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

SouthJerseyChessMom · June 5, 2011, 6:10pm

Crossposted this with you Mary.
I completely, agree they were not believable 12 years old, and I never bought into the “love” story either.
Great comparison with Hedgehog characters, too!!!

Here’s the post…before reading yours…
emeraldkity, perhaps the residents in the Northwest are more familiar with the detals about the internment camps than many of us in other areas.

Your link to the article is very interesting.
Couple of things stuck out to me.
First, the questionnaire asked if the internees would be willing to serve in the armed services.
What a difficult “Litmus test” question! This would be like asking Muslims today if they would be willing to fight in the Mideast, to prove their allegiance to the US.

Another statement seemed important, relating to conditions in California at the time
"A vocal minority wanted to repatriate to Japan. They clanged on huge dish pans to call together meetings.

The most strident in the camp came from California’s Sacramento Valley, where anti-Japanese sentiment had produced some of the worst discrimination in the country.Historically, Asians were blamed for taking away whites’ jobs by accepting lower wages, and later they were accused of unfair competition in farming."

So many of the No-No camp internees were unwilling to swear allegiance to the US, which is understandable.
However, it is disturbing to read that many thought Japan would win the war, and disappointed when they didn’t. I don’t know if they felt disappointed because they had been imprisoned, or those sentiments reflect a deeper allegiance.

And, Mary points out an interesting observation, that German or Italian born residents were not imprisoned, why Japanese?
I assume the numbers of Japanese were so significant in the Western States that subversive activity would be harder to control, so it was a proactive move.
Very UnAmerican in my opinion.

Another thing from your article:
"Before the pilgrimage, Ayame Tsutakawa had wondered whether her grandchildren should visit Tule Lake. Maybe they wouldn’t understand.

She wasn’t sure herself whether she wanted to return. Her husband, George, is now gone. The memories were sure to be bittersweet"

The title of the book came to mind- Corner of Bitter and Sweet !

ignatius · June 5, 2011, 9:31pm

Count me in for wanting Henry and Keiko to be older - at least 2 or 3 years. Falling in love at 14 or 15, yeah maybe - but age 12, not so much. However, Henry’s father left China at 13 to live/work in the U.S. I think maturity came calling earlier back then as compared to now. Still …

I think the U.S. came down harder on the Japanese because of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Simple answer to a complex question, but I really do think it boiled down to that act of aggression, making the Japanese seem more of a threat.

PATheaterMom · June 5, 2011, 9:35pm

I’m with the other who didnt’ felt Henry’s and Keiko’s relationship would have been more believable a few years older.
Also (this is a bit trivial and OT) Henry is portayed as being elderly in his 50’s-as was the main protaganist in Elegance of the Hedgehog. Maybe I am just being a sensitive 53 year old but…

emeraldkity4 · June 5, 2011, 10:03pm

My D went to school with Ayame Tsutakawas grandchildren.- very talented family.
An interview w her husband George ( who was an Amy veteran)
[Oral</a> history interview with George Tsutakawa, 1983 Sept. 8-19 - Oral Histories | Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution](<a href=“http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-george-tsutakawa-11913]Oral”>http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-george-tsutakawa-11913)

emeraldkity4 · June 5, 2011, 10:14pm

Italian- Americans & German Americans were more assimilated into " American" culture than a Japanese way of life. 
They were put into the camps because they " stuck out" , they were " different" in the way the looked, how they worshipped & the food they ate.
We had a Joe DiMaggio in the big leagues but not an Ichiro Suzuki ( or Jackie Robinson)

Mary13 · June 5, 2011, 11:08pm

Yes, thanks—these are exactly the reasons I have come across while reading our various links. And one more: Because Italian-Americans and German-Americans had already been assimilated for generations (President Herbert Hoover himself was a German-American), they made up such a large percentage of the population that they were far too numerous to round up and send to camps.

The hatred of the Japanese in the wake of Pearl Harbor was incredible. Check out this headline from the West Seattle Herald. “Get ‘Em Out”! Can you imagine such a thing today? There’s a photo of the headline in the link below. And the Herald wasn’t alone. Re the Argus:

In a Feb. 14, 1942 article titled “Young Japanese Americans,” the Argus no longer made any distinction between American born and Japanese nationals:

This paper has taken a pretty tolerant view of the young American Japanese in its discussion of enemies in our midst. A news story this week inspires us to repudiate every generous thought we have held toward these people. It is now revealed that there are more Japanese students than white studying German at Broadway high school, and that many of them took up the study of German after the war began. (Argus, February 14, 1942 p.1) 

The story went on to condemn the government for allowing “American born Japs” and nationals alike to “remain at large.” Finally, the story concluded that not all Japanese and Japanese Americans may be guilty, but it was better to be safe than sorry: “if the innocent are interned with the guilty, it will not be a very serious matter. If any japs are allowed to remain at large in this country, it might spell the greatest disaster in history.”( Argus, February 14, 1942 p.1)

[Internment</a> of Japanese Americans](<a href=“http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/news_colasurdo.htm]Internment”>The Internment of Japanese Americans as reported by Seattle Area Weekly Newspapers - Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project)

emeraldkity4 · June 5, 2011, 11:16pm

Gah not “Amy” veteran :o Army .

