Asian Books

This is the tale that has been faithfully transmitted by parents to children throughout the generations in Chinese families.

I remember I was a wee little kid of 6 when my mother told me about the Twelve Lunar Animals. I wasted no time in memorizing all the 12 animals in their order. I supposed it also helped to speed up my arithmetic too, since I would then automatically mentally figure out the Lunar Animal of all my relatives by their birth years. (How gleeful I was to discover that the fierce Aunt was naturally, a Dragon and his gentle, sheepish husband a...Sheep.) My cousin doesn't like to eat beef. He's an Ox, no wonder. My little brother was a terror. He's a Tiger.

My grandmother would have fantastic elaborations on each Animal, their strengths and characteristics and how they influence people's actions. It was and still is the coolest thing I've ever heard.

When the Power Rangers and their respective `Hidden Animal' became popular years later, I pooh-poohed it. Been there, done that.

My Mom is a Dragon And My Dad is a Boar is a collection of beautiful illustrations of the twelve Lunar Animals in paper cut form; plus a brief and easily understood monograph of each Animal. As per every Chinese calendar, the years for which each Animal represents are given as well.

The book begins with the story of the convention that the Lord Buddha held one day to determine the 12 Lunar Animals. The first twelve to arrive in his court would be selected. And the Animals set off. Why is the first Animal the Rat? And why isn't the Cat amongst the twelve? Could there be a reason why cats chase rats now? This book is an elegant and vehicle to transport this age-preserved legend of the Chinese into the generation the 21st century.

I appreciate that the animals are depicted in beautiful calligraphic fashion by the talented calligrapher and artist Kong Lee, along with their Chinese characters. Written by Asia enthusiast Tricia Morrissey, one characteristic that stands out in this book is that the total absence of any attempt to `westernize' the Animals. The pictures and descriptions are just as how my grandmother would tell them, celestial and majestic instead of barn-like.

I trust that this book will open up a whole world of imagination and thrill for your 5 year olds, and instill in them a deep sense and awe of heritage.

This is the only children's book that I proudly display on my bookshelf. It's a very special book to me.

This is a great book which tells about the 12 animals of Chinese lunar calendar. The book is beautifully printed and illustrated, you and your kids will enjoy it!

Wonderful book for introducing one aspect of the Chinese culture to all children. A simple way to explain a cultural prospective to a young child that has historical merit and not weighted with any political biasness. The graphics are sharp and crisp with an Asian musique.

This book was a wonderful introduction to Chinese culture for my children and myself. The writing is superb! It is great to find a book that my children love as much as I do. The artwork is new and different for us and lead to fun and creative projects of our own.

This book is a great find for anyone and a great resource for teachers or homeschoolers.

Yoon is a little girl who has moved to America from Korea. She feels very displaced and is unhappy with having to write her name in English. Korean writing is much more beautiful to her. This story illustrates how difficult it can be to move to another country and learn another language. It's hard and it often implies that a person must give up ways of living that the person holds dear. This story provides a smidgen of insight into this conflict.

This book is a great ice breaker for those first few days of school. The story is well written, and beautifully illustrated.
Young students can relate to the character, Yoon, on many levels.

In 2001 a book came out entitled, "The Name Jar" about a girl from Korea who had moved to America and wanted an Americanized name. Then, in 2003, "My Name Is Yoon" came out with practically the same plot. Normally, I have little sympathy for children's books that mimic their predecessors. In this case, however, there can be little doubt as to which book is the better of the two. "My Name Is Yoon", is a complex tale of imagination, flights of fancy, and gradual acceptance. By contrast, "The Name Jar" was simply okay. You can find ho-hum picture books lining the shelves of most libraries and bookstores around the globe. It is far rarer to find books quite as remarkable as the stunning, "Yoon".

Yoon isn't exactly thrilled to be in America. Wherever she looks, she sees that life is different in this strange new land. In Korea, where Yoon was born, her name meant Shining Wisdom. Despite her father's assurances that it means the same thing here, Yoon isn't so sure. And then there's the fact that when she writes her name using English characters, it's just a series of sticks and circles, whereas in Korean, "The symbols dance together". She's right. They do. Yoon carries her unhappiness to school where each day she learns a new word and makes that her name. One day it's cat. Another it's bird. Still another (and most amusingly) it's cupcake. In the end, Yoon learns to like her new country, supposing perhaps that maybe that being different can be good too. And in the end, she embraces her real name. "It still means Shining Wisdom".

