'Seventeen Syllables'

by King-Kok Cheung (Editor), King-Kok Cheung (Editor)

Hisaye Yamamoto's often-reprinted tale of a naive American daughter and her Japanese mother captures the essence of the cultural and generational conflicts so common among immigrants and their American-born children.This casebook includes an introduction and an essay by the editor, an interview with the author, a chronology, authoritative texts of "Seventeen Syllables" (1949) and "Yoneko's Earthquake" (1951), critical essays, and a bibliography.

Genres: Short Stories, School, Fiction

Hardcover

First published March 1, 1994

About the author

King-Kok Cheung is an American literary critic specializing in Asian American literature and is a professor in the department of English at UCLA. Cheung received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1984.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Kate♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5stars

DISCLAIMER; WE DID NOT READ ALL OF THE SHORT STORIES IN THIS COLLECTION!!

I actually quite enjoyed all of the stories we focused on in this collection - many of the ones we read were about young girls and their families, especially their mothers and mother figures or older women in their lives.

Though, I had to knock it down a bit because these definitely went a bit over my head, or I only saw the surface level of the story, until we discussed them in class. Maybe it's like Joyce and I'm just a little too dumb to fully understand these lol but i did enjoy them after they were explained!

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read something about Hisaye Yamamoto's "Seventeen Syllables" recently (wish I could remember where), and it stuck in my mind that I should get hold of a copy. Circumstances (see below) led me to this particular book, which has the story and an interview with the author, along with one other story by the author and some critical essays about her work. The stories are powerful, the interview was fascinating, and I'll definitely look for more work by this author.

The circumstances I mentioned above: Since we were planning to return to Ohio, I didn't order the book from the SF library, I figured I'd see if the library in Ohio had a copy. Not long after that, Tom and I decided to fly to Chicago and drive the rest of the way home to Ohio. Since we had a rental car, Tom decided to show me the campus of The University of Chicago (where he went to grad school). Looking at a campus map, he saw the Seminary Coop Bookstore and remembered it fondly. So that was one stop on the tour. It was not open for browsing due to COVID, but you could order books and pick them up there. I saw a book in the window that looked interesting (by Eileen Myles), so I went in to see if if there was anyone there who could sell it to me. Turned out the lobby area had a few shelves of random books and a staff person selling them (also some that were free, with a donation of your choosing). So not only did I get the Eileen Myles I saw in the window, I found a couple of other treasures, including this book. Obviously I could not pass it up. I am considering this book read because I read the two stories by Hisaye Yamamoto, the editor's intro, and the interview with the author. I may decide to read the critical essays about the author's work, or I may not. But I wanted to read "Seventeen Syllables" and I have, so I'm content with that for now. I'm glad I ended up with this volume, because I really enjoyed the interview with the author, and I doubt it would be included in standard collections of her stories. Thanks to the universe for making this work out!

[carson · Rating 3 out of 5]

another short story/book i had to read for my english class this semester. it was interesting and i’ve enjoyed discussing it in class.

it has a very interesting narrative style that i haven’t seen an equivalent to. it was also interesting learning about the author in class and how her life influenced this work and the characters in the story.

[Lizzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really cool story with a lot of layers that almost all revolve around language.

[richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains two short stories by Hisay Yamamoto, 'Seventeen Syllables' and 'Yoneko's Earthquake', both of which I read and enjoyed, never having previously come across her work. There is also a helpful introduction by King-Kok Cheung contextualizing the stories for those of us less well versed in the complexities of Japanese immigration into the USA. A short section headed 'Background to the Stories' prints excerpts from non-fiction essays penned by Yamamoto in 1968 and 1976, as well as an interview with her by Cheung via written correspondence in 1992. The remainder is a series of critical essays which I confess I have not read...

[moon]

“But Ume Hanazono’s life span, even for a poet’s, was very brief—perhaps three months at most.” (Seventeen Syllables)

I read Seventeen Syllables in order to help my brother with his essay only for me to overanalyze the short story.

Yamamoto’s writing was captivating by her use of symbolism (i.e. the mother’s pen name). I was immediately intrigued by the beginning and found a full understanding of it’s meaning after finishing the work.

What started out as a quick read in order to help my brother ended up being a 3 hour discussion of the text and therefore I will add it towards my reading goal.

[Chloe Havlick · Rating 3 out of 5]

for the record, i only read the short story titled ‘seventeen syllables,’ not the rest of Hisaye Yamamoto’s short story’s; however, i thought it was written very well, although the ending seemed abrupt. i know it’s a short story, but i would’ve liked to know if anything more happened between Rosie and Jesus!

[Amelia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was absolutely fascinating to me. Haiku as a metaphor for cultural differences, language barriers, and belonging. It explores the near universal mother/daughter dynamic that is so complex and interesting. I really enjoyed how it both gets straight to the point, as well as meandering through the story, visiting different moments.

[Anna Sorensen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just read the short story for my English class.

[Jan Müller · Rating 5 out of 5]

poggers

[ferguson (winston’s version) · Rating 3 out of 5]

why men aren’t shit

[Casey Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

cute little short story i liked it a lot

[Simone Subliminalpop · Rating 2 out of 5]

Un racconto molto bello “La scarpe con i tacchi. Un ricordo”, un paio non male, ma il resto non è granché, e calcolando che in totale gli episodi sono diciotto, l’impressione generale su questa raccolta non è positiva. Le storie sono troppo simili tra loro e aggiungono di volta in volta troppo poco per poter descrivere appieno il fulcro centrale di tutti i racconti: la vita di famiglie giapponesi emigrate in America a partire dagli anni Quaranta.

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

man this hits home. dang.

[Kate]

Very sorry to find that Hisaye Yamamoto has died, considering that this is the first I've read of her short stories. Unfortunately this critical volume only contains two ("Seventeen Syllables" and "Yoneko's Earthquake") although both are great. Strikes me as genuinely unfortunate that she never wrote a novel.