Mary13 · June 5, 2011, 11:33pm

LOL PATheaterMom, not trivial at all! The book begins, “Old Henry Lee stood transfixed by all the commotion at the Panama Hotel.” I honestly thought—until I did the math—that Henry was a Jacob Jankowski octogenarian type of character. And then I realized he was only 56! “Old” Henry Lee, indeed. We are not alone in our dismay: I found another interview with Jamie Ford online–check out question number 4:

Hmmm…I suspect Jamie’s “angle of perspective” will have changed quite a bit by the time he looks back on Henry 14 years from now. :)

PATheaterMom · June 6, 2011, 9:05am

THanks for posting the links, Mary and EmeraldKitty. I do think this would be wonderful reading for upper middle to high school students. It’s important not to forget that many of our fellow Americans were sent to these camps only because of their ethnicity. The school scenes would resonate with young people today-the class dynamics, bullying, overcoming prejudice. Although the two main charactors did seem to be 12 going on 35 sometimes in their conversation.
I’m glad other people feel that calling someone 56 old is a bit off!

ignatius · June 6, 2011, 10:17am

Ford starts his book with the descriptive “old Henry Lee” but almost immediately clarifies Henry’s age and replaces “old” with “young”: “He was only fifty-six - a young man by his own standards.” (p. 3) I ended up giving Jamie Ford a pass: Henry had spent the last seven years caring for a dying wife and burying her only six months previously. Henry felt old, alone - aware of his mortality.

I felt that many of the 1986 scenes depicted him slowly coming back to life himself: the visit to Bud’s Jazz Records after a long absence, his appreciation of Sam’s dragon beard candy, “The last time Henry had had dragon’s beard candy was long before Ethel got sick.”

Henry was old at 56 - and shouldn’t necessarily have been. His early retirement probably didn’t help. His faithfulness and solidity with Ethel reminded me of his earlier devotion to Keiko. I think Ethel recognized this quality in him as he faithfully sent and waited for letters during the war years, and she fell in love with him because of it: a good man, as the saying goes.

Not meaning to ramble, but back to Henry and Keiko’s ages: You’d think that Ford would have hit that nail on the head. He has six kids (blended family) - at least some in that age range: “On the personal side, I’m the proud father of more teenagers than I can keep track of. Yep, it’s chaos, but the good kind of chaos.”

And still rambling, but I liked this interview question and Ford’s answer (link posted above - by Mary, I believe):

I admit to a soft spot for these two characters also - and, for some reason, Ethel also. She loved Henry.

Mary13 · June 6, 2011, 4:32pm

Point well taken. So I’ll give the author the benefit of the doubt and accept that Henry seems doddering not because Jamie Ford sees him that way, but because Henry sees himself that way, e.g.:

BUandBC82 · June 6, 2011, 9:53pm

I was away over the weekend and am trying to catch up. I enjoyed all of your posts.

This was common after the war. Everyone wanted to be looked at as American. My mom was from New Hampshire, but her heritage was French Canadian. She spoke English and French fluently, but did not raise us to be bilingual. We were raised as English speaking Americans.

This certainly didn’t occur at the level of internment camps, but it happened to a lesser degree after 911. Muslims were picked out of lines at airports, questioned at work, and at school, and, in general, looked upon with suspicion and treated negatively, wherever they were.

I like this description of Henry “coming back to life”.

…And his mother’s devotion to his father. Henry watched his mother care for his father and then did the same for Ethel.

While reading, I wrote myself this question – “What was the significance of the broken record?" It seems obvious that it is symbolic of Keiko and Henry’s relationship. Henry didn’t care that it was broken when he found it, just that he found it. I was surprised when he brought it to Sheldon. I thought he wanted it for himself as a memory of Keiko. I know he owed Sheldon the record, but I was still caught off guard when he brought it to him. The unbroken record that Keiko sent for the funeral was the excuse Henry used to go see her. He brought it back to her. They were the two halves of the record becoming whole again. That’s what seems obvious to me anyway…any other thoughts?

SouthJerseyChessMom · June 6, 2011, 11:10pm

^ Great question BU…
“What was the significance of the broken record?"

Mary13 · June 6, 2011, 11:13pm

In so many ways, Henry was beholden to Sheldon, and I would guess that giving him the record–willingly handing over what he had waited his whole life to find–was a way of paying part of that debt.