I hate summarizing picture books where the plot, when written down, sounds so much hokier than it feels on the page. What I've just written sounds nice but bland. The book is anything but bland. Yoon's a distinct and remarkable character. With each new name she adopts, she becomes that object in her dreams. For example, when she becomes BIRD she wishes she could fly back to Korea once again. The book also skips what I've come to feel is the obligatory foreign-child-gets-teased sequence. The kind of thing you tend to find in books like, "Molly's Pilgrim". I was grateful for the oversight. "My Name Is Yoon" is tackling more important problems here. The acceptance of one's own self in a foreign environment, for example. Becoming your own name. Becoming your own self. What could be greater than this?

The pictures, for their part, don't hurt. Artist Gabi Swiatkowska is perhaps best known for this book and the title, "Silk Umbrellas" by Carolyn Marsden. "My Name Is Yoon" is good as a story, yes. But the Yoon we see here is a complex original human being. A one-of-a-kind gal. When her imagination soars it takes off like nothing else, aided by Swiatkowska's realistic images. I especially liked looking at the pictures of her in her home. Here, the black and white tiles of the floor bend and twist in strangely surreal patterns. I'll be honest with you, though. The book could've been awful and I still would have loved it just so long as it continued to contain the picture of Yoon floating through her classroom window as a delicious fluffy cupcake.

Realism is what grounds "My Name Is Yoon". Surrealism sets it apart from the rabble. If you're stocking your personal library with only the most essential picture books out there, you'd be doing yourself a disservice not to include this truly delightful title.

This is a wonderful story about a young Korean girl who has moved to America with her family. At school when she write her name Yoon in English for the first time, she decides that she likes her Korean characters more than the English version because, "My name looks happy in Korean. The symbols dance together."

She decides that she would like to go back to Korea because everything is different in America. Every day at school, her nice teacher asks her to write her name on a paper, and Yoon instead writes a different word that she has recently learned. The beautiful illustrations go along with these words, showing Yoon as a bird, cat, and cupcake. In the end Yoon realizes that perhaps America will be a good home, and that, "maybe different is good."

A great story for children to read, to aid in understanding and acceptance.

Immigrant kids recognize that hesitation during roll call when a new teacher gets to their name. I used to dread it, but the experience depended on how a grownup handled these encounters with the unfamiliar. If only all teachers (and immigrant parents) were as wise as the ones in this book! Recorvits' poetic, spare text and Swiatkowska's imaginative paintings explore one aspect of feeling "foreign" -- an immigrant child's name. In a new language and a new alphabet, Yoon's beautiful Korean name seems foreign even to herself. Are you still "Yoon" when people outside the family pronounce your name differently? When they don't know that it means "shining wisdom?" For a child to feel at home in a new country, she needs a loving circle of teachers, parents, and classmates, as well as a good measure of her own courage. Reading My Name is Yoon might compensate somewhat if any of those crucial ingredients are missing.

i enjoyed this book. i was in the book store one day and it caught my eye so i flipped through it, and i'm glad i did. its about a little girl who comes from korea and moved to north america. she goes to school and doesn't want to tell the class her name because it is different, so she says she doesn't have a name, so her classmates make a name jar for her and put in names that she can use. then she gets a letter from her grandmother who is still in korea saying how much she loves her and in the letter was a seal with her name on it. after getting this she is once again proud of her name and goes back to school and tells her class mates her real name and what it means (i apologize if i got some of the details mixed up it was a while back that i read it). this book was a tear jerker for me. i'm not korean, nor have i had major problem with my name (though people often mispronounce it when reading it), but the struggle for the acceptance of one's self and one's own difference in comparison to others is something we all go through, and this story successfully displays that struggle and overcoming that struggle in a simple way. i think its a good way to get children to understand that though they are different, they will be accepted by someone, and opens them up to other cultures at the same time. worth the read.

