Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet in ReadingGroupGuides.com

Feb 09, 2009 Serena rated it liked it · review of another edition

Jamie Ford's Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is a pot of water on the stove that takes a long time to boil. Henry Lee is the main protagonist, but really his story happens nearly 45 years in the past, and those are the chapters that breathe and live. Much of the present day (1986) life of Henry Lee is somber and lifeless.

"He'd meant to finish it when his son, Marty, went away to college, but Ethel's condition had worsened and what money they'd saved for a rainy day was spent in a downpou Jamie Ford's Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is a pot of water on the stove that takes a long time to boil. Henry Lee is the main protagonist, but really his story happens nearly 45 years in the past, and those are the chapters that breathe and live. Much of the present day (1986) life of Henry Lee is somber and lifeless.

"He'd meant to finish it when his son, Marty, went away to college, but Ethel's condition had worsened and what money they'd saved for a rainy day was spent in a downpour of medical bills, a torrent that lasted nearly a decade." (Page 8)

The death of his wife, Ethel, from cancer six months before happens early on in the book. Readers are left with a drifting character who really doesn't find his way into his own story for about 100 or more pages. When we finally delve into his young love with Keiko, the story blossoms into an emotional torrent, especially when they are ripped apart from each other.

Discrimination is on every page given that in 1942 the United States was drawn into World War II after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. For Henry's father, the war began many years before when Japan invaded his homeland. Henry and his father have a tenuous relationship -- a relationship that is mirrored in the present between Henry and his own son, Marty.

"'He was vehemently against all things Japanese. Even before Pearl Harbor, the war in China had been going on for almost ten years. For his son to be frequenting that other part of town -- Japantown -- would have been bad form. Shameful to him . . . '" (Page 105)

Readers will appreciate the immersion into war-time America with its simmering angst against Asians -- not just the Japanese -- and the plight of those second generation Asians who try to maintain their livelihoods and tout their American loyalties in a nation that increasingly wanted to get rid of any reminder of war. Overall, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is a meandering novel about love, growing up, dealing with discrimination, and more, but in a way readers may find that the sequencing of events and alternating chapters between present day Henry and his younger persona could have been executed better. In many cases the present day chapters take away from those during the war years, halting the narrative and adding little to the story's arc. ...more

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Nov 29, 2009 Elizabeth rated it liked it

Shelves: read_2021, historical-fiction, m-m-bookclub, book-club, read_2010

I just finished reading this today, and had my book club discussion about it tonight. It was liked overall by my book club, but there were complaints about the split-narrative (it alternates between 1942-45 and 1986) and that there really wasn't a huge conflict between any of the characters.

I recently finished Shanghai Girls by Lisa See which deals with another Chinese family living in the US during World War II, and this was definitely more upbeat (especially in the end) and shorter. I liked t ...more

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Feb 21, 2009 Stacie rated it really liked it

Shelves: book-club

This is another novel dealing with historical facts that I didn't know much about. I loved how the author went back and forth from the past and the present. The chapters were also short which made the story flow much faster. I enjoyed how each character had their own story but was also part of the bigger story.

The story was moving and I didn't want it to end. The ending made me want to know more, but instead, it was left to our imagination.

Some of the more powerful moments from the book for me ...more

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Apr 02, 2009 Elise rated it really liked it

A great story, going back and forth in time. I enjoyed reading about a different type of "mixed" couple - Chinese and Japanese. So often I read about a person of my ethnic background forming a relationship with a person of a different background, so it was interesting to see how mixed relationships are viewed in other cultures. Also enlightening was America's role in the internment of Japanese during WWII and the impact that had on many Asians. ...more

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May 12, 2009 Ellen rated it liked it

Would be good for an older YA who's unfamiliar with the Japanese internment during WWII. Sweet love story, squeaky clean, but fairly predictable all along. Snow Falling on Cedars was a better written story covering some of the same territory. ...more

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Jul 05, 2011 Robin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: abc-bookclub-list, 2011-list, kindle

This is my bookclub's pick for July and one that I had heard mentioned as a bookclub pick for the past year or so. The story of a relationship between a Chinese boy and a Japanese girl in Washington state circ 1942 was so good. I haven't read very many books set during this time so I really enjoyed it learning about this time period. ...more

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May 03, 2009 Chris rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-fiction, readers-choice-library, wwii

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and could not put it down. It was an interesting story from the point of view of a young Chinese boy during World War II. His chance friendship with a Japanese girl at his school leads to much heartache as he has to deal with disapproval from his family and her moving to a Japanese internment camp. The story switches from the point of view of the boy during the 1940s and again in the late 1980s when he's reflecting back on all that happened and his resulting life. ...more

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Dec 16, 2009 Teresa rated it liked it

Shelves: read-in-2009

Spoiler! I really liked the ending. I thought Henry's philosophy for finding "the sweet among the bitter" inspiring. Things don't always turn out as planned; but life, relationships and commitments go on. Henry getting a chance to make things right for himself in the end was nice. ...more

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Dec 28, 2012 Cara rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2013

Loved the story - quite a tearjerker. Sounds like the paperback edition is the way to go - nothing seemed unbelievable / in error. Glad I hadn't read any reviews of the book before I picked it up. ...more

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