Customer Reviews

Silent Honor

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is a moving story about the unbelievable pain and prejudice faced by the Japanese in America during WWII. It tells about the life experiences of Hiroko, a Japanese girl, who arrives in America right after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. It tells of her life detained in an internment camp and her life after she is released. It tells of her romance and losses. The story is fictional, but could be real... The historical backdrop is convincing and very realistic. It reveals many of the injustices imposed on the Japanese during this time. A powerful and thought-provoking novel.

This is the story of one of the most shameful times in American history, the internment of the Japanese Americans. As a half-Japanese, I know I would have been rounded up during this time and stripped of my Constitutional rights, treated as a prisoner. As such, I try to read whatever I can about this important part of America's story. "Silent Honor" is hardly the most "distinguished" or important books available on the subject. It tells the story of a Japanese girl, visiting her cousins (who, as Steel goes to great lengths to remind us, again and again, are AMERICAN, so much that they giggle at her traditions that they don't understand) in California during the time of Pearl Harbor. She gets stuck there and is placed in an internment camp. Along the way, she meets an amazing American man and has an affair with him. If you can disregard the affair (which you should cause it's pretty ludicrous, but I guess standard for this kind of book), you might get a lot out of this novel. The depictions of camp life and the hell that the internees faced is pretty well done. Steel does her research and tries to incorporate important Japanese mores such as "shikata-ga-nai" and historical details like the "no-no-boys" in to her story. You will learn a lot about the camps. I enjoyed the characters and the attention to historical detail, but it must be said that Steel is a pretty horrible writer. She begins almost every sentence with "And...". I think it's trying to sound dramatic, but mostly it sounds like she needs an editor. If you've never read Steel before, this might drive you insane (look past it, if you can). If you are a big fan, I think this (along with Wanderlust) is probably her best work.

I liked this book because I found it very interesting. I was able to read about a culture that I didn't know, and get a better understanding. It was a sad, horrible time for Japanese Americans, something that I think many of us forget- this story makes us remember.

Although I agree with the other individuals that have reviewed this book (that many parts seemed very unfeasible) overall it was an excellent introduction to American History. Having been entirely educated in the American school system - we barely glazed over the US treatment of Japanese during the war. I had no idea until I read this book the extent of the mistreatment and injustice that Japanese immigrants and citizens of Japanese decent were subject to during the war. As a story, this book is fabulous, as a tool for education it is a start. Today's youth will pick this up out of interest and they will learn something new. Of course if they want more accurate facts they will have to try the dryer literary works in the history section!! But, at least they will learn a little more about where our country has been and what we have done to our own citizens.

My parents are both native Californians of Japanese descent. They both were interned in concentration camps located in Arizona. Both families were farmers and lost everything as a result of being sent to the camps. My mom said that most of Steel's descriptions of this horrible incident were accurate. Since they couldn't own land, I don't think the family in Silent Honor owned their home as the author wrote, though. I also found it hard to believe the part about the illicit lovemaking, etc. A traditional Japanese girl in the 1940s would NEVER have done that. I have enjoyed Steel's books for many years and am pleasantly surprised when she writes about historical events like in this book and "Message from Nam."

This book is absolutely beautiful. There is so much in it that we can learn, I just don't know how to put it into words. I just barely finished it and I loved it. Good insights into Pearl Harbor and what the Japanese citizens/immigrants went through.

When I first picked up `Silent Honor` I didn't know that the journey the book would take me through would be so full with emotions of every kind possible. So much occurs in the book that it is not humanly possible to write it all down but all I can say is that when you first pick up this book you will read it through every spare minute you have. A masterpiece by any writers standards Danielle Steel's novel of a Japanese girl living through the war in America is one of quality that no other writer can produce. Danielle Steel, will she ever stop?

I didn't know anything about the author when I was tempted to purchase this book. I just thought that this novel would be a good example of Americans' perspective towards Japan, which is always good to know. Although this book once was (and still is?) one of the bestsellers in the US, and the book's universal message regarding peace and love was good to read, this was the first English book that I have ever got so disappointed. To me Japanese, situations and Japanese characters felt too unnatural. On the one hand the Japanese characters were depicted so overly "Japanese" that they often bowed just unnecessarily, and on the other hand their attitudes and behaviors were unbelievably so westernized. The real Japanese living in Japan almost in their lifetime could not easily act like that simply as a result of staying in the US for just a couple of months. I know I myself is a good example. I stayed in the US for 6 months before. I wish I could evaluate this novel as a nice try. A plethora of "tiny" failures just disabled me to do so.

This is a great, moving story about Hiroko, a girl from Japan who comes to live with her uncle, and cousins in California to attend college. This story tells of the prejudices of the Japanese, and Japanese-Americans during World War II, and the family's losses during WW II but it also tells a love of Hiroko and her American boyfriend who befriends her despite her being Japanese, and falls in love with her. I loved this book, and I cried during certain parts of this book, it was that moving. I loved it, and I know you will too. It is very fast-moving and an easy read. I couldn't put it down. I read this book in 2 days.

With wonderfully painted characters and a "self-reflective" plot, Danielle Steel creates a terrific story about the Asian culture and WWII. She obviously has done much research about the time era and culture. I was astounded by the situations that the Japanese American people had to tolerate. As with Message From Nam, I was pleasantly suprised at how Steel writes about war. I've never been a history "buff" nor a historical fiction fan. Upon looking at the title, Silent Honor, I assumed a boring "war" novel. I was pleasantly mistaken. This book will challenge you to reflect on how you feel about other cultures and your sympathies toward them. I was absolutely impressed!!!