Unhei is starting school in America. Although she has a lovely Korean name that means "grace," she thinks maybe she would like a more American sounding name. Her classmates make a name jar and offers suggestions. This story is affirming of the multicultural experience. When Unhei complains about her name, saying that she doesn't want to be different, her mother counters, "You are different, Unhei....That's a good thing!" Choi superbly illustrates her own story. The characters, though simply painted, have expressive faces.

Today Room 10 in Oxnard, Sheltered Immersion First picked to hear "The Name Jar".
It's not the easiest pick for a second language learner one year into English. It's a longer text and not patterned and predictable. But what it offers is something very tangible, the experience of going into a new cultural context, experiencing school, having a name that is loved and chosen by family and then confronting others who tease you for it, also encounter those unable to pronounce your name and seem unable within their context to respect your name as who you are and value its meaning. At least at first.

So my class had the legs to listen as Unhei's story was told.They know the feeling. She comes from Korea with a block wrapped in silk that says her name(from Grandmother). She highly values this block and all it represents. On her first bus trip to school which she is doing alone(hum) she is teased about her name and feels the sting of total humiliation by students on the bus. At school she does not reveal her name and that piece where teacher assists and does reveal it oddly blanks out. I accept the need for this in the tale, but it's just not exactly what happens. In time students bring in a jar to hold suggested names for her, they are concerned about a nameless girl.She can't explain her fear of rejection of her name either of course.It's too complex and too personal. Meanwhile she is sharing at home that she wants an "American name" which is distressing to her mom. She considers the names and makes an American friend who eventually overhears her true name at the Korean Market. I suppose I expected the friend to out her, but he just takes her jar away and after an exhaustive search she shares her real name, how it looks from her chop and she and her friend are on their way to understanding. A few things about respect for school, writing systems are shared from the perspective of a Korean child, but not as much as I expected.
Why this story was appropriate today for our class was simple, my student teacher had shared the meaning of his name. Both parts of his name are to me hard to pronounce and they have interesting meanings. Unhei's name means "grace". That's an interesting concept to talk to children about all around. Anyway I felt I wanted to return to what he shared about the "meaning" of names and will follow up tomorrow by looking at the student names and what they mean, how they say them. Refining our ear and our respect for each person.Also I sent letters home for parents to explain why they chose their child's name. At the beginning of the year we learn to read and write all our names and this extends that into the part that allows me to personalize and help create respect for one another. I think the book is a quiet one, as relevant for dominant culture as those that experience name issues at the hands of those speaking in the dominant tongue but through good instruction it serves all students in consideration of the importance of respect for honoring the first gift we really are given after life, our name.

Yangsook (Rachel) Choi has written AND illustrated another illuminating book. Unhei has moved from South Korea with her family to America; she has brought her clothes, bags, and a name "chop" stamp from her grandmother. Her schoolmates cannot pronounce her name on the bus, so she doesn't reveal her name to her classmates. Is it good to be different? Should she embrace her difference? In America she can still eat seaweed and kimchi; she can shop at Kim's Market and Fadil's Falafel. But maybe a name of Amanda, Miranda, Daisy, or Tamela would be better than Unhei (Yoon-hye). The kids at school put name suggestions in a jar on her desk, but on the day she will choose her name, the jar has disappeared. Who took it? What will Unhei decide to do? Did Mr. Cocotos her teacher have a hand in this? Will all the kids want to choose a new name? A must read for every elementary school.

I love this book because it reinforces the idea that people have a right to their given names and that they have a right to expect people to learn how to pronounce them. I work with many Chinese, Korean and Japanese students and it is common for these kids to feel the obligation to change their name, allow teachers and students mispronounce them if they do use their given names, and their parents often tell them to get used to it rather than teaching them to assert themselves and expect people to learn how to pronounce them. If the child feels that they have a right to their name, the keep it, teach people how to pronounce it and feel better about themselves. If they change it, the given name still pops up on paperwork, people still mispronounce it and they are always trying to hide it away before it pops up again. Accepting your name and teaching people how to pronounce it, provides people with empowerment and a sense of some control over their lives. It helps a lot in the acculturaltion process.

