This is a powerful and beautiful book. With the framework of a grandson looking for his grandfather's story and role in WWII as a kamikaze pilot, the story is developed from interviews of men who knew him. As the story progresses, the author delves deeper and deeper into the character of Miyrabe, the pilot. The reader learns about this man as his grandson does. The first chapters read nearly like a history of Japan's role in the war, but then each chapter becomes more and more personal and moving--until, at the end, the reader is silently begging Miyrabe not to get into that plane. But, of course, he does, and that is what the story has led up to.
I have read two other works that I reacted to the same way. The first was The Crucible, the play by Arthur Miller. In the final act, the viewer/reader begs, "Elizabeth, don't lie. Tell the truth. Please tell the truth." And in Paul Murray Kendall's superb biography of Richard III, the reader is enlightened as to the true and magnificent nature of this badly maligned king. In the final chapter, again, I begged Richard
Do not ride down that hill into Bosworth Field." And of course he does, because that is the history.
I make these points to show how emotionally and intellectually I was involved in these two stories--through the strength of the writer's storytelling ability and his own involvement with the character--fictional or historical.
In the many many works I have read, these three have elicited this reaction from me.
But there is an even more important point to make about this book. It reveals the truth of the kamikaze pilot, a truth that has been hidden through myth and lies by both the Japanese government and United States government and historians.
These man--boys in the last year of the war, conscripted, given a few weeks basic flight training, and forced to volunteer went to their guaranteed deaths bravely, not for the glory of the emperor or for the glory of Japan, but because they had no choice. The generals and admirals in their comfortable offices who refused to concede failure, sent these boys into these suicide missions with no hope of defeating the enemy. The kamikazes were not active at the beginning, only toward the end when the situation for Japan was dire. The foolishness and pride of those in control caused thousands of young men to die in these planes. Many died as their planes exploded from attack or malfunction even before they hit their target. They were sending boys in these planes even in the weeks after Nagasaki and Hiroshima, knowing fully that the plight of these boys was for nothing, absolutely nothing.
This is an important read, a powerful read, an enlightening read. It reminds us, as we are all too often, that it is not the boys who suffer and die in the field who cause the slaughters of war, but the brass in their well-fitted offices and the industries of weaponry who do.
As a side note, it is also interesting to anyone who is interested in the history of flight and aircraft in World War II. If I were still teaching, this book would be on my classroom shelf and I would strongly recommend it to my students.
The truth is
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