20.1 Most Improved: Kai's Task- Onihei Jokei

[SRC Moderator, Moderator]

20.1 Most Improved: Kai's Task- Onihei Jokei

In Japan's Sumida City, the local government installed 16 historical markers called Onihei Jokei, dedicated to fictional events that took place in a popular series of novels written by Shotaro Ikenami. The markers point out the locations of the novels' events and the local history that inspired them, blurring the line between fiction and real life.

Read a book that combines a real historical event with fictional ones. For a historical event, we are looking for an event of limited scope (location, time, participants) that someone could put up a historical marker to memorialize. For example, D-Day not all of World War II. Or the building of the first Transcontinental Railroad, not all of the Industrial Revolution. Your choice must not be simply set during the same time period. The event must be featured or essential to the storyline, not simply mentioned or observed in a newspaper or on television by the characters.

Examples: A true crime book that includes fictionalized accounts from the killer or victim's perspective (In Cold Blood recounts the 1959 murder of the Clutter family using invented dialogue and scenes), or a novel where the fictional characters take part in a real historical event (Gone With the Wind would be okay because a plot point is Sherman's March to the Sea, but the American Civil War by itself would be too broad).

The Second Mrs. Astor- Titanic event
The Spectacular- New York Hotel Bombing
The First Hunt- The Green River Serial Killer
None Left to Tell - The Mountain Meadows Massacre
Required: State the event

[Kai]

APPROVED:

Horse by Geraldine Brooks
The Island by Victoria Hislop
Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman
A Sign of Her Own by Sarah Marsh
The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers
The Hallmarked Man by Robert Galbraith
The Sentence by Louise Erdrich
Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult
Love in Lockdown by Love in Lockdown
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
The Paris Express by Emma Donoghue
Sonora by Jenni L. Walsh
The Tiffany Girls by Shelley Noble
The Yard by Alex Grecian
Any of the The Disaster Series books by Max Allan Collins
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Let's Call Her Barbie by Renée Rosen
Sink and Destroy: The Battle of the Atlantic, Bill O'Connell, North Atlantic, 1940 by Edward Kay
Sustenance by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie
A Beautiful Poison by Lydia Kang
The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff

[Kai]

NOT APPROVED

Burntcoat by Sarah Hall

[Shelby]

Would Horse work? From the description "Based on the remarkable true story of the record-breaking thoroughbred Lexington"?

[Marie (UK)]

I have some options so do any work ?
The Island based on leper colony in Spinalonga
Einstein’s Dreams whilst creating relativity einstein imagines otheer world
A Sign of Her Own around Alexander Graham Bell's telephone invention
The Gallows Pole Coiner's march

[Kai]

Shelby wrote: "Would Horse work? From the description "Based on the remarkable true story of the record-breaking thoroughbred Lexington"?"

Yes, Horse is approved.

[Kai]

Marie (UK) wrote: "I have some options so do any work ?
The Island based on leper colony in Spinalonga
Einstein’s Dreams whilst creating relativity einstein imagines otheer world
[book:A Si..."

All of those would work.

[Marie (UK)]

Kai wrote: "Marie (UK) wrote: "I have some options so do any work ?
The Island based on leper colony in Spinalonga
Einstein’s Dreams whilst creating relativity einstein imagines othe..."

thanks

[Robin P]

Some Regency romances and mysteries, as well as sea stories, include details of the Napoleonic Wars. And a number of recent books include the 9/11 event or the covid pandemic. I just read The Hallmarked Man, which includes the day a car ran down multiple people on Westminster Bridge. It was just a small fraction of the story, but it was there.

[Kai]

Robin P wrote: "Some Regency romances and mysteries, as well as sea stories, include details of the Napoleonic Wars. And a number of recent books include the 9/11 event or the covid pandemic. I just read

As long as the event is specific enough and integral to the plot or featured in a way that affects the characters.

The Napoleonic Wars happening in the background of a Jane Austen novel, for example, would not really work, because you would not put up a historical marker that says "The Napoleonic Wars happened here" - too broad. However, a character being in a battle or campaign would.

Robin P's example of The Hallmarked Man is a good example - real incident, characters are involved. I'll add it to the approved list.

Covid is a bit tricky, because again, you would not put up a historical marker that says "Covid happened here" because it happened everywhere, but I could see how a lot of stories would fit. So I will say that as long as it is linked to a specific place and time, they will be accepted. Examples: The Sentence, Wish You Were Here, Love in Lockdown, Tom Lake. A novel like Burntcoat would NOT work because it takes place in an unnamed place.

[Shelby]

Kai wrote: "Shelby wrote: "Would Horse work? From the description "Based on the remarkable true story of the record-breaking thoroughbred Lexington"?"

Yes, Horse is approved."

Thanks!

[Rina]

Will this work?

The Paris Express - description: "a sweeping historical novel about an infamous 1895 disaster at the Paris Montparnasse train station."

[Dee]

I believe this works - Sonora

https://www.jennilwalsh.com/sonora.html

[Kai]

Rina wrote: "Will this work?

The Paris Express - description: "a sweeping historical novel about an infamous 1895 disaster at the Paris Montparnasse train station.""

Absolutely!

[Kai]

Dee wrote: "I believe this works - Sonora

https://www.jennilwalsh.com/sonora.html"

Yes! Reminded me of that movie - Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken. Was one of my favorites as a kid.

[Dee]

Kai wrote: "Dee wrote: "I believe this works - Sonora

https://www.jennilwalsh.com/sonora.html"

Yes! Reminded me of that movie - Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken. Was one of my favorites as a kid."

Loved that movie too!