"Next of Kin" is a remarkable first-person memoir that reads like a novel. Tom Reilly's story will take your breath away, whether or not you accept all the details. This is not another war story that revisits battles and the soldiers who fought them. Instead, this is a coming-of-age story that is catalyzed (but not defined) by the Vietnam War. Thanks to clean, straighforward writing, Reilly's story is a breeze to read. Critical readers may wish to see additional corroboration or evidence of this harrowing journey. The more casual reader will take it at face value and may appreciate the brotherly bond that made this story possible. May we all be so fortunate to experience such devotion.

Just a great story about the caring relationship between two brothers, about love and commitment, set in the era of Vietnam.

An adventure that covers half the world by an 18 year old from the midwest who lost his brother. He had to know what happen and it was clear, it was not war reltated.

This was a great read, a story that was hard to put down at night and when the book was finished, I felt like I lost a
friend.

The book is outstanding. I had my daughter pick me up a signed copy because the author lived in my town and I have always been interested in Vietnam as it was from my era.
I had no idea that I would be so enthralled from the very first page. I feel like I know the whole family and recognized all the places that the author speaks of. The pain and courage of both of the brothers reached out from the pages into my heart.
This book was so great I hated to have it end.

What a great story. What a dedication to a brother. we all could learn from this man. This is what family is all about. I highly recomend this read to everyone.

I am a woman in my early 40's and don't usually read books on war or enjoy hearing about war, but I couldn't put this book down. It was written so well that I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. It begins with young Tom Reilly, losing both of his parents and how his brother, Ron, was a constant in his life. Tom, at the age of 19, goes to Vietnam to find out the truth about his brother's death and his "adventure" over there. Tom has written a wonderful, loving dedication to his brother that will touch each and every person that reads this story. It doesn't matter if you are a man or woman, young or old, this is a book you'll want to read. You'll have such a good feeling when you finish.

We bought this book for my 4 year old son as a christmas present based on a review in the San Francisco Chronicle's "The Poop" blog and we couldn't be happier with it! This is wonderful adventure that had an extra benefit in that the monster is in fact a very lonely octopus (which my son sees as a giant squid ala Pirates of the Carribean). This has become his favorite book since christmas, and once you see the pictures and read the story you will understand why. Highly recommended!

This book is fabulous. It's incredibly innovative with appealing characters that conjure up Hello Kitty or Pokemon -- without the mass market/cult following; the story is sweet and adventurous, focusing on individualism and friendship; the art is exciting; the presentation is sometimes daredevil. Like that last description? What I mean is that this book takes exciting risks. For example, four fold-out pages are devoted to the octonauts and the lonely sea creature traveling to extreme places underwater on the planet -- so when they go south, for instance, the two-page spread is upside down. This is confusing and funny, especially when you turn the next page, and/but it really works. A terrific book.

I bought this book today at the Long Beach Aquarium for my almost five year old. She LOVED it. Every page is a blast, and she keeps going back to see something she saw before. I'm sure this would be great for an older child also.

Like Pixar films, this book offers as much for adults as it does for kids. First off, it's beautifully designed with fun little details that you notice over time. Anyone interested in old school book illustrators (Maurice Sendak, Ezra J Keats) will appreciate how closely knit the story is to it's lush imagery. This works really well.

The basic story is about this group of unique critters in an underwater world who wake one morning to find their submarine is under attack. When they go out to explore, they find an enormous octopus-like creature who took a liking to their submarine (which looked a lot like itself and is even called an octopod!). The octopus monster was as so lonely for companionship that it just hugs their little submarine. And that begins their adventure: the cast of critters head off with the big octopus monster to help it search for another of it's kind.

It's an adorable and imaginative story about friendship, told in a style that kids and adults will love.

The Octonauts & the Only Lonely Monster is the debut picturebook story about the Octonauts, eight talented animals who seek undersea adventure, roaming the ocean from their "Octopod" base. The stunning, stylized color illustrations emphasizing simplicity, curves, and a "big head/small eye" anthropomorphic look gives Octonauts a unique appearance, while the story tells of their encounter with a lonely sea monster leading to an important lesson about the values of friendship and individuality. A wonderfully imaginative and enchanting tale.

