Book Review #2: The Street of a Thousand Blossoms

I've always loved to read historical fiction. It seems so easy to lose yourself in the past, to see and imagine yourself living in a period that is foreign yet fresh and exciting.

So it was no surprise when I spotted The Street of a Thousand Blossoms stacked neatly at the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale and automatically dropped one of the books into my shopping "box".

This is my first experience reading Gail Tsukiyama. Previously, I had read Kazuo Ishiguro, Qiu Xiaolong, Adam Johnson and Tan Twan Eng, all of whom - in my opinion - have crafted marvellous works with honest and emotional depictions. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Gail Tsukiyama possessed the enviable ability to produce realistic and emotional descriptions as well.

The book revolves around two brothers, Hiroshi and Kenji Matsumoto, orphans who live with their grandparents. Both brothers cultivate differing interests; the former in sumo wrestling and the latter in making Noh theatre masks. As both brothers grow up and move closer to their respective dreams, they face their own challenges, joys and heartbreaks.

I won't be elaborating too much on the story - for fear of revealing any spoilers - so I would focus on the way the book is written. Right from the start I was mesmerized by Tsukiyama's attention to detail. The descriptions were so realistic I sometimes found myself craving the dishes cooked by Hiroshi's grandmother!

I also appreciated how Tsukiyama managed to put down the thoughts of each character into words. Sometimes a character performs a seemingly insignificant action, but then you realize how these small actions turn out to be the most accurate representations of each character's sentiments and personalities. They are hints to each character's decision and in some ways they play an important role in the overall direction of the story.

While I really enjoyed the first three quarters of the book, I ended this book lacking the kind of satisfaction I had experienced when I first started reading it. The ending, I believe, achieved the kind of effect Tsukiyama had aimed for, but I felt like I was left hanging at the end of the book. In some ways, I had hoped that the emotional impact would be stronger and more profound.

Even so, I would highly recommend this book for its ability to spur imaginations and hit the correct emotional buttons from different perspectives, albeit a slightly - but only, slightly - weaker emotional impact at the end.