Customer Reviews

Middle Son: A Novel

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Maui libraries as well as the Center of the Book, Maui, have chosen Deborah Iida's lyrical novel, Middle Son, for all of Maui to read and discuss during April. What a pleasure it is to have a new excuse to revisit this poignant story! I have read it three times already and each time I discover a deeper layer of satisfaction. The first time I read it, I had just moved here and it helped introduce me to local pidgin and to gain a deeper understanding of things Japanese-Hawaiian which I learned is different from Native Hawaiian, which is different from Haole-Hawaiian, Chinese-Hawaiian, Portugeuse-Hawaiian, Korean-Hawaiian, and etc! To live Hawaii is to live multiculturally. One kind of pidgin is different from all other kinds. Which adds to the uniqueness of Maui.
Ms. Iida's characters remain with you long after the book is returned to the shelf. Every time I pass a cane field, I think of the workers' lives in the camps; of Mariko undressing baby William and looking at him for the last moment he belongs to her; of cutting her hair; of Spencer, William and Taizo at the reservoir, the last moment of their childhoods, simply kids on the verge of committing an adult mistake. This book is a modern classic which we on Maui are lucky to have to share with the world.

When I told a couple of my friends that I was in the mood for a good story but had a limited amount of free time in which to read it, they both highly recommended Deborah Iida's Middle Son. After hearing them gush about the poignancy of the characters' interactions, the vibrant descriptions of the Maui setting, and the authenticity of the dialect, I picked up the book and dove in.

They were accurate on all accounts. As Spencer tries to confront the painful faces of his childhood, we are allowed to share in his struggle for acceptance and peace within his memories. Iida's tale is both haunting and moving, and Spencer's simple, honest questions resonated with me long after I'd finished the last sentence.

Aside from the satisfaction that comes from a skillfully-told family saga, the book's greatest triumph is its vivid portrayal of Japanese-Hawaiian culture. As someone with little to no exposure to this portion of our country's heritage, I relished the lush island imagery, the rich Buddhist influences, and the engaging regional tongue. Spencer captures the dialogue's concise eloquence when he remarks that his Caucasian friend uses "many words for a short idea" (71).

Overall, I enthusiastically add my praise to that of my friends. Middle Son is a touching account of one man's reconciliation with his past, and the Hawaiian narrator presents a voice too often overlooked in American literature.

I lived in Hawaii for ten years while a graduate student and grew to love the Hawaiian cultures. This was a story I could live and at the same time get a better understanding of the immigrants who worked the sugar cane fields. I bought three more books and sent one to my son, who was raised in Hawaii -- his friends were from families like Middle Son. I sent one to a dear Japanese Hawaiian woman, and we will write to each other about the meanings she sees in the story. It was a well written book, simple, but touched my heart deeply. I liked the way the Iida gave me hints into the drowning a little at a time, chapter to chapter. It is a book worthy to be next to Hemingway's short stories. I plan to read the book over again and again.

This is one of the most sensitive, beautiful books that I've read in years....Please note that there were only two bad reviews both from students that were required to read it....The simplicity and economy of words were so masterfully orchestrated ...The character studies so rich....It reads quickly but you'll want to savor each word.

I was born and raised on Maui, though now I live on another island. I have a sister who hardly reads, yet this is the *only* book she will read. And she reads it constantly. My entire family has read it at least once, though some have read it more than that. When people ask why we love this book so much, it's because in its own way it symbolizes family strength and aloha in a way that is easy to relate to.

From the moment I picked up this book, I knew it was something special. The writer describes Maui the way it used to be, faithfully paying attention to the beauty of details and the emotions it inspires. My childhood memories came to life through her writing. My grandparents would talk about their days on the plantation, and reading the book gave me a sense of nostalgia.

Certainly, this is not a history book. It reads like a wonderfully friendly novel, with enough detail to make the reader feel as if they are there amidst the cane fields and the tiny housings. The characters grow and change in subtle ways. I felt like I was learning with them. Learning to get beyond prejudice and stereotypes, to become something more than expected.

Middle son is a story that many adolescents can relate to emotionally and mentally, like myself. I can relate to some of the tragedy that occur during Spencer Fujii's childhood as he was growing up; experiencing the agonizing pain of losing a loved one and the expectations he had to carry on with his older brother, Taizo, died. Though the story was dismal and heart wrenching, it allows me to dwell into the past and come to the realization that I should never take anything for granted. Not only did I learn something from reading this story; I also enjoyed it because the plot was very suspenseful.