I read with interest Farid Hourani's book, "Olinda's
Dream" and have the following to say: Everything is described so
vividly that one could imagine as if one is there with the author in every detail, living the moments of every person, from the beginning till the present. The characters are interesting to me as I could see people I know in them, and mainly the author in all. What deep thoughts and cultural backing intertwined with historical facts of the Middle East and especially the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. If the style of this book was part of my history learning experience, I certainly would have done much better than I ever did! (history was not my favorite subject, I found it dry). This book is very impressive, I highly recommend it.

Dr.Hourani brilliantly describes both the history of the Middle East conflict and it's effect on generations of families. The story of his family is so vividly told that one feels that he wishes to know them. I couldn't put the book down. It is a real page-turner.

A Nostalgic journey, a must for anyone interested in history of the Levant.

Dr. Hourani does a masterful job of weaving the story of four generations of his fascinating family into the rich tapestry that is the Middle East. His unique separation of historical text from family saga provides both an enjoyable read, and a concise study of the region. Hourani is particularly effective in articulating the struggles of the Palestinian people.
A very timely book!

Dr. Farid Hourani chronicles four generations of his family, in a quasi-bioghrapical form, beginning with the year 1860. Interestingly, he interpolates, in italics, the political events and the societal environment of the Middle East as experienced by each generation. Through the recording of historical data (with documented references), the reader gains an insight into the genesis of the Palestinian-Israeli conflicts and the ongoing diplomatic discord. The personal impact on Dr. Hourani's family and others is detailed in such traumatic events as the seizing of properties and the subsequent flight of the Palestinian people in 1948 after the British evacuation and the proclaiming of the State of Irael. Thus, in addition to OLINDA'S DREAM being a poignant story of family survival, the reader will enhance his/her knowledge of the current Middle-East situation through this rendering of relevant history from the Palestinian perspective.

If there is any cause in this whole wide world where the obvious, glaring injustice of it all has been summarily ignored and dismissed by most of the world's leading intellectuals, it is the cause of the Palestinian freedom movement.

Said's (pronounced Sayid)--a Palestinian Arab of Christian descent--was that rare voice which informed the world of the Zionist duplicity, in a way that laid bare the untold sufferings of over 4 million of its inhabitants in the most lucid manner possible. For over three decades, Said's was a lone cry in the New Yorkian wilderness, which drew attention to the State of Israel's Ocean liner of lies ever since (and even before) it came into existence.

Said's pain and melancholy comes through, etched in every page of this book and makes for frightful reading. Given the supposed openness of the media in democratic nation-states, it's shocking how through over 5 decades, the combined might of Zionism's religious fanaticism, the traditional incompetence of ruling monarchies in the Arab world, the West's moral ambivalence to call the Israeli spade a bloody shovel and the Zionist lobby in Washington have been able to keep an entire nation of millions in a sort of permanent exile.

This book neatly divided in 3 parts critiques everything that is wrong and tragic about the Palestinian movement with merciless felicity and attention to detail that a proper understanding of this cause deserves. Of course, he is severe (and justifiably so) on Israel, but it is his attacks on the rest of the Arab world and the dishonest intellectuals of the western world that makes for fascinating reading. Truly, an intellectual like Said, rarely ever loses his relevance or goes out of fashion. This book is a priceless gem, to be read and re-read by anyone who wants to move beyond standard middle-east explanations, terrorism clichés and the rhetoric of "with us or against us".

If all could read this book, it might help meople to understand what is happening to the people of Palestine.

Thank God for Said. He explains so eloquently the Palestinian cause in a way we never hear from the maintream media. This collection of essays, though 400 pages, hangs together very well.

It is remarkable how relevant these essays seem still, even as they lead up to the era of the Oslo process, in the frozen present since 1967, or 1948. Sorting out the myths of the Arab-Israeli conflict can be a full-time job, and that's the problem. Said's witnessing of the issues since 1967 has always been one component of the unfolding tragedy. The Arab-Israeli conflict sometimes seems in a time warp, and the relevance of these essays endures, whatever one's perspective. Said's acerbic commentary seems to hover over the decades, and his personal account, to start the book, is a permanent record of those who endured the juggernaut.

