This story began gently, but the quietness and enigma grew louder with every page and seamlessly built upon intricate feelings of confusion, pain, and sadness as the main character Naomi unraveled memories from her past. Although fictional, the story accurately reflects significant historical events from WWII and the internment outwardly invoked onto (Japanese) Canadians.

In my personal experience reading this story, I felt that Kogawa clearly and effectively expressed the identities produced, and coping responses formed as a result of political, racial, and personal trauma. Some characters respond in compassionate retaliation, some in anger and rejection of their own self, and others in silence. Silence as a response is at the forefront of this story, the forefront of some of the key characters in this book like Naomi and Obasan, and their silent presence only becomes louder when we see how adjacent characters differ in their responses. One of the other main characters in this story, Aunt Emily, is an evident example of an individual who has taken to reclaim her identity in a contentious political landscape. In the following passage, the insight she shares with Naomi I believe represents Aunt Emily's candor perfectly and also presents a striking point to be made:

n  “Some people,” Aunt Emily answered sharply, “are so busy seeing all sides of every issue that they neutralize concern and prevent necessary action. There’s no strength in seeing all sides unless you can act where real measurable injustice exists. A lot of academic talk just immobolizes the oppressed and maintains oppressors in their positions of power.”n

We see Aunt Emily is fierce in her desire to encourage change, whereas in comparison, Naomi often responds to Aunt Emily’s unapologetic expression in distaste and questions her animated attitude.

But consequently, in the story’s last pages, Naomi makes it clear that it is her own silence and that of others that she feels are at fault for further sustaining their pain:

n  “Gentle Mother, we were lost together in our silences. Our wordlessness was our mutual destruction.”n

What I enjoyed and think Kogawa does well is transform the perceptions of a reader in terms of likeness towards Naomi. The initial dislike and frustration I felt towards Naomi - due to her disassociation with social issues directly related to her - were met at the ending with empathy after receiving a fuller understanding of her lived experience. In the beginning of the story, Naomi is resistant to learning, remembering, or empathizing with the compassion that Aunt Emily has in fighting for Japanese Canadians’ rights. But as she explores her past, we come to understand why Naomi chooses to keep her distance. I think coming to that realization as a reader made me also see myself in Naomi, and come to a better understanding of myself. I understand now why she becomes almost angered when she is forced to confront and remember unwanted memories that she chooses to protect herself from.

In this progression of Naomi’s reflections, my own understanding of this story follows that there are a number of differing responses that stem from the same trauma and pain, all of which are valid and an honest approach in order to protect our well-being. One person’s response to loss is not the same for another and no one is to blame for the way they choose to do so. We all handle our grief differently. I think this is gracefully described in some of the last pages of this book:

n  “Grief wails like a scarecrow in the wild night, beckoning the wind to clothe his gaunt shell. With his outstretched arms he is gathering eyes for his disguise. I had not known that Grief had such gentle eyes - eyes reflecting my uncle’s eyes, my mother’s eyes, all the familiar lost eyes of Love that are not his and that he dons as a mask and a mockery.”n

Overall, the story delivers a powerful remembrance of the impacts of internment on (Japanese) Canadians that is often forgotten and quietly hidden. Our history is important, and this story serves as a reminder for why we shouldn’t forget. Although this book is relatively older, the institutionalized racism that is consistently highlighted is undoubtedly still reflected in modern day which attests to the story's relevance and impact years later. It is elegantly and poetically written, where Naomi’s dreams often have a touch of magical realism that I quite enjoyed. This book is slightly slow-paced at times and the poetic characteristic of some of the writing made it sometimes hard to read through, but still elegant nonetheless. I learned a lot through this story and as a product, this story has prompted me to reflect on my own understandings and experiences with healing. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who has any slight curiosity or interest in the story - I think it would be difficult to not appreciate what its story has to offer and share.

Below are some other quotes in this book that I found to be elegantly written and/or articulated in ways that resonated with me in some way. Although I think in context much of these would be better understood for those have already read this story, please enjoy!

- “In the face of growing bewilderment and distress, Aunt Emily roamed the landscape like an aircraft in a fog, looking for a place to land - a safe and sane strip of justice and reason. Not seeing these, she did not crash into the oblivion of either bitterness or futility but remained airborne.”
- “I want to break loose from the heavy identity, the evidence of rejection, the unexpressed passion, the misunderstood politeness.”
- “There are some nightmares from which there is no waking, only deeper and deeper sleep.”
- “The clouds are the shape of our new prison walls - untouchable, impersonal, random.”
- “If only I could banish all that offends her delicate sensibilities.”

I read this for a women's social history class. Obasan is a story about Japanese-Canadians during WWII told from the point of view of a young Japanese-Canadian girl from Vancouver whose family's life and future is torn apart by the Canadian interment policies for that time.
It is a story that has not been openly discussed within Canadian history classes as it in juxtaposition to how we view ourselves during times of war. We are the good guys, the peace keepers, sometimes the heroes, but not the 'bad guys' who put people into less than liveable internment camps just because someone is 'other'. We are not the type of nation to steal what is not ours from those who are not 'us'.
The story is heart wrenching and hard to swallow as a Canadian. It brings up questions that we don't want face; would we do this differently now, did we learn from this event, are we any better than anyone else???
I think that we, as Canadians, picture ourselves very differently from other nations, and like to consider ourselves above the brutality of other nations. We take pride in being the amicable, easy going Canadians. We define ourselves as not American and are proud of that. We wear our Maple Leaf as a sign of that difference.
But, our 'memory' is shortsighted and fallible and Obasan reflects this in a very uncomfortable way.

I am almost always a big fan of books set during the WW2 era, and must admit that when I read the blurb about this book I was both intrigued and surprised. I am a naive and uninformed American -- I knew nothing about the Canadian internment of the Japanese. I thought this blight on history only happened in my country.