One of the Reader’s Guide questions asks about the bond between Henry and Sheldon. I think that for Henry, Sheldon is part guardian angel, part conscience. He seems to miraculously appear whenever Henry needs him:

For protection -

“As Henry rolled away from the punches, covering up, Chaz seemed to float up and off of him. The crowd had parted. No one appeared to care that a white kid was beating the snot out of a little Chinese boy. No one but Sheldon—who’d seen him and pulled the larger boy off him.” (p.131)

For comfort –

“Henry wandered away, finding himself drawn down Maynard Avenue to the edge of Nihonmachi. There he found Sheldon sitting on a bus bench, sipping black coffee from a thermos cup, his sax case tucked between his feet. He looked up at Henry, shaking his head as the remaining residents of Nihonmachi drifted away…”There was nothing you could’ve done. Nothing anyone could’ve done. They’ll be okay. The war will be over soon, they’ll be coming back, you wait.” (p. 137)

For romantic guidance –

Sheldon just shook his head. “Well, the next time you see your Japanese friend, you tell her oai deki te ureshii desu.” (p. 28)

For advice on doing the right thing –

From boyhood…“Greyhound, boy! I have to spell it all out for you?..You can make a man’s decision and do what you gotta do.” (p. 211)

…to middle age, when Sheldon tells him, “Henry…fix it.” (p. 270)

Sheldon is the compassionate, loving father figure that Henry lacks. Sheldon and Henry’s father are flip sides of a coin (or maybe the A side and B side of a record ;)). I think the author reinforces this with the concept of “fixing.”

When Henry’s father is on his deathbed, he confesses to Henry, who responds angrily, “You fixed it, didn’t you?” (p. 263)

Of course, Henry’s father didn’t “fix it” at all; rather, he “broke it”—broke off communication with Keiko, and broke his relationship with his son.

A lifetime later, it is Henry’s other father figure, Sheldon, who, on his deathbed, encourages Henry to repair what is still broken inside him: “’Fix it,’ Sheldon managed to say one last time, before drifting off to sleep, his words disappearing into the soft hissing of the oxygen.” (p. 271)

ignatius · June 7, 2011, 4:15pm

^^^ :)

and

^^^ :)

Mary and BUandBC82: Good!

Each spring the Houston Area Independent Schools Library Network (in other words, Houston’s private school librarians) come out with recommended reading lists. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet can be found on this year’s 9th/10th grade list. Several other CC Book Club choices can be found on the 11th/12th grade list: Water for Elephants: a Novel, Sarah’s Key, Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, The Help, and Cutting for Stone.

[Houston</a> Area Independent Schools Library Network](<a href=“http://www.haisln.org/recommendedreadinglists.html]Houston”>http://www.haisln.org/recommendedreadinglists.html)

Mary13 · June 7, 2011, 10:41pm

Thanks – that list has a lot of wonderful books on it!

Seeing the title of Water for Elephants reminds me of something I meant to mention:

Before reading Water for Elephants, I had never heard of Jamaican Ginger or “Jake Leg.” And then, coincidentally, the very next book we choose has a chapter called “Jamaican Ginger”! It’s the part where Henry’s trip to the pharmacy makes him a bootlegging accomplice, and he remembers the “jake-legged” sailors he’s seen staggering down the street. I couldn’t help but think of poor Camel.

ignatius · June 8, 2011, 9:51am

^^^ I noticed that also. I was already comparing/contrasting the father-son relationships to those of Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, so found it amusing that suddenly I dropped into Water for Elephants territory.

Speaking of Henry and his father, do you consider that familial tie a relationship - even a bad one? A heartbreaking moment in Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet for me happened when Henry’s father struggled after his stroke to call Henry “stranger.”

Mary13 · June 8, 2011, 10:59am

A very, very bad one. In my opinion, shunning your child is a form of abuse. They lived under the same roof and Henry’s father didn’t speak to him for years. That’s sick.

Although I respected Henry’s mother for the care she took of his father, I found her passivity in the face of her husband’s treatment of Henry disturbing. Her small, secret kindnesses for her son weren’t enough.

BUandBC82 · June 8, 2011, 2:51pm

Mary, thanks for your post about Sheldon and Henry. I agree, Henry was “beholden” to Sheldon. Good summary.

I felt the same way about the chapter on Jamaican Ginger. I had never heard of it before and there it was in two books. It should be popping up one more time.

The relationship between Henry and his father was painful to read. I was also horrified when his father told Henry he was a stranger from his sick bed. What a horrible father and person. The mother was stuck in the past tradition of being the obedient wife. Tradition did not allow her to challenge her husband. She wasn’t strong enough to stand up to him. I’m sure she struggled with guilt doing the little bit she did do for Henry.

ignatius · June 9, 2011, 10:34am

^^^ I agree. Henry’s mom probably has less power/standing in the family than Henry does. Doing the little she does pushes the envelope.

Eventually his father uses his position to fix it - through the help of the Chinese postmaster - so that mail seldom gets sent or delivered. Mom has to know - but as an obedient Chinese wife, it stops there.

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

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