Despite 40years of Israeli occupation, hundreds of illegal Israeli settlements, endless unproductive "peace process"-es, the Palestinians are no closer to genuine self-determination and nationhood. The Israel Lobby continues to wag the American dog. America's blind support of Israel and the billions of US taxpayer dollars continue to prop up the Israeli apartheid regime and make peace impossible.

It was hard for me to read these essays without getting angry: at the self-serving lies of Israeli apologists, at the cynicism of every US administration, at the sheer stupidity and venality of Palestinian leadership (so-called!).

Israel will never make peace with the Palestinians through negotiations as long as the US continues to subsidize Israel. Where is the incentive?

I fault Said for timidity in not elaborating on HOW Palestinians should prosecute their struggle. It is long past time that Palestinians accept that depending on their "Arab brothers" is going to get them nothing and nowhere. None of the essays helped me to understand how Said proposes to get Israel to allow Palestinian self-determination and statehood.

I also fault Said for his failure to mobilize any organized opposition the Israel Lobby in the US. Said may be much-celebrated in a certain small left-leaning ghetto of the intelligentsia, but he is a marginal figure in national politics and the debate (very little allowed) on Israel. The Lobby is powerful, yes. But the Israel Lobby does nothing illegal: it peddles influence and money and thereby influences politics in its favor, and nothing prevents a Palestinian Lobby from adopting similar tactics and emulating the Israel Lobby. The surest, perhaps the only, way to Palestinian self-determination is to change US policy towards Israel.

My 18 month old children (boy/girl twins) both love this book, but my daughter is especially taken with it. I read it to her before bedtime and she is just absolutely mesmerized by the beautiful, flowing poetry, the gorgeous saturated colors and the lovely images. I look at my kids' faces while reading it to them, and I see them each carefully and thoughtfully scanning each page, enjoying the colors and images and taking it all in. It's a perfect bedtime book. It is truly a treasure in our growing library. I give it to all my friends for baby showers or new baby gifts.

We have Red Is A Dragon and One Is A Drummer, both collaborations between Roseanne Thong and Grace Lin (as well as other Grace Lin books - which we just love!). Both books are beautifully illustrated and so fun to read with my 2-year-old daughter. Grace Lin's illustrations are our favorite. This is a wonderful book to learn a little about Chinese culture. Highly recommended!

Wrap this and Round is a Mooncake, One is Drummer (other Thong and Lin collaborations) for a fantastic gift to one of your young Asian American friends!

The main attraction for my 2 1/2 year old son is that it had a dragon in a parade AND firecrackers! Of course that's not all, the book is very colorful & we enjoyed couting orange crabs at the sea, green toads in the graden,yellow taxis on the road, purple kites in the sky, dumplings on a plate & much more.
Very intertaining.

Although my daughter was born in China and now living here in the US. I want her to know her heritage. Grace Lin and Roseanne Thong have created many terrific books that let me share with my daughter about Asian families and how they celebrate and most importantly how color plays such a vital role in the Asians eyes and lifestyles.

I love that Grace lin included dragon dancing and put feet under it for your child to see. I am trying to show my daughter that the Dragons used in Dragon Dances for the Chinese New Year is not a "live" dragon, but that there are many people or one person underneath and that they are wearing a dragon costume. Just like my daughter wheres a costume at Halloween. And then maybe this year she won't cry... or maybe not as much... she's only 2 1/2 years old.

I love that the book introduces us to the Chinese culture and how they eat different foods and instead of using forks, knives and spoons they use chopsticks! I love that one of the last lines in the book prompts your child to see what colors are around them, be it in their homes, backyards and else where. I also love that there are definations of certain words that we might be unfamiliar with. No matter if you live in America, Australia, Canada or Neatherlands or anywhere that Asains have found a place to call home, this book will help you open your child & families lives & eyed to how Asians live.

There are may terrific books by Grace Lin and Toseanne Thong, here's to many, many more books to come in the future!!!!!