However, I found this book a bit too light and sweet, which may be explainable by the fact that the main character is a young girl, but it still felt inappropriate. I would have preferred some deeper, darker discussions of the horror of this moment in time.

Obasan is narrated by Naomi, a five year old Japanese Canadian girl. When Pearl Harbor is bombed the Canadian government, like the American one to its south, inters the citizens of its own country because of their ancestry (and really, because of their appearance). Naomi is separated from her parents, but luckily is together with her aunt Obasan. Unfortunately for Naomi things will get worse, as her aunt dies.

I had three problems with the book. Firstly, this girl's life was torn asunder by her internment, and yet the story felt too light-hearted. And, secondly, the structure felt a bit frazzled. The story is told with many jumps in time which I normally enjoy but in this book was often confusing and it was always difficult to know where we were in time. Thirdly, the plot was weak and the character development almost non-existent.

I am awarding this one three stars only because it exposed me to a bit of history that I previously knew nothing about. It taught me something new.

I think the topic of this book, Canada's horrific treatment of Japanese Canadians during WWII, is an important period of Canadian history to learn about, and in that respect I think this novel was worth reading. It had some beautiful passages, and I especially liked the focus on silence and speech throughout the book. However, the style of this novel made it difficult for me to get through it; it demands an attention to detail and time that I couldn't sustain.

I greatly appreciated this book for the insight and education it provided to me regarding the treatment of Japanese Canadians during World War II. However, the author’s writing style, while at times extremely evocative and powerful, was not particularly to my liking. I, personally, do not care for the amount of symbolism and dreamscape employed. Maybe I’m just more of a purist, a prefer a story told straight and forthright. On the other hand, as a good part of the novel is told through the eyes of a child, perhaps I’m judging too harshly. Ultimately, this book is not particularly long and provides a significant look into an infrequently referenced historical point and in that regard is worth a read.

I was wondering wether to rate this book or not - although, ultimately, I tremendously recommend it, even if from a point of view that looking at the world today we need, more than ever, to educate ourselves.

This book delivers right on that, because I will admit that as a Western European, I had never really heard about the struggles of the Issei & Nisei in Canada during and after WWII. I was both intrigued and surprised to pick up this book because of precisely that, I didn't know anything about the Canadian internment of the Japanese (immigrants and born Canadians of Japanese descent), how born-right citizens were stripped so easily and bluntly of their rights based on racism in what was and still is considered one of the best democracies in the world.

The book was equal parts very clear, and equal parts very messy, with time and location jumps I couldn't completely follow up on. What failed to me was connecting with the narrator's voice (a little Canadian-Japanese girl growing through all of it). There were, nevertheless, beautifully written parts. It just didn't altogether click for me.

In the end, I am awarding this book three stars because it exposed me to a bit of history that I previously knew nothing about. It taught me something new. It reminded me that we can't forget History because we'll be the ones having to fight it off from happening again. Sadly, that's how the world works. Don't stay silent and uneducated when peoples' rights and lives are in jeopardy due to biased and unfunded government decisions.

اصلا انتظار نداشتم انقدر خسته کننده باشه
عملا تا فصل آخر هیچ اتفاقی نمیفته
همون فصل های اول اشاره میشه به بلایی که سر شهروندای کانادایی ژاپنی‌تبار اوردن و تا لحظه آخر رو همون مانور می‌ده بدون اینکه اتفاق خاصی بیفته که کشش داشته باشه و بخوای دنبالش کنی، بدون اینکه شخصیتی به دلت بشینه، بدون اینکه هیچ سوال خاصی برات پیش بیاد.
واقعا من نمی‌فهمم چرا اسم کتاب رو بر اساس اسم شخصیت اوباسان گذاشته بود وقتی انقد کم بهش پرداخته شده بود و مثل بقیه شخصیت‌ها یه تصویر محو و فراموش‌شدنی داشت.
اون اتفاق آخر هم چیزی بود که از اول می‌شد حدس زد و خیلی کتابای دیگه بیشتر و بهتر بهش پرداختن و با توجه به دغدغه اصلی کتاب اصلا تو اون مقوله نمی‌گنجید.
خیلی ناامید کننده بود این کتاب برام.
چقد منتظر بودم بخونمش!
فقط دو ستاره رو می‌دم چون در مورد تاریخ آلبرتا جایی که زندگی می‌کنم اطلاعات جدیدی یاد گرفتم که از قبل نمی‌دونستم.

I'd never really thought about the treatment of Canadians with Japanese heritage during WW II before reading this book. The years following the war, that they continued to be treated as unwanted/hated foreigners, made me want to learn more about that time period in the USA.

Based on the author's family's true story of immigrating to Canada from Japan in the early 1900s and their Canadian-born members who were detained in concentration camps during World War II.

This is a well-written story that one keeps forgetting is not nonfiction, especially during the diary entry sections. I'm familiar with this part of Canadian history, so I didn't find anything new or shocking, but it is still always stunning to hear about the hardships these people were put through during this difficult time in our history and to know that Canada did something worse than the US for once. The ending section got too political for me to enjoy much, but up until then, I was thoroughly engaged.

This books is about the aching wound of silence. It is beautiful. It is harrowing.

Confusing and boring

I had to read this book for ninth grade honors English summer reading, so I may be biased. I thought this book would be about Japanese internment camps, but alas, that is not the focus. With the date constantly changing and pointless unexplained stories in the plot, I deem this one of the most boring books I've ever read. My favorite part was the letters in Chapter 14, I think, because they were actually what I thought the book would be about.

Ratings (1 to 5)
Writing: 4
Plot: 3
Characters: 3
Emotional impact: 4
Overall rating: 3.5