The Street of a Thousand Blossoms @ richardeward.com

The Street of a Thousand Blossoms
by Gail Tsukiyama
from St. Martin's Press

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Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0

• Japan immersion beautifully created, but too much denial perhaps!
  This is an outstanding and highly creative literary work; wonderful storytelling of the life of a Tokyo family pre, during and post the Second World War. Two brothers, two sisters, elderly grandparents, a sad mask maker and few other interesting characters are thrown into the mix. Sumo wrestling is the passion of the older brother and also of his grandfather, so there is a lot to know about Sumo, its rituals, history and mystique. A bit less of the Japanese Noh theater and its traditions and especially its... more info

• Hail Gail
  Very moving and educational - never knew I'd be so absorbed by sumo wrestling and Noh mask making! Have enjoyed all of her books - but this one I could not put down. Wonderful character development. Learning about the Japanese people during World War II was an eye opener - creating unexpected sympathy.

• Somewhat enjoyable, but it remained average for me.
  After reading Gail Tsukiyama's Women of the Silk, a novel set in China, I knew that she was a writer that I was going to be hunting up again for future reads. But now that I've finished The Street of a Thousand Blossoms, I'm not too certain any more.
  Set in Japan during World War II and for nearly two decades afterwards, the novel tells the story of two families that are faced with deprivation, death and eventual survival. Yoshio and Fumiko Wada are raising their grandsons, Hiroshi and Kenji Matsuyama... more info

• Ambitious but Flawed
  It is clear what Gail Tsukiyama wants to communicate in her newest novel, "The Street of a Thousand Blossoms." The book strives to convey love, loss, coming-of-age, the horrors of war, the rebuilding of a nation--and throw in a little instruction in Japanese culture to boot.
  Spanning more than thirty years immediately before, during, and after World War II, "Blossoms" follows the lives of the residents of Yanaka, a suburb of Tokyo. It finds its main characters in Hiroshi and Kenji Matsumoto, two young... more info

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