Sayonara

Rating:
Summary: A Different Time, A Different Place
Review:
This is not my Japan - I was stationed there a generation later. Michener's prose describes Japan as it was during the Korean war. I still remember the vendors selling roasted chestnuts or skewers of yakitori beside the street. Today we have, God forbid, MacDonalds and Starbucks on the streets of Hiroshima.
These are not my girls - most of the Japanese women I met, outside of the bar scene, were students in English classes. Their reasons for speaking with gaijin (foreigners) were varied. Some wanted to learn English for work. Some expected to travel. One had a sister who was married to an American. The girl who is now my wife of 25 years was a rebel who just did not want to conform to the strictures of Japanese society. I have to admit, I was first attracted because she was the cutest girl I had ever seen. She's still is, for me. Were there communication problems? Yes, at first. Now, probably no different from any other couple. Could Gruver's attraction to Hana Ogi have been purely physical? Maybe. Probably not.
Sayonara isn't history - but the "tea ceremony" I saw in Kyoto last week wasn't real either.
Enjoy this book - it's a window on a different time and a different place and a different people. It's a wonderful read if you can shift your perspecive and accept things as they were.

Rating:
Summary: True love knows no race, country or culture...
Review: An American soldier in Occupied Japan finds himself in an illicit romance with a local girl, much to the dismay of his American fiance, who seems to find their relationship one of obligation and nothing more. This soldier finds himself at odds with his country, his countrymen, his superior officers and the Japanese culture. His mutual love for his beautiful treasure overrules his sense and sensibility. He is what we call "in love" and thinks it is just grand.

This is a quick, easy read that keeps dear reader glued to the pages suffering along with the characters in both heartache and love, as these two courageous individuals battle social acceptance among cultures.

Rating:
Summary: Sayonara Review
Review: I enjoyed the book very much. Although the ending was very sad, the message was a very important one. The book was intriguing from the first page. It was not dull or boring at any moment. Major Gruver was a very accomplished and intelligent man. In the book it was interesting to see the changes he underwent; at first, this man would not even acknowledge a Japanese woman in public but after he opened up and gave these women a second look, he not only talked to them, but he fell in love. More people need to make that change in life because so many times people get overlooked and pushed aside because they are of a different race. In this book it was not only individuals who did not agree with the entangling of people from two totally different cultures, but the United States Air Force as a group did not agree with it either; they did not understand the strength that love has on mankind. Sayonara is a truly amazing love story who's message and lessons should be known world-wide.

Rating:
Summary: A Different Time, A Different Place
Review: I had many problems with Michener's love story, and biggest one is that everything that the racists in the novel said about the protagonist Lloyd Gruver is true.

Think about it. Isn't Gruver and Hana-ogi's relationship incredibly shallow considering they couldn't communicate (he spoke no Japanese, she no English). Is Hana-ogi's character a complete blank, a mere cipher? She truly has no personality to speak of (unlike Gruver's American girlfriend Eileen)!

How then did Lloyd "fall in love?" He didn't. He fell in lust with Hana-ogi, and ran away from American women precisely because they were headstrong, just like what the racists in the novel said. The characters of Joe Kelly and Katsumi are even worse: a dumb American who marries an even dumber Japanese woman (consider her eye operation). This is supposed to be the "ideal" relationship in Lloyd's mind? He gives the example how after Katsumi would scrub Joe's back after a hard day's work, and how an American woman would never do that, and because of this, Lloyd thinks Japanese women are better. This is a ridiculous idea which can only be made by an extremely insecure man. Essentially, what Lloyd Gruver wants is an exotic and brainless woman who'll worship him and scrub his back; the last thing he wants a woman who challenges him intellectually (like Eileen does). Likewise, the racists in the novel say Joe Kelly only married Katsumi because he couldn't find a woman back in America, and you can't help but nod your head, especially considering how Kelly and Katsumi wound up.

In the end, Sayonara is a Western man's fantasy of an exotic interracial relationship and nothing more. A white American would go to a foreign land and somehow, without speaking the language or shelling out the dough (which is how most Western men get foreign women in the real world), the most beautiful woman in that land would swoon and worship him. Meanwhile, the white man would be criticized by racists for involving himself with a non-white woman, and he would defend his and the woman's honor, thereby making himself a martyr and receiving all the warm and cuddly feelings that go along with that title. But what about the relationship itself? And how are the Japanese characters treated? They aren't, and they need not be since it's unimportant who Hana-ogi or Katsumi are since WHAT they are (non-white, the exotic other) is a LOT more important than WHO they are (their personalities) in the novel's plot.

