Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Transforming! (more than meets the eye...), March 15, 2005
This slim, pretty volume crossed my counter at the library where I work several times before I checked it out. My expectations, I'll admit, were not of the highest: I looked at it and thought, "Ah. Quick and entertaining." Well. It was quick, and I was entertained, but there is a little more to "Little Sister" than meets the eye.
It's hard, at first, to say quite why. The writing, presented as a first-person narrative by Mitsuko of events she is writing about afterwards, is elementary on the surface: functional, spare and tidy. However, what seems unremarkable comes to resemble the small haiku with which it is occasionally interspersed. It is not simple but restrained, echoing the delicate sensibilities of the Heian literature with which someone like Mitsuko would be so familiar. Her humble monogatari is certainly no "Tale of Genji" - nonethless, they are indisputably kin.
The premise also seems elementary at first: young girl of elite but sheltered upbringing must dare the larger world in order to help her family and counter a terrible wrong - instant, expected conflict as Mitsuko takes risks and makes enemies. At the same time, there is conflict of a more internal, personal variety when Mitsuko makes some unexpected allies: most importantly Goranu the tengu, a shape-shifting bird demon of Japanese mythology. While an alliance of convenience slowly turns into something resembling friendship, Mitsuko begins making decisions and developing ideas that contradict her own values, those of her family, and those of the society to which she belongs.
The beauty is in the subtle and restrained manner that this is presented--Mitsuko is a consistant character and no fickle reed to bend where the wind may blow. Even at the end of the book she expresses sentiments that can startle a reader who isn't a product of her particular time and place. It is a pleasure to accompany a protagonist who changes in believable fashion: blossoming into gradual, grudging and occasionally graceful bloom.
All of this elegance might be a little dry if it weren't tempered with an abundance of humor through wicked Goranu and his antics, and Mitsuko is no slouch in the wit department herself. Both characters challenge each other to grow and change - to what extent becomes evident in the book's touching denouement, when it really hit home to me just how much I had come to care for them both, and how concerned I was for their future.
The ending, as it stands, is sketchy. On the one hand, it is jarring after all the loose ends are tidied away to have a new conflict arise so suddenly with its noisy demand for resolution. On the other hand, the very existance of a sequel compromises the delicate ambiguity of the closing paragraph - the reader can't very well choose the ending of his or her choice when Dalkey will be telling us Mitsuko's decision in the next book.
Nonetheless, I couldn't be too annoyed at the ending to "Little Sister" when I was already worrying about how to get hold of "The Heavenward Path." Not for long, though - thank goodness for libraries! The second book continues the first book's themes of maturation, transformation, and reconciliation: of destiny, of relationships and of personal philosophies. They are, as previous reviewer said, genre-benders, containing a whole lot of book in two slender volumes and even providing a kind of beginner's course on the interaction of the Buddhist and Shinto religions.
Checking "Little Sister" and "The Heavenward Path" out of the library has left me enriched. Buy them? You bet I will.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Story Full of Ancient Japanese Folklore, July 10, 2002
Little Sister is rich with Japan's history and folklore. It tells the story of Mitsuko, a young thirteen year old girl who lives at Court. But when stories are heard about dangerous monks setting fire to councillors houses, Mitsuko and her family are sent into hiding by her father. Yet, while journeying on the road, they are attacked by monks, and Mustako's brother-in-law is killed. Her sister Amaiko, who was married to the dead man, was saddened so much by her husband's death that her soul traveled elsewhere, leaving her body an empty shell.Mustako knows she must save her sister, and she runs away, leaving her mother and other sisters alone. She takes Amaiko with her, hoping to find help. She stumbles upon some tengu (Japanese shapeshifting "demons") and befriends one of them, who is named Goranu. Goranu helps her to retrieve her sister's soul, and their adventures take them to the king of the sea, a Japanese "hell" and so on until she finds her brother-in-law's ghost. She knows that unless she finds a way to let his soul rest in peace, his ghost will go on haunting and her sister will never be able to go on with her life. Yet still, what can she do? She doesn't know where her family has gone, and her only friend is a demon. Little Sister is a wonderful tale, well-written and full of Japanese history and folklore. Good for any ages, boy or girl, whatever. Anyone would like it. If you read it and like it, go on with its sequel, The Heavenward Path. ***If you like Kara Dalkey's writing, read her Water Trilogy, which contains the three books Ascension, Reunion, and Transformation. These three books tell of the lost city of Atlantis. Read them all!!!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the Best books EVER!!!!!, May 9, 2001
By A Customer
This book is not only interesting but it also gives the reader a good idea about how life was in ancient Japan. It has such a variety of genras that I would recommend this book to everyone. One of my favorite things about this book is the love that Goranu and Mitsuko have for each other. It is unlike any other! Little Sister is truly a masterpeice! This is one of my all time favorite books!!!!!
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