than a standard paperback - but like other short novels in the recent past (I'm thinking here of Stewart O'Nan's Last Night at the Lobster and Richard Bausch's Peace) it packs as much story into its pages as a novel twice its length.
The plot of The Typist is fairly simple. Francis "Van" Vancleave joins the army in 1944 and, because he is an exceptional typist, he is stationed in Tokyo at General MacArthur's headquarters where he is employed transcribing mountains of paperwork. Through a series of events, he befriends MacArthur's eight-year-old son, Arthur, and is enlisted by MacArthur to "babysit" him. On top of the obvious complications that situation breeds, Van is also dealing with a shell shocked bunk-mate who may or may not be working with Communists on the black market. In addition, Van's wife (who he met and quickly married before he left basic training) writes him to tell him that she is pregnant, and that he is not the father. Each of these plot threads play themselves out over the course of the novel, which culminates in General MacArthur's (in)famous Atom Bowl, a football game between American soldiers at the site one of the nuclear bomb detonations. (Knight manipulates the details some, but the game really did occur).
I really can't say enough about this novel. It tackles an issue that has been written into the ground--war--but in a fresh, new way. Essentially, it is a war novel without the war, if that makes any sense. Van is so well written that even in the short space of the novel, he is fully realized and readers, I think, will respond accordingly.
For more, see my blog: http://thestoryisthecure.blogspot.com/
The plot of The Typist is fairly simple. Francis "Van" Vancleave joins the army in 1944 and, because he is an exceptional typist, he is stationed in Tokyo at General MacArthur's headquarters where he is employed transcribing mountains of paperwork. Through a series of events, he befriends MacArthur's eight-year-old son, Arthur, and is enlisted by MacArthur to "babysit" him. On top of the obvious complications that situation breeds, Van is also dealing with a shell shocked bunk-mate who may or may not be working with Communists on the black market. In addition, Van's wife (who he met and quickly married before he left basic training) writes him to tell him that she is pregnant, and that he is not the father. Each of these plot threads play themselves out over the course of the novel, which culminates in General MacArthur's (in)famous Atom Bowl, a football game between American soldiers at the site one of the nuclear bomb detonations. (Knight manipulates the details some, but the game really did occur).
I really can't say enough about this novel. It tackles an issue that has been written into the ground--war--but in a fresh, new way. Essentially, it is a war novel without the war, if that makes any sense. Van is so well written that even in the short space of the novel, he is fully realized and readers, I think, will respond accordingly.
For more, see my blog: http://thestoryisthecure.blogspot.com/
January 30, 2015
Yet another small book, 190 pages, that contains wonderful writing and a good story. Francis Vancleave is a very ordinary young man, from a very ordinary family in a very ordinary town in the state of Alabama. He does have one talent though - he can type, and type very well, taught by his equally capable mother. After Pearl Harbour, being a dutiful young man, without much of a future in the town of Mobile, Alabama, he signs up for the army. Because of his rare skills, he finds himself attached to the Officers Personnel Section of General MacArthur's headquarters staff. He goes to Australia, then Manila and finally Tokyo which is where this story begins, as America begins the process of helping Japan rebuild itself.
Van is a bit of an outsider, not an officer but rooming with Clifford who is, and so ends up socialising with other officers as well. Unlike many of his compatriots, Van is also married, a state that he is very neutral about, but surprisingly faithful to. He is a bit of an enigma to his colleagues not only for this, but for a rather strange friendship he strikes up with MacArthur's young son. It is inevitable through rooming with Clifford that he finds himself involved in the latter's shady dealings with the defeated Japanese, and there is a sense through the story that this is not going to end well. However, through the months that Van is in Tokyo, recording the process of rebuilding, transmitting the correspondence, and generally observing what is going on around him, he actually finds himself. He is like a quiet center in the middle of a storm, and the writer Ann Patchett makes this comment on the back cover. I very much felt this when I was reading it - this quiet, thoughtful, ordinary man, in the midst of extraordinary events, other people's disasters and tragedies, and somehow it helps him make sense of his own life.
Van is a bit of an outsider, not an officer but rooming with Clifford who is, and so ends up socialising with other officers as well. Unlike many of his compatriots, Van is also married, a state that he is very neutral about, but surprisingly faithful to. He is a bit of an enigma to his colleagues not only for this, but for a rather strange friendship he strikes up with MacArthur's young son. It is inevitable through rooming with Clifford that he finds himself involved in the latter's shady dealings with the defeated Japanese, and there is a sense through the story that this is not going to end well. However, through the months that Van is in Tokyo, recording the process of rebuilding, transmitting the correspondence, and generally observing what is going on around him, he actually finds himself. He is like a quiet center in the middle of a storm, and the writer Ann Patchett makes this comment on the back cover. I very much felt this when I was reading it - this quiet, thoughtful, ordinary man, in the midst of extraordinary events, other people's disasters and tragedies, and somehow it helps him make sense of his own life.
April 9, 2011
This is a short piece, about a soldier, Van, in post WW2 Japan, whose life seems to be as a bystander and directed by others - he is a typist, so is processing and documenting the whole occupation, but barely thinks about the task, as he describes typing as most easily done if performed by rote without any focus on what is being written. His personal life is also as bystander, as the main events take place for a roommate, Clifford, and Clifford's love, Namiko. Van is even a bystander in his own life, as his wife from a quick marriage is pregnant by another, and the woman in Tokyo to whom he is attracted, Fumiko, is Namiko's friend and part of her supporting cast background. Fumiko does provide a key to the story by describing events as mittomanai, meaning indecent or shameful, suggesting that they are all coping as best they can with a life not of their making.
This piece is also interesting as a description of the US Army occupation of Japan, with MacArthur ("Bunny") as a centerpiece. The tag into a personal acquaintance with MacArthur is through his son, Arthur, to whom Van gives some toy soldiers and thereafter comes over to "play" once a week, effectively a command performance. Arthur is leading a privileged, exclusive life and likely would be a lot happier to be leading a more normal life with other children around, but like Van is a bystander to his father's life. (I did just google Arthur MacArthur, and it seems that he changed his name and disappeared into Manhattan, where he may still be alive. By doing so he substantially disavowed his family and did not follow in its military tradition, but seems to be happier for it.)
This piece is also interesting as a description of the US Army occupation of Japan, with MacArthur ("Bunny") as a centerpiece. The tag into a personal acquaintance with MacArthur is through his son, Arthur, to whom Van gives some toy soldiers and thereafter comes over to "play" once a week, effectively a command performance. Arthur is leading a privileged, exclusive life and likely would be a lot happier to be leading a more normal life with other children around, but like Van is a bystander to his father's life. (I did just google Arthur MacArthur, and it seems that he changed his name and disappeared into Manhattan, where he may still be alive. By doing so he substantially disavowed his family and did not follow in its military tradition, but seems to be happier for it.)
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