Five Years on a Rock [Paperback]

Milton Murayama (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Murayama's second novel joins his first, All I Asking for Is My Body, to form the opening elements of a planned tetralogy. The heroine, Sana, is a young Japanese woman who has her heart set upon marriage to a handsome cousin in Japan. Yet when her family fortunes continue to decline and an offer of marriage comes from a family who has immigrated to Hawaii, she accepts the proposal to rescue her family from debt. The excitement and ritual of Sana and other "picture brides" is exuberantly drawn. Just as passionately conveyed is the heartbreak and hard work that await Sana upon her arrival in Hawaii. An insightful novel that shares a side of Japanese culture and history not often seen. Denise Perry Donavin --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Kirkus Reviews

Murayama (All I Asking for Is My Body, not reviewed) takes on the persona of a Japanese ``picture bride'' sent to Hawaii to marry a stranger in this informative, if dispassionate novel. In 1914, Sawa is given to the eldest son of Hawaii's Oyama family in return for an engagement gift of $350, despite the fact that another young man had always assumed they would wed. She promises to return in five years, even though her mother chides her, ``Forget the samurai talk...Persevere like a peasant.'' Sawa's first encounter with her new husband is less than palatable, and she learns that their elaborate wedding party is far beyond the means of her in-laws. They make and sell tofu, and soon Sawa is constantly busy, getting up in the middle of the night to help create the soy product, peddling it from a cart, and slopping the family's 50 pigs with the leftover hulls and whey. Her life is difficult, but she keeps a stiff upper lip, determined to adapt and succeed. This admirable trait makes her an emotionally cool narrator: When her husband slaps her for making impudent remarks, she cries, but then picks herself up, noting, ``I have to collect swill, feed the pigs.'' She bears several children, adding to her burden of work. The details of Sawa's life are intriguing, but little stands out. When she and her husband form a tanomoshi to raise $100, the explanation of how their mutual financing group functions offers a glimpse of a communal tradition, but the friends and relatives involved do not come alive. Linguistically speaking, puns on Japanese and Hawaiian phrases become clumsy when they have to be explained. Cultural insight into the Hawaiian school of hard knocks, but without enough punch. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 164 pages
• Publisher: University of Hawaii Press; 1st edition (December 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0824816773
• ISBN-13: 978-0824816773
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #977,057 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Voice of Issei Experience?, September 9, 2000

By 

Davin K. Kubota "gaheris808" (Honolulu, HI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Five Years on a Rock (Hardcover)

Compromising the second part of Murayama's proposed tetralogy, this intimate portrayal of Sawa Oyama's journey from Hiroshima, Japan, to a fictionalized plantation in Hawai'i is poignant and unique. Murayama has the uncanny ability to evoke various aspects of the issei (first-generation) experience: the laborious demands made on the plantation females and males, the hegemonic power structure of the white plantation owners and the dedication of the issei to their children (no matter what the cost).

Why do I really enjoy this novel? Well, as a fifth generation Japanese-American, I cannot help but have an interest in the way my ancestors made sacrifices on my behalf. There are few novels out there that explore the themes of issei dislocation, disappointment (many thought they could return to Japan after only a few years), and gradual acceptance and appreciation for Hawai'i. This being said, I feel that Murayama does a good job of incorporating these themes, keeping the hopes and dreams of his ancestors lovingly preserved in the pages of his work. Mahalo.