Friday, April 9, 2010

So Far From the Bamboo Grove By Yoko Kawashima Watkins

I usually do not like history, and would have never chosen to read this book on my own. However, having said that, I am glad that I was introduced to this book. I felt connected to the characters and was shocked by some of the results that happened in the book. For example having thrown a dead baby out of a moving train and having the mother jump after the baby was a shock to me. I think that these details made me feel really bad because of the harsh conditions. I was surprised by how sad I felt while reading the book and would not have expected to feel so bad. The part that made me realize how privileged I am, was comparing my school to Ko’s and how I have everything I could ask for to be successful in school. Computer, books, pencils, paper, etc are taken for granted on a daily basis. I am very blessed that I have not had to suffer or go through any of the hardships that took place in this book. I think that it is important to address and to make students aware of hardship and difficult situations and therefore would have this book in my classroom.
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1 comment:

  1. UnknownApril 14, 2010 at 2:23 AM

    This book is not worth reading because it was made for international political purposes, not for education. Most of the facts are distorted in this book:

    There were no North-Korean soldiers in 1945 (they existed after 3 years), and the location of where the author claims to have been when she was young did not have the right condition for bamboo trees to grow back then (Nanam). She also claims to have seen and heard bombs explode due to US air-force planes, but B-29s did not have fuel tanks large enough to fly all the way to Korea (nor were there ANY records of bombing in Korea at that time). Also, the United States ORDERED the Japanese soldiers occupying in Korea to be left ARMED until every Japanese civilians were escorted back to their homeland. Thus if Japanese civilians were REALLY raped, chances are, they were raped by their own people.

    So what do we have left from this novel? Just a fictional book that distorts history in a very ironic way (Considering the fact that the Japanese soldiers RAPED and MURDERED Korean women at wartime for pleasure. They actually had the nerves to call these women 'Comfort Girls'). The book title should be renamed as "So Far from History and the Truth"

    It's like Hitler claiming that he was tortured by the Jews in the Holocaust. Sounds like a nice book for young kids and adults eh?

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