John Okada was born in Seattle, Washington in 1923. He attended the University of Washington and Columbia University. He served in the U.S. Army in World War II, wrote one novel and died of a heart attack at the age of 47. John Okada died in obscurity believing that Asian America had rejected his work.

1999-07-27 A Great Book

In this novel,the nisei drama is sincerely depicted by J.Okada. By penetrating the characters' inner life, we readers not only witness about the conflicts and difficulties they share, but also their struggle to find a way out of this vicious circle. Within this vicious circle there are significant characters like Ichiro (the protogoinst) and Kenji. Kenji served America during WWII. He lost one of his leg in the war, but also he lost his masculinity. However, what bothers him most is the feeling of being deceived by his country. Of course, what is behind of this is the idea of racism, and Okada carefully marks this point. However, things are not same for Ichiro. He refused to fight not only for US. ,but also on behalf of Japan. So he not only rejects both of the countries, but also their cultures. Not knowing where to belong he suffers throughout the book. He suffers complete alienation and psychological confusion because he is the victim of history. Thats where the essence of the situation begins for Ichiro. I bet you are going to love this character and you are going to be Ichiro, you will feel the agony, the logical and emotional torture he's been going through. I loved Ichiro and I felt sorry for Kenji. Kenji knew his end and he is a good friend, because he is the only character which directs Ichiro to the right path. To conclude, in this book you'll also find other concepts like language, religion, culture and customs which play a great role in the book. I strongly recommend this book to everybody.