Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet - June CC Book Club Selection

[Mary13]

<p>Hello everyone! Our June book club selection will be Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford. </p>

<p>Amazon’s reviews offer the following comments from other authors:</p>

<p>“Mesmerizing and evocative, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is a tale of conflicted loyalties, devotion, as well as a vibrant portrait of Seattle’s Nihonmachi district in its heyday.”
– Sara Gruen, New York Times bestselling author of Water for Elephants </p>

<p>“A tender and satisfying novel set in a time and a place lost forever, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet gives us a glimpse of the damage that is caused by war–not the sweeping damage of the battlefield, but the cold, cruel damage to the hearts and humanity of individual people. Especially relevant in today’s world, this is a beautifully written book that will make you think. And, more importantly, it will make you feel."
– Garth Stein, New York Times bestselling author of The Art of Racing in the Rain</p>

<p>“Jamie Ford’s first novel explores the age-old conflicts between father and son, the beauty and sadness of what happened to Japanese Americans in the Seattle area during World War II, and the depths and longing of deep-heart love. An impressive, bitter, and sweet debut.”
– Lisa See, bestselling author of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan</p>

<p>Please join us for discussion, which begins June 1st.</p>

[wbow]

<p>i like this book so much, that I will read it again–just for the book club!</p>

[oregonianmom]

<p>Just read this book - it was terrific!</p>

[Mary13]

<p>Hi, it’s May 1st already, so I just thought I’d bump up this thread as a reminder that discussion of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet begins on June 1st. I hope everyone is enjoying the book. (I haven’t started it myself yet, but will do so shortly.)</p>

[smdur1970]

<p>Read this a while back and thought it was great. I’m really grateful for these book club recommendations…most of them are novels I wouldn’t have discovered on my own and are a pleasing departure from the mysteries and intrigues (both light and dark) I usually read.</p>

[cbreeze]

<p>I read this for my book club several months ago. Everyone loved it. It’s a part of history that America likes to forget.</p>

[dke]

<p>LOVED this book. Read it in our book club.</p>

[marigold]

<p>Sounds like a great book! I am getting it for my Nook, and hope to join in the discussion.</p>

[Onward]

<p>Read this book a while ago. One of my favorites!</p>

[newccuser]

<p>Reading this book right now. It is very good!</p>

[ignatius]

<p>I’m starting the book today. Looking forward to a good Memorial Day weekend “read” :).</p>

[PinotNoir]

<p>Cool - I needed a new book for my kindle this weekend - I’ve downloaded it!</p>

[sewhappy]

<p>Oh my. This book (for me) was one of those beautifully planned projects that just never quite takes flight.</p>

[bookmama22]

<p>I too enjoyed this book. It was a very quick read, I enjoyed learning about wartime Seattle and the Japanese community and what happened, as well as the the parallel stories today and the past. I think it can make an intriguing film.</p>

[LakeWashington]

<p>I’m in the middle of this novel. Already it has rekindled memories of “old” Seattle. I can visualize more than one spot depicted in the story. So far it’s great.</p>

[LasMa]

<p>I’m just finishing Water for Elephants and I’m so sorry that I missed participating in the discussion. Not this time though! – I just downloaded Hotel.</p>

[psych_2]

<p>I thought this book was okay but was a bit let down by the ending, tbh.</p>

[Mary13]

<p>It’s June 1st and time for discussion!</p>

<p>One of the things I liked best about Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet was the fact that I could pass it along to both my 89 year old mother and my 13 year old daughter. Our other selections have been great, but more often than not, there are, as the MPAA puts it, “scenes that are too intense for younger (or older ;)) viewers.”</p>

<p>Here is a list of discussion questions for anyone who’d like to peruse them to get started:</p>

<p>

Discussion Questions</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Father-son relationships are a crucial theme in the novel. Talk about some of these relationships and how they are shaped by culture and time. For example, how is the relationship between Henry and his father different from that between Henry and Marty? What accounts for the differences? 

</p></li>
<li><p>Why doesn’t Henry’s father want him to speak Cantonese at home? How does this square with his desire to send Henry back to China for school? Isn’t he sending his son a mixed message? 

</p></li>
<li><p>If you were Henry, would you be able to forgive your father? Does Henry’s father deserve forgiveness? 

</p></li>
<li><p>From the beginning of the novel, Henry wears the “I am Chinese” button given to him by his father. What is the significance of this button and its message, and how has Henry’s understanding of that message changed by the end of the novel? 

</p></li>
<li><p>Why does Henry provide an inaccurate translation when he serves as the go-between in the business negotiations between his father and Mr. Preston? Is he wrong to betray his father’s trust in this way? 

</p></li>
<li><p>The US has been called a nation of immigrants. In what ways do the families of Keiko and Henry illustrate different aspects of the American immigrant experience?


</p></li>
<li><p>What is the bond between Henry and Sheldon, and how is it strengthened by jazz music? 

</p></li>
<li><p>If a novel could have a soundtrack, this one would be jazz. What is it about this indigenous form of American music that makes it an especially appropriate choice?


