5 comments about Song of Survival: Women Interned, Library Edition.

1. This book was educational as well as an enjoyable book to read. I used this book when studying stories of survival. My students really enjoyed listening and reading it.



2. This is a testimony to the strength of women and the power of music to soothe the soul. Music is a common ground for all people and this true story illustrates how beautiful sounds calm and restore our spirits and, in this story, that of the oppressors. There must be thousands of heroic folks who lived through this terrible war with strength and dignity. I am always glad to find another inspiring story.



3. I have not yet read the book, certainly plan on reading it. I have however attended aplay this past Friday evening. A local Community Theatre presented it and I was in great awe of their performance. They did great justice to the story line and I am so pleased to have been present. At the end I so wanted to stand up with/for them as they closed with The Captive's Hymn. The message of strength, courage, and spirit were felt by all in attendance. Such strength these women had, makes me proud of my female sisters!



4. It wasn't long ago that America watched "Paradise Road" in movie theaters across the country. Audiences were captivated with the story of a young girl and her family's struggle to survive imprisonment by the Japanese. Like many moviegoers today, the audience may not have read the inspirational work behind the motion picture. Helen Colijn's Song of Survival is a real story. The experiences that Coljin documents in her work are real. The author gives her readers a glimpse of her life, and that of the other women imprisoned in Southeast Asia by the Japanese during World War II. Readers follow Colijn through the experiences of a shipwreck, being captured, and being imprisoned for three-and-a-half years.

   Based on her original manuscript written just after her imprisonment, Colijn's story is one of hope and perseverance. Many other books written by soldiers and survivors of World War II are laden with hardship and sadness especially those books detailing the accounts of brutality of the Japanese during their quest to expand their empire westward through Asia such as The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang. Colijn's story is unique in that it details true survival of not just the body of the imprisoned, but the soul as well. The women of the camp in which Colijn was imprisoned used music to life their spirits and "free their souls" from detainment.

   Reading a book such as Song of Survival can open up a new door to the way in which we learn about prisoners of war. Colijn describes disease and starvation leading to the deaths of more than one-third of the population of the camp (Colijn 159-169). "Before our internment was over, twenty-six Dutch children lost their mothers," she says (Colijn 162). But all the while, the women kept their spirits from breaking entirely through singing classical songs and even performing vocal concerts among themselves (Colijn129-146). Colijn gives her readers an idea of the sisterhood within her camp among the prisoners. This feeling of family is often discussed within the realm of the formation of a brotherhood-such as is seen in Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose--of soldiers, but is rarely seen in accounts of imprisonment. The work is so poignant because Colijn is able to draw from true personal experiences.

   The author teaches her readers that even during imprisonment, with just a little faith and a little music, souls will have the ability to wander free. By using an effective autobiographical format, Colijn tells her story from a very personal perspective. She recalls the events so vividly that it is impossible for readers not to feel the same emotions that the prisoners felt. Colijn's work is so well crafted that even her feelings of optimism shine through the seemingly unpromising situation. As trite as it may seem, Colijn notes that several women even made "liberation dresses" to wear for the day that their camp was liberated by the Allied forces (Colijn 129).

   A book such as Colijn's is an important element in any study of World War II as it not only brings to light the idea of hope in spite of hardship, but it also shows what seems to be a neglected area of war accounts-the struggle of women as prisoners of war. A personal account of the struggles of being imprisoned by the Japanese that is so seasoned with hope is rarely seen. Colijn serves the women of her camp well with Song of Survival. With the work of one author, hundreds of women's stories will live on to be read by future generations who will bear witness to the events taking place-the immense struggle-during World War II. Song of Survival will live on long after the last survivor passes away. It will carry a message of faith and perseverance for the women in Colijn's camp who kept hope alive through their immense personal strength.




5. When one reads of the hardships that Colijn and her fellow inmates lived through, one expects that they would have focused on survival, and thrown all other concerns to the wind. There were some who did, but not others. Many strove to keep a modicum of loveliness in their lives. Sometimes, all they could do was escape to memories of their past, either through daydreaming or conversation. There were instances, however, of actual impact on their current situation, including a refusal of some inmates to lick their plates(though food was scarce), struggles to live in peace and harmony with fellow inmates, and, most of all, the musical peformances.