I have enjoyed several of Endo's novels, including The Girl I Left Behind, Deep River, and Silence. My feeling is that he was worthy of the Nobel Prize, and I am disappointed he didn't win it. He works at the edge. His characters encounter the unusual in the midst of ordinary life, and they are changed by the encounter. In Scandal the unusual is embodied in masochism, the love of the pleasure in pain and self-annihilation. In parallel with the out of body joy of masochism, the protagonist has his own epiphany. This is all served up in a stylish and enjoyable confection. As always, the author hints that God is hiding in the interstices, waiting to appear in refracted light, darkly.

A wonderful novel. A great novel. A very enjoyable read.

Just when you think you have Endo Shusaku pegged, he comes out with a king-hitter like "Scandal". I have been reading Endo for a couple of years now, being a big fan, and "Scandal" has been one that has just further confirmed Endo's versatility and insight.

"Scandal" is very much full of self-references to Endo's own life. The main character, Suguro, is a Christian author, who has written novels called "The Life of Christ", "The Voice of Silence" and so on. Fans will recognise the echos to Endo's other works. Additionally, the characters often share names with other Endo novels. Suguro also appears in "The Sea and Poison", the highschool girl Morita Mitsu comes from "The Girl I Left Behind" and Naruse comes from the pages of "Deep River", (though with a changed given name, but life details are similar).

The similarity to Endo's other works ends there, however, and "Scandal" takes a no-holds-barred look at the depravity of the human heart and the urges that lie suppressed by the individual. As Suguro hears repeated rumours that he visits some extremely questionably places in Tokyo, he begins a hunt for the presumed imposter. Along the way, he encounters much that is disturbing about himself.

"Scandal" is a book that looks unflinchingly into the darkest recesses of the human heart. Endo seems unafraid to address those issues some would prefer to be hidden away, and he makes us look at them in ways that might make us feel uncomfortable. While not shocking in the explicit sense, the book does succeed in making one feel a touch uncomfortable with the matters dealt with. Endo shows a great deal of understanding for the nature of sexuality.

Although I would not recommend the book for everyone, I would recommend it for fans of Endo and those interested in the secret desires of people and the concealed corners of our own souls. This is an excellent book.

Scandal is the story of an acclaimed Japanese Christian novelist in old age named Suguro. At an awards ceremony honoring his distinguished career, Suguro hears disquieting rumors that he has been seen carousing in the red-light district. He enters the district to investigate the rumors and safeguard his reputation, but is unprepared for what, and who, he finds there.

Shusaku Endo uses this story as a kind of autobiography, accurate in depth of feeling, if not character and circumstance. He said in his A Life of Jesus that he thought of the Gospels as collectively forming a true portrait of Jesus, even where he saw them as fuzzy on the details. That is a good way to read Scandal, as a portrait of Endo.

Suguro struggles with old age, oncoming death, and the dissonance between his private self and his public reputation as an upstanding Christian. In many ways, Suguro is forced to confront himself; he learns that the foundations he has built his life upon are unsound, even his work, his marriage, and his religion. Endo's unflinching portrayal of himself in the figure of Suguro is thus poignant and, at times, tragic.

Scandal is about, among other things, a man going to a dangerous, uncertain place with his religion. Some religious people will not want to follow him there. On the other hand, this is not an exclusively Christian novel, and readers of any religion, or none, would have much to gain from it.

It is helpful, but not necessary, to have read some of Endo's other work to put Scandal in context. Silence and A Life of Jesus are classics. At least ten other works are in English translation.

Scandal is so rich and complex, and finally, so human, that it practically requires a second reading. But I am beginning to find that each time I read it, I demand another reading myself. I doubt that I will ever come to the end of it.

I just finished "Scandal" by Shusaku Endo which makes it the third book I've read by this author. All of the books have been excellent with "Silence" being my favorite. Endo is a Christian Japanese author and "Scandal", like "Silence" give an insight to the theological questions that go through his mind. The basic issue in Scandal is the relationship between good and evil in all of us. The main character in the story is a Japanese Christian writer (this whole book is pretty autobiographical with little attempt to hide that fact). At an awards ceremony he is confronted by the possibility that he has a double and that double has been spending a lot of time on the seedier side of life. The actions of his double threaten his reputation and he searches out this "doppleganger" to resolve that threat. Along the way he becomes interested in the nature and motives of the underworld people he comes in contact with.