</p></li>
<li><p>Henry’s mother comes from a culture in which wives are subservient to their husbands. Given this background, do you think she could have done more to help Henry in his struggles against his father? Is her loyalty to her husband a betrayal of her son? 

</p></li>
<li><p>Compare Marty’s relationship with Samantha to Henry’s relationship with Keiko. What other examples can you find in the novel of love that is forbidden or that crosses boundaries of one kind or another? 

</p></li>
<li><p>What struggles did your own ancestors have as immigrants to America, and to what extent did they incorporate aspects of their cultural heritage into their new identities as Americans? 

</p></li>
<li><p>Does Henry give up on Keiko too easily? What else could he have done to find her? 

</p></li>
<li><p>What about Keiko? Why didn’t she make more of an effort to see Henry once she was released from the camp? 

</p></li>
<li><p>Do you think Ethel might have known what was happening with Henry’s letters? 


</p></li>
<li><p>The novel ends with Henry and Keiko meeting again after more than forty years. Jump ahead a year and imagine what has happened to them in that time. Is there any evidence in the novel for this outcome? 

</p></li>
<li><p>What sacrifices do the characters in the novel make in pursuit of their dreams for themselves and for others? Do you think any characters sacrifice too much, or for the wrong reasons? Consider the sacrifices Mr. Okabe makes, for example, and those of Mr. Lee. Both fathers are acting for the sake of their children, yet the results are quite different. Why? 

</p></li>
<li><p>Was the US government right or wrong to “relocate” Japanese-Americans and other citizens and residents who had emigrated from countries the US was fighting in WWII? Was some kind of action necessary following Pearl Harbor? Could the government have done more to safeguard civil rights while protecting national security? 

</p></li>
<li><p>Should the men and women of Japanese ancestry rounded up by the US during the war have protested more actively against the loss of their property and liberty? Remember that most were eager to demonstrate their loyalty to the US. What would you have done in their place? What’s to prevent something like this from ever happening again?</p></li>
</ol>

<p>[ReadingGroupGuides.com</a> - Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford](<a href=“http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides_h/hotel_corner_bitter_sweet1.asp]ReadingGroupGuides.com”>http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides_h/hotel_corner_bitter_sweet1.asp)

</p>

[NewHavenCTmom]

<p>On an impromtu “tour” with 2 graduates of Loomis Chaffee (boarding school) here in CT I saw this book on a shelf of required reading back in October of 2010. I bought it for my daughter along with all the other books on the list and she has yet to read it… </p>

<p>Other books on the list were Outliers, Warriors Don’t Cry… the other titles I can’t remember. I will have my d14’ read this before her summer @ Choate! Thanks for this thread…</p>

[ignatius]

<p>

4. From the beginning of the novel, Henry wears the “I am Chinese” button given to him by his father. What is the significance of this button and its message, and how has Henry’s understanding of that message changed by the end of the novel?

</p>

<p>I had just finished reading Shanghai Girls by Lisa See when I started Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. Shanghai Girls starts in China with the Japanese bombing of Shanghai. The girls have feelings similar to those of Henry’s father in regard to the Japanese - perhaps deservedly, considering their brutal personal experience.</p>

<p>I’d like to weave a couple quotes from Shanghai Girls around this question because I kept thinking of this while I read Hotel on the Corner of the Bitter and Sweet. So, here goes:</p>

<p>Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

We too are forever foreign, which makes us suspect. The family associations in Chinatown print up signs that read CHINA: YOUR ALLY for us to hang in the windows of our businesses, homes, and automobiles to announce that we aren’t Japanese. They make armbands and badges, which we wear to make sure we aren’t attacked in the street or rounded up, stuck on a train, and sent to one of the internment camps. The government, aware that most Occidentals think all Orientals look alike, issues special registration certificates that verify that we’re “members of the Chinese Race.” None of us can let our guard down.

</p>

<p>Anyway, to me, Henry’s button has a double layer to it. As a gift from his father, it not only provides protection from the anti-Japanese fervor sweeping the country but also reflects the father’s pride in his own Chinese heritage. </p>

<p>Now fast forward to 1950: </p>

<p>Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

Only five years ago China and the United States were allies. Now seemingly overnight, Communist China has become - after Russia - the second most hated enemy of the Unied States.</p>

<p>“Now the lo fan government has passed a new law so they can lock up Communists if there’s a national emergency. Anyone who has ever said a single word against Chiang Kai-shek is suspected of being a Communist.” […] “And you don’t even have to say anything bad. All you have to be is a Chinese living in this pit of a country! You know what that means? Every single one of you is a suspect!” </p>

<p>Joy is too young to understand that, with the suspension of habeas corpus rights, anyone - including her father and mother - can be detained and held indefinitely. We don’t know what will make a national emergency either, but the internment of the Japanese is still very much in our minds.

</p>

<p>Henry’s protective button can only turn around to bite him in a few years - and his father would have definitely been on a suspect list. I realize I digress here (and into another book, no less), but truly I thought of this as Henry wore his button and his father planned to send him to China to complete his education. Not liking Henry’s father at all, I felt sorry that he didn’t live long enough to experience “the red scare” for himself.</p>