In the end, Michener's Sayonara is a very shallow book about Japan and a even shallower relationship.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful and heartbreaking
Review: I have just began to read Michener's novels, but have enjoyed none more than Sayonara. It varies from his typical writing style... he writes with passionate human emotion to describe racism, love, and culture. This is an amazing and important novel for Americans. Although the story line is somewhat predictable, the language is simple and graceful. It glows with insight on contrasting Japanese ideas on land, country, and marriage. I couldn't get enough of this book. It was spectacular.

Rating:
Summary: This book really made me think.
Review: I picked up this book at a garage sale a few weeks ago because the title sparked my interest (one of my friends just left to teach English in Japan). I honestly didn't have any opinion of the book at first, although I have heard praise for Michener's novels. When reading this book, I was surprised that most of the American characters seemed to be racist. But my mother commented that this was what the world thought of Japan after the war.

I liked how the author portrayed Major Gruver. At first, he was showed ignorance towards anything and anyone Japanese, but after he met Hana-Ogi, his views changed. And it was particularly nice that he realized that what was important in a person was what was on the inside (e.g. Katsumi).

I thought this book was great :) but the ending was so sad.

(f.y.i. I am a 22 year old Asian female).

Rating:
Summary: Sayonara
Review: I thought this was a really great book. It tells the story of Major Lloyd Gruver, who falls in love with the beautiful Takarazuka girl, Hana-ogi. Through his relationship with her, he begins to see past the darkened skin and slanted eyes of the Japanese into their hearts. The ending was very sad. I reccomend this book to everyone.

Rating:
Summary: A 'Love Story' in Japan
Review: Lloyd Gruver, a jet pilot ace in Korea, is sent back to Japan on a new assignment. The son of a General, his fiancee Eileen is the daughter of General Webster. There is a problem with Airman Kelly, who wants to marry a Japanese girl even though she would not be allowed to come to America. General Webster's wife disapproves of American soldiers accompanying Japanese girls; and the General's wife commands the General. Eileen wants a regular marriage, not spending years of loneliness as a stateside Officer's wife.

At Airman Kelly's wedding, Major Gruver learns the secret of Japanese women: they make their men feel important. Sometimes a Congressman will get a special bill passed to allow an American to bring his Japanese wife stateside. But American officialdom did everything to prevent these marriages. The story continues with Major Gruver learning more about Japanese culture - and a Japanese girl! [Little hints point to an oncoming tragedy.] Michener paints word-pictures of Japan that match his descriptions of islands in the South Pacific. In the end tradition and duty win out over love, for both Lloyd and Hana-ogi. The reader gets a brief glimpse into Japanese culture. This is one of Michener's earlier works, and not as good as his later books. But it explains the importance for Congress to control the budget.

What is the significance of the suicides? Gun Prohibitionists bray "America has the highest murder rate (qualifications)". Yet the rate of Violent Death in America is lower than Japan and other Western Industrialized Nations. The oppression and lack of freedom in those countries creates higher suicide rates, even with "socialized medicine". Beware of half truths!



Rating:
Summary: Very good though short.
Review: This is a fine story. The book moves along at a steady pace and has plenty of interesting moments. A couple of these: when the hero hides in a cupboard from the Military Police and has a breakthrough in his thinking (freedom from the fear of the heavy boot steps in the middle of the night), and when he is reprimanded by his father and forced to realize that there are all sorts of people needed in this world to make it go 'round. The characters are diverse though the Japanese community seems weakly done. This book is recommended for those interested in the Korean war, Japan, love, or sad endings.

Rating:
Summary: Not your average love story
Review: To me, Sayonara is an amazing story of a very unlikely couple. Maybe it is simply the woman in me that enjoys reading of a great love tale, but this novel truly hit me. In the beginning Lloyd is a man that would not think twice about dating a Japanese woman simply because of her race. But as time goes on, and the storyline progresses, his perspective begins to shift. He sees Hana-ogi not as a JAPANESE woman, but as a warm-hearted, loving human being. And although both of their careers forbid their relationship, neither one of them is willing to give up the bond they share. Their friends Joe Kelly and Katsumi are only another example of how love conquers, or rather, should conquer, all. Sayonara is not just a sappy love story. It is a tale of struggle and the overcoming of obstacles merely to be with the one you were meant to be with.