Mr. Endo poses a variety of questions for the reader. As I previously mentioned, the main question is the level of good and evil in all of us. He seems to suggest that those of us who worship Jesus have within us the potential to have been one of those who stoned Jesus on His way to the Cross. While this is a shocking proposition to many, Endo's tale leaves one pondering the issue.

This book, like the other two I've read (including "The Sea and Poison"), is written in a compelling style that moves the reader along without any literary roadblocks. Even though you may quess correctly at some of the outcome, you want to see how the author gets you there. I rated this a "4" instead of a "5" because it fell a bit short of "Silence" so I knew he could do better.

Endo doesn't give you easy answers. This book explores the darker side of human nature, the side behind easy domestic life, beyond common decency, beneath worldly success. It may not be a pleasant book to read, as it doesn't gloss over the capacity for evil in a human being, but it is a book that will leave you thinking about just how authentic you are. If you're not ready to face brutal honesty, don't read this book. But if you're prepared for some deep insights into the nature of man, you shouldn't let this one pass you by.

Author Morrison has done a service by compiling a book of recollections about one of the most unknown events of our time: the air evacuation of Hmong General Vang Pao and many of his Hmong soldiers from Laos in May 1975. The Hmong were a staunch and effective American ally against the North Vietnamese and Lao Communists, but went down to defeat along with the Americans. Except for a few Americans, notably Jerry "Hog" Daniels of the CIA, the Hmong would have been abandoned to die in Laos.

Morrison gives little background and explanation for the events of May 1975, but plunges into the story with quotes from the participants, especially the Hmong. There are a number of rare and valuable photographs and good maps. The stories themselves are often priceless, first hand vignettes of history: for example, Gen. Heinie Aderholt's tale of hearing of the evacuation and his forthright -- and irregular -- finding and hiring of a C-46 pilot to fly the Hmong out of Laos.

Much of the material is compiled from the Hmong themselves, whose voices have only barely been heard in America. These were people on our side who deserved better at the bitter end of the Vietnam war. If you're not familiar with the outlines of the story some background reading may be useful. Roger Warner's, "Backfire" (also called "Shooting at the Moon") is good.

Smallchief

There will be many people (beside the Hmong) thankful that someone has taken the time to record this important event in history. The book has a distinct niche (human) in my education on the "happenings" in Laos. This is my fifth Laos subject book and is a must read! USAF in Thailand '69 veteran.

I truly enjoyed this book. I came away with a very different point of view. I was directly involved with the evacuation of DaNang, Nha Trang and Saigon in April '75 and to some extent in Loas in May of the same year and saw the refugees, in mass panic carrying babies and what possessions they could, trying to flee before the communists came. Gayle related the evacuation of Long Chen (20A) from the eyes of the Hmong refugees. It is a view that I never saw and hope that I never have to witness again.

Gayle Morrison has written an excellent book on the history and plight of the Hmong people in Laos during the Secert War in Laos. Her book's focus is the last battle these brave people fought, defending their mountain headquarters in northern Laos. Morrison is a talented writer who captures the feelings and spirit of what it must have been like to have been there. An excellent read.

Morrison interviewed a lot of Hmong participants in those last days, as well as American pilots Jack Knotts, Dave Kouba, etc. Eye-opening insight into the abandonment of one of America's most clandestine installations of the secret war in Laos. Detailed accounts of Matt Hoff's and Les Strouse's final flights into 'LS20 Alternate' as well. Some truly rare photos -- Long Tien in 1972, '73, '74, '75. Knotts and Kouba at the evacuation ramp on May 14, 1975, the last day. The Hmong -- from top leader Vang Pao to in-the-street tribespeople, no less proud, and no less tragic.

Finally, a haunting pair of photos -- top secret Long Tien in 1973, and another one, as mysterious as ever, from exactly the same angle and height (about 1000 feet above the runway), in 1995.

A compact, tightly-woven and compelling tale.