Customer Reviews

To The Stars: The Autobiography of Star Trek's Mr. Sulu

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've read most of the books from the Star Trek ensemble. I, by far, enjoy most the books that are written by the biographer his/herself, such as George Takei has done. This is a true life story, and not just another solilquy of Star Trek life. His account of his early life is particularly fascinating (to quote Mr. Spock!). His unique insight, experiences, and literary talents make this book among the best autobiographies of any type. To illustrate just how good this book is, my wife, who is not particularly a Star Trek fan, grapped up this book and read it before I could! You most definitely DO NOT need to be a Star Trek fan to enjoy this work of art.

I very much enjoyed Mr.Takei's autiobiography, which is actually the story of an Asian man's experience in America, from the time of his internment at the Manzanar concentration camp as a young child, to his student days at UCLA, and his subsequent struggle against ethnic stereotyping at a time of very few opportunities for Asian actors. He shares very painful and personal memories with us of his career and family; his autiobiography continues through his Star Trek days of course, up to the present, with many intriguing revelations. What makes this book my favorite is that it is extremely well-written, in his voice, without the help of a ghost-writer. I hope this will not be the last I see of his writing. I don't know why one reviewer harped on George's comments on William Shatner, saying "he couldn't even finish the book" - strange comment, considering George's feelings on Shatner come in the middle, and constitute a few pages out of the entire book.

This and Nichelle Nichol's are my two favorites from the cast, also written in her own voice, from the perspective of a minority actor in '50's America, and no less fascinating, in that she seems to have worked with or met almost every famous black performer at one time or another.

I just finished reading George Takei's autobiography the other night. This guy has led a fascinating life.

When he was younger, he met Eleanor Roosevelt and Martin Luther King, Jr. His first job in show business was helping to dub "Rodan" into English. Before "Star Trek", he did movies with Richard Burton and Alec Guinness. And during the run of the show, he did a movie with John Wayne.

Till I read this book, I also didn't know that he had spent 11 years on a commission in L.A. that was responsible for getting their subway system built.

Interestingly, he doesn't go into a huge amount of detail about the show, though he makes his (and other cast members') reasons clear for not liking Shatner. And given certain revelations about Takei's personal life over the last few years, any discussion about relationships outside of his family and career are strangely absent from the book. Still, it's a good read.

I do agree with other reviewers, however, that even with a length of 400 pages, this book seemed too short. Given that it came out in 1994, I would love to see Takei update and re-release it.

Just finished reading George Takei's autobiography and enjoyed it immensely! George is a very talented & gifted writer who paints pictures with prose. He told very engaging stories about his family's triumphs & tribulations in America as well as his eventual rise to Sulu in the Star Trek juggernaut. His book provides a very honest & compelling view of his family's ordeal in the Japanese internment camps in the US during World War II. In spite of this awful abrogation of their constitutional rights by the US government, they still believed and never gave up on the American dream....simply amazing! The only reason I didn't give this book five stars is that his coverage of his days with Star Trek (both television series & movies) was a little thin. Given the colorful cast of characters within Star Trek as well as that dysfunctional bazaar called Hollywood, I have to believe there is more literary & comical gold to be mined from his life story.

I don't usually seek out Star Trek autobiographies, but I'm glad I found this one. I found it particularly useful in explaining the context of the title of the first Japenese-American novel, No-No Boy by John Okada. Takei's parents like the Okada character answered no and no to the loyalty oath that the U.S. government made its citizens like Okada's character and Takei's mother swear to. The Takeis, as a family, went to another camp, a camp for troublemakers. Okada's character, a single man, goes to jail. I have read other descriptions of camp life, but Takei's particularly useful and helpful. (In fact, I used it as part of a lesson plan on teaching No-No Boy to secondary students.) I also found Takei's political life interesting. So while I appreciate Mr. Sulu, I like Mr. Takei much more.

This book is worth reading whether or not you're a Sulu fan. I found the chapters on Takei's early years in the WWII Japanese interment camps even more interesting than the Star Trek years. Though the fact of interment, itself, is grim, Takei lets us view life in the camps through the eyes of a child. Innocence and curiosity shine through. His memories are surprisingly upbeat, in spite of the horrors of displacement and prejudice. He recalls childhood friends he met in the camps (two of whom are named Ford and Chevy Nakayama--how wonderfully symbolic of their Japanese and American ancestry!) There are rich descriptions of Takei's own Japanese-American heritage throughout the book, as well. I enjoyed "meeting" his family through this book: his mother, who was determined to keep family life warm and friendly despite their barbed-wire environment; his father, who gave such a meaningful description of American ideals, notwithstanding society's frequent failure to live up to its ideals. George Takei's life is an embodiment of the true human spirit. My only regret is that the book wasn't longer. What was in the unabridged edition, I wonder?

As would be predictable in an autobiography, this book tells a lot about George Takei that was previously unknown. Or at least was previously unknown to some of us. For example, the fact that he was sent to the Japanese-American detainment camps when he was a young boy, one in Oklahoma and one in northern California. Or that he was involved in politics as he got older and became a good friend of Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley. Or that he was not extremely fond of William Shatner, to put it mildly. All of it was quite interesting and very revealing. Quite an entertaining read and also uplifting in several parts. If Hikaru Sulu is one of your favorite characters or at least one you are interested in and you want to gain some background information on the person behind the helm, read this book.

George Takei is a wonderful role model for Asian Americans in this country! As an Asian American actor in Hollywood, George had to endure quite a bit compared to some of his contemporaries but handled his experiences with great class! George refused to let himself be pigeonholed into stereotypical roles later on in his career and fought for dignity for his character Sulu which I greatly admired..

His book is a fascinating glimpse into a life of a Japanese American who was incarcerated simply because of his race during World War II..funny enough..even though the US was at war with Germany and Italy at the same time you never saw German Americans or Italian Americans incarcerated....

Although George and his family experienced this undignified treatment, George writes quite eloquently about his experiences and how they drove him to be the best he could be in his chosen profession..

He realized he had a great responsibility to his character in such a highly visible and popular TV show and fought to make his character more visible and succeeded! He peppers his book with anecdotes about his experiences on the set of Star Trek and his relationships with his fellow castmates.

As a writer George is very talented and he also has a website where he keeps a monthly journal of what's going on in his life and career:

http://www.georgetakei.com/

George is truly an inspiration and a talented writer. I think you will really enjoy his book!

I felt this book opened my eyes to what the american asians went through. I am too young to know about internment camps personally, but appalled to read about them. Very shameful at this day and age to think we could do that to other people. Enjoyed reading his life and all the many things he has gone through and the people he has known. Great Book!

This is one of the best books of its genre that I have ever read. This provocative look at the life of George Takei is truly gripping. I just wish that it was available in ebook form.