[Michelle]

would this work?
The Tiffany Girls

[Kathy KS]

Would this fit? The Yard
from the GR description... (I added the bold)
"Created after the Metropolitan Police’s spectacular failure to capture Jack the Ripper, The Murder Squad suffers rampant public contempt. "
AND
"showcases the depravity of late Victorian London, the advent of criminology"...

[Trish]

Morning.

Would you accept the books from this series: https://www.goodreads.com/series/3270...

I'm specifically thinking of the London Blitz one: The London Blitz Murders, but all the books in the series are centred around historical events.

Thanks.

[Susan A]

adding on to Trish's question...The Titanic Murders from the same series?

[Kim, Moderator]

The way I'm reading this, A Tale of Two Cities, wouldn't work because it's too broad a time frame. Am I right?

[Kai]

Michelle wrote: "would this work?
The Tiffany Girls"

Yes, works great!

[Kai]

Kathy KS wrote: "Would this fit? The Yard
from the GR description... (I added the bold)
"Created after the Metropolitan Police’s spectacular failure to capture Jack the Ripper, The Murder Squad suff..."

Yes, approved

[Kai]

Trish wrote: "Morning.

Would you accept the books from this series: https://www.goodreads.com/series/3270...

I'm specifically thinking of the London Blitz one: The London Blitz Murders..."

It looks like all of the books in that series would work as they focus on specific incidents.

[Kai]

Susan A wrote: "adding on to Trish's question...The Titanic Murders from the same series?"

Yes, that one works as well.

[Kai]

Kim wrote: "The way I'm reading this, A Tale of Two Cities, wouldn't work because it's too broad a time frame. Am I right?"

If I remember correctly, although set against the backdrop of the French Revolution (too broad to work), some of the characters took part in the storming of the Bastille, so it would actually work.

[Cathy]

May I use Let's Call Her Barbie ?
It is a fictionalized account of the creation of Barbie and all that followed.

[Trish]

Kai wrote: "TIt looks like all of the books in that series would work as they focus on specific incidents."

Brilliant. Thank you.

[Jammin Jenny]

Would you approve:

[Kai]

Cathy wrote: "May I use Let's Call Her Barbie ?
It is a fictionalized account of the creation of Barbie and all that followed."

Yes, that works

[Kai]

Jammin Jenny wrote: "Would you approve:

"

I'm not sure from the description. Do you know if they jump around inside the books or actually interact with the real life authors? If it's just inside the texts, then no, it would not work.

[August]

Would Sink and Destroy: The Battle of the Atlantic, Bill O'Connell, North Atlantic, 1940 work? It's about the Battle of the Atlantic during WWII, but I'm not sure if that's still too broad.

[Kai]

August wrote: "Would Sink and Destroy: The Battle of the Atlantic, Bill O'Connell, North Atlantic, 1940 work? It's about the Battle of the Atlantic during WWII, but I'm not sure if that's still to..."

In general, the Battle of the Atlantic would be too broad since it basically lasted the entire war, however since this specifies 1940 I will approve it.

[Trish]

Trish wrote: "I'm specifically thinking of the London Blitz one: The London Blitz Murders..."

Well, I'm going to need a plan B - I started reading this and it was so badly written, I couldn't get beyond 10% of it.

[August]

Kai wrote: "August wrote: "Would Sink and Destroy: The Battle of the Atlantic, Bill O'Connell, North Atlantic, 1940 work? It's about the Battle of the Atlantic during WWII, but I'm not sure if ..."

Thanks!

[Trish]

So, in my search for Plan B, would any of these work?

Sustenance - some of the characters are escapees from the House Un-American Activities Committee.
Roman Dusk - set in the final days of the Roman Empire.
Midnight’s Children - the partition of India and Pakistan
A Beautiful Poison - background of the Spanish flu, 1919
Seventy-Seven Clocks - setting stated as 1973 during the Winter of Discontent
The Eagle of the Ninth - in the aftermath of the disappearance of the Ninth Legion in Northern Britain

[Fiona (Titch)]

Would Scarlet Carnation be ok as it deals with racial injustice and a family who were enslaved?

[August]

Are children's books allowed for this task?

[Kai]

August wrote: "Are children's books allowed for this task?"

Childrens books are allowed if they meet general SRC requirements

[Kai]

Fiona (Titch) wrote: "Would Scarlet Carnation be ok as it deals with racial injustice and a family who were enslaved?"

Those themes are too broad, however if it features a specific historical event like the founding/early days of the NAACP, that would work.

[Kai]

Trish wrote: "So, in my search for Plan B, would any of these work?

Sustenance - some of the characters are escapees from the House Un-American Activities Committee.
Roman Dusk - se..."

I approve all except Roman Dusk and Seventy-Seven Clocks from their descriptions. They seem to be more "set during the time of" rather than featuring the events themselves.

If you read either and it turns out the characters are more actively involved in those events, then they may work. (For example, the description for Roman Dusk mentions Heliogabalus, who was a real person. So if he is a character in the book, then it would work.)

EDITED TO ADD:

My thought process on the approved ones (in case this helps anyone):

Sustenance mentioned characters speaking out against the House Un-American Activities Committee and thus being targeted by the OSS and CIA.

Midnight's Children - the main character's life is inextricably linked to being born at the moment of India's independence.

A Beautiful Poison - one of the characters works in the mortuary during the Spanish Influenza and the murders are being attributed to the flu

The Eagle of the Ninth - the main character is investigating the real-life disappearance of the ninth legion

[Trish]

Kai wrote: "I approve all except Roman Dusk and Seventy-Seven Clocks from their descriptions. They seem to be more "set during the time of" rather than featuring the events themselves.."

Thanks, Kai. That gives me lots of options.