Ms. Iida captures in a literary "haku" (Hawaiian word for a complementary/contrasting interweaving of different elements, cultural in this case) of much impact. Superficially, Spencer's life seems nearly simple. As the story unfolds, we find many layers of complexity, some as subtle as Japanese courtesies, some as gruff and direct as Father Fujii's scoldings. I am a native of Maui now living and working on the East Coast. I find that Ms. Iida was able to convey the universal power of a happy as well as painful past and how it manages to shape the future. Was delighted w/ her Maui descriptions and settings. Note: Na mea 'ono pua'a (a.k.a., manapua) from Honolulu being the best still seems to hold true. My grandparents and parents were of the former sugar industry's Filipino Camps years ago before my parents entered their military life and later one of many years of civil service to the Federal government. When reading of Spencer's watching cane fires through his window as part of the camp life's natural cycle, I found myself watching through that same window, too. Ms. Iida has produced a gem not only for Hawaiian Islanders, but for all those who seek a glimpse into one of many perspectives of former island life, the kind which truly makes it possible for those like me to understand further one of several histories which I can call my own.

I grew up in Hawaii and was disappointed to read the few poor reviews on this novel. I wonder if the reader never knew who the author was, if they would have liked the story better? I am pretty sure that I know the Maui plantation (though by another name) that was in this book. After reading this novel, I drove to what was the plantation and could picture Taizo and Spencer running between the stalks of cane. I saw the reservoir and could feel the pain of the lost brother. Though Iida may be one haole, she does a bang up job at making her characters come to life on the pages who then remain with you long after you finish reading their story.

My family recently returned from Maui, a vacation that was as splendid as one would expect. Not one to play pure tourist, we also explored Maui's history and traveled to areas which brought that history more alive to us. The more I learned, the more I felt the need to know more. Historical books enhanced the trips we went on, hower, later when I got home, I searched through amazon.com for historical Hawaiian fiction and found quite a few that were very enticing. This book, in particular came highly recommended for it's authenticity and excellence in story line.

The Plantation life and the immigrants that came to work the fields are the background for this powerful novel. The memories come from Spenser Fujii, the second child of Mariko and Hiroshi Fujii. Descriptions of their lifestyle, their homes and culture are exquisitly presented. The lives were difficult, but children always seem to ride the top of the storm, searching for play, binding in the family relationships and the difficult truths and futures laying before them.

Centered around a childhood tragedy, a family secret, and the hardship Hiroshi faced daily in the sugar cane field and standing firm in a labor dispute, the author projects these distrubing events without overplay. While the novel read quickly, I was amazed how well she consolidated so much into a story that exploded with richness. Botanical descriptions, weather influences, explainations of each cultural food staple, historical events with in the dates of the novel, the working and settlement relationships between the chinese, filipino and japanese people, and the cultural celebrations their lives pivoted around. It was interestng to see how the americanization of these cultures were pressed on them, and how hard the elders tried to hold on to the old traditions.

In the end of the novel, as all good novels, you wish it could continue, yet it was the perfect place to conclude. The characters are still vivid to me, as they will be to you. I reflect over the birth order of the children, imagining myself as Mariko, agonizing over an order by her husband that she could not refuse. I respect her for her generosity and strength, considering how I would have handled the same request.

Just because I am not reciting half the story line does not mean I feel any less towards this story, I am just trying to protect it's perfectness for you, as it was for me.

The sounds, tastes and the feel of Hawaii are beautifully portrayed in the delicious novel. But the taste and smells are of the dusty, dirty cane fields that have become the home to this Japanese family.

Middle Son just dropped into my lap one day and I have never been the same. Matter-of-fact and yet deeply personal, it takes the reader outside the tourist vision of Hawaii and into the heat and anguish of one Japanese-American family's struggle to maintain their personal identities, their Japanese identities, and to retain a picture of themselves as valid people in a world that wanted to invalidate them.

It is a fabulous picture of the harsh injustices of the post- Pearl Harbor treatment of the Japanese. And yet it does not reek of the anger and self-pity of some non-fiction works about that period of time.

This is a must read for anyone in search of a "real" Hawaiian experience.