Wow! I am truly amazed at how powerful and touching this story is. It not only shows the horror of waA Powerful Ghost Story Set on the Island of Guam
Wow! I am truly amazed at how powerful and touching this story is. It not only shows the horror of war so clearly but it brings the ghostly spirits of the Chamorro (Guam) to life as well. One could call this a ghost story although I am uncertain if these spirits are actually "ghosts" in the typical Western way. But the word ghost may be close as they are shadowy figures that bullets cannot harm.
First of all I really felt for poor Takeshi in here. He goes through so much torture and pain (both physical and mental) in here. He is a gentle soul and even though he had volunteered to join the Japanese Army he is not suited for that at all. The things he witnesses makes him sick to his soul. Makes me wonder what is wrong with all of those others that they can do such horrible things and it doesn't bother them??? But Takeshi truly brings the horrors of World War 2 to life in here, from the eyes of the Japanese. Of course he really doesn't fit in even though he is Japanese. I definitely felt bad for him and the horrors he was forced to endure.
There was a part near the beginning of the story where he had arrived at a destination (before he boards the Aki Maru) and they tell him that he is different. This was the only part in the story that had confused me. I can see why he was different on the island (Guam = Omiyajima) but I never understood why he was seen different so early on. Weren't they all Japanese??
The story never scared me but I found the mythology in here about the spirits very interesting. It certainly put an emphasis on things like honor, respect, being a kind decent person. Because these spirits look at who you are inside. Everyone should be concerned about those things but these days too many people have fallen into darkness and they just don't care about those things at all. there is also an emphasis on the natural world and how it can all be ruined. And that is so sad. Trees burning. Nature destroyed.
The story contained a few shocking twists. The one truly shocked me as I never saw that coming but in retrospect I should have.
The end of this one made me cry... It definitely packs an emotional punch. I think I will remember this one for a long time.
I never read a story set in Guam before so this was a first.
This turned out to be a fascinating account of how the people live on the Irish Aran Islands way back in 1907 (or should I say a bit before that as suThis turned out to be a fascinating account of how the people live on the Irish Aran Islands way back in 1907 (or should I say a bit before that as surely it takes time from manuscript to actual published book). Before I picked this up I never even heard of these islands before but I do enjoy reading these kind of stories. And even when this was written these islanders were still living very "old fashioned" compared to the rest of Ireland. These are apparently very poor islands where its often foggy and damp... I got the impression that a blue sky is rare. Rocky and surrounded by the sea. They don't seem to have any trees and most people speak Gaelic. They also use nicknames.
The thing that probably surprised me the most in here were the stories about faeries. There are folk tales in here too but many of the people in here who the author met in person had fairy encounters to share with him. And not all of these were the same. One even sounded very much like a haunted house with strange loud bangings during the night that had no source. Others told him of seeing oddly dressed figures they met on the road (ghosts??)... These people definitely believe in the supernatural. I found these tales just fascinating.
Another thing I really loved in here was about the daily life on the islands. Some of the things in here were perplexing to me. Like how they made rope out of straw. Really? I didn't know rope could be made from straw. Wouldn't it break?? They then used it to thatch the roof. Straw roofs I have seen in photos + at my local museum but I didn't know it had required rope..hmmm....
Since I am stuck on a limited diet due to food allergies I am always interested in what groups of people eat on their "native diets". I believe this book describes that very well. And it was written long enough ago that the diets were not goofed up yet my modern convenience foods as we have today. It seems they mainly ate potatoes, bread, strong tea, pork and fish. Even more fascinating was the description of one man who went away to America for twenty years and came back sick. Makes me ponder if food was related? They do have cattle but they apparently didn't eat them but sold them instead? Also mentioned was the way they ate: mainly they ate when they were hungry, often going long hours with nothing (intermittent fasting??).
The kelp harvests are mentioned along with many other seasonal things including moving the horses to another island for the summer, moving cattle + pigs on the ships, the beehive dwellings (cloghauns) are mentioned too.
One of the most startling things to me in here were the curaghs. These are the ships the locals make. They are very unusual. They are round and look very much like a half of a walnut shell! I saw pics of them online. Very amazing. I never knew a boat could have such a shape. And the sea is mentioned very often in here as the sea is part of these people's lives. Also some of the rocks are so sharp that they were slicing the bottom of the author's shoes so the locals made him some pampooties. These would be today described as "barefoot shoes" that moves and flexes with the feet so you can use your toes.
There is much more in here too including the nature of the people living there. The women wear red.
There were a few sections in here that didn't exactly interest me but all in all it was a good read. And I do think different readers will be interested in different parts of this book.
The natives in here do one very startling thing: opening the front or back door depending on where the wind was blowing from. I wonder if they do that year round?? Do they do it in winter too??? I googled and apparently snow is very rare on these islands. And often the open door serves as a clock too. They never heard of a clock we have with hands on it that tell the time. Their entire time telling is based onna entirely different idea.
Just fascinating! And did the one person really get rheumatism from the salty sea water??? Hmmm... These old ideas are just fascinating!
This was very easy to read. Its in a nice style too. No pictures in this edition but I do love the horse image on the cover.
These people live very hard lives but their island oddly enough is not their own. They had landlords and evictions too. ...more
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