The Floating World. [Paperback]

Cynthia Kadohata. (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Viking Press; 1ST edition (1989)
• ASIN: B0012KIP3Q
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,125,372 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Cynthia Kadohata is the author of the Newbery Medal-winning book Kira-Kira, Weedflower, and several critically acclaimed adult novels, including The Floating World. She has published numerous short stories in such literary journals as the New Yorker, Ploughshares, Grand Street, and the Mississippi Review. She lives with her son and dog in West Covina, California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From Huck & Holden to Olivia: Journeys into America's Heart, April 17, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Floating World (Mass Market Paperback)

Cynthia Kadohata's brilliant first novel is one of the few works in recent years that can bear comparison to Twain and Salinger's classics. In can be read for simple pleasure, for its subtle, profound depiction of a two- fold journey (both physical and spiritual), and for its exquisite artistry

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars good, but incomplete, March 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Floating World (Mass Market Paperback)

I enjoyed this book. However, it seemed hurried to me. I noted that most of the chapters were initally published as short stories. It shows. The chapters work nicely as self-contained stories, but the narrative seems to develop amnesia; Olivia will mention things ("my brother Walker," as a minor example) as if she had never introduced them before, when actually, in an earlier chapter, we had spent a lot of time with them. Ultimately, it felt as if I had skimmed the surface of these characters' lives, rather than the deep dive a really lush novel offers. I agree with the readers who say that she's a good writer. I'm interested to see what she does next.

4.0 out of 5 stars A Family of Japanese Migrants in the U.S., May 2, 2009

By 

Bonnie Brody "Book Lover and Knitter" (Port St. Lucie, FL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Floating World (Paperback)

This novel is an intriguing tale of a Japanese migrant family in 1950 told in vignettes
from the eyes of the teenage daughter. The family are Japanese fruit pickers, chicken
sexers and mechanics who travel around the United States merging their traditional
culture with the poor south. The old grandmother is a gem of fear and wisdom.

The book has high emotions and lovely language that is heavy-handed and quick. It
catches the reader, forcing laughter and gasps, sometimes both at once!