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paperback £8.99
Griffin Publishing
Paddyfield.com
More reviews by Melanie Ho
Readers may purchase reviewed books from Paddyfield.com, Asia's online bookseller.North American readers may prefer to buy US editions from Powells.com.
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Love in Translation by Wendy Nelson Tokunaga
How should one go about describing a country, perhaps foreign to much of your audience but not to all of it? Most likely by a mix of broad, sweeping statements to convey a sentiment of the country, contrasted with the exacting details about the moments that were most strange, foreign and commonly experienced.
But what of the portion of the audience who already has an understanding of the country in question? Those general impressions no longer set a tone, but tread close to cliche, while details of famous parks, tourist hotspots and the must-experience attraction of the busiest intersection in the world start to feel like a literary version of Lonely Planet.
Finding the right balance is a tough task, yet one that's often demanded of authors writing of Asia for a predominately Western audience. WENDY NELSON TOKUNAGA's second novel, LOVE IN TRANSLATION is the story of Caucasian-American Celeste, who moves to Japan in search of a relative who may help unveil her mysterious past. The journey is informed and complicated by Celeste's own struggles -- a lack of passion in her job, a feeling of uncertainty about her long-term boyfriend and a desire to know her familial roots.
Early in the novel, Tonkunaga alerts her readers that Celeste has never left the United States. A level of culture shock is thus expected, but readers nevertheless might wish that the story of the dog at Shibuya Station was not described quite so typically. Or maybe they would: it possibly comes down to the level of one's experience in and of Japan.
Although Tonkunaga does, on occasion, stumble into what more well-informed readers might consider cliche (for example, the gothic Alice in Wonderland teenagers in Harajuku or the sheer volume of people in Shinjuku), she also allows Celeste to move forward in her quest: Celeste is an easy character to cheer for.
With the choice of setting playing such an important role in the story, the challenge of LOVE IN TRANSLATION is to present Celeste's Japan as she sees it, while presenting these impressions in a way that sticks. A fun romantic-comedy of a novel, Tonkunaga has written a book that is quick and light-hearted and one that may even have you running out to the nearest karaoke bar.
Melanie Ho
10/01/2010
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Melanie Ho is a writer who has reviewed for publications in Hong Kong and Canada. |
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