   You might imagine that if you were living in a filthy prison camp where people were dropping like flies, you would owe it to yourself to fight for your survival tooth and nail, even against the other inmates, and the furthest thing from your mind would be music. You would need to look out for number one, period. Colijn believes that many more of them might have perished, or, at least, might not have come out as well, had there not been a commitment to community and beauty in that abject misery. In a sense, this book tells about war heroines.

1 comments about Traveling life's twisting trails.

1. If your reading this review, you likely fall into one of three categories: a family member of the author, a student of the WWII POW experience/Wake Island/the LDS experience of WWII, or your looking for something else with a similar title.
   In "Traveling Life's Twisting Trails," author John Burton recounts his experiences through the Great Depression, as a Wake Island contractor and survivor and a prisoner of the Japanese in WWII. Burton is a member of the LDS Church, or Mormon to the rest of us. His experiences are not unique, in fact, a recent book "Rescued By Mao," by William Taylor ( Silverleaf Press, 2007) recounts a similar adventure, albeit a much longer book.
   Burton's writing style is emblematic of the WWII recollections that were published in the 35 to 40 years following the war, it's not particularly exciting, but reveals the torment and anguish suffered by captives of the Imperial Japanese military.
   This is an exceptionally short read and for Wake Island scholars a necessary, if not always accurate account of the 1941 Japanese siege on the island garrison. Factual errors aside, "Traveling Life's Twisting Trails" provides an interesting account of one man's perception of the WWII and POW experience.
   REVIEW EVERY BOOK YOU READ, AS A CONSUMER OF LITERATURE, YOUR OPINIONS MATTER.

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2 comments about A Far Valley: Four Years in a Japanese Village.

1. First off, let me say that the author gives a very honest and emotional picture of ONE Japanese valley. The fact is that Japan's ideals and norms can't be judged by the study of one village OR two villages OR three villages. Also, the characters are, in some cases, composites of more than one person, names have been changed and so on, but the events DID happen.
   After saying all that I have to state that this is a great book. It is full of humor, passion, happy interaction and tragic events. And, yes, lots of drinking. Smoking too.
   The book is based on three diaries that Brian Moeran kept during his four years living in Japan. The book is broken down into three parts, each made up of chapters which are either one sentence long to many pages long and this gives the story an interesting and timeless flow. In fact, the book is only 254 pages yet seems much longer.



2. Brian Moeran and his family spent four years in a rural Japanese community, watching as pots are made, attending school award ceremonies, community festivals and funerals, but mostly listening (and drinking, a great deal of drinking) as their neighbors talked about their lives, their families and their communities.

   Moeran is an anthropologist, and was doing his field work in a neighboring community at the time, and he brings an anthropologist's observant eye to his diary of daily life in rural Japan.

   This book compares quite favorably to Alan Booth's classic _The roads to Sata_, and John Morley's _Pictures from the water trade_ in the ``a gaijin looks at Japan'' genre. If anything, it improves on those works by telling the tale of one community through sixteen seasons, and being peopled by individuals with whom the author formed lasting relationships. Further, Moeran's Japanese wife provides us with an occasional peek into the Japanese woman's world that is missing from most other books of this type.

   The community Moeran describes is small and isolated. It is not representative of Japan as a whole (Moeran, in his introduction, tells how urban Japanese friends found his tales of rural Japan almost as exotic as a westerner does). Some may consider this to be a drawback, but I did not. The book still introduces us to some of the aspects of ``Japanese-ness''.

5 comments about Memoirs of a Gaijin: A Humorous Look at the Daily Life of a Foreigner in the Japanese Countryside.

1. Her honest approach in writing and sharing her experiences make it a memorable experience for the reader to read. She shares her love for the people in her own way.
   
   Her humorous re-telling of her experiences shows not only how she copes with living in a foreign land but how the Japanese themselves cope in having a "foreigner" living in their small farm town of Japan. Yes, rural towns do exist in Japan, as she clearly illustrates.
   
   Living in a foreign land where nobody knows your name,is not always easy nor a smooth experience but her book make it an experience worth learning from.



2. I read all of the 5 Star reviews of this book, so I went ahead and ordered it with confidence. That was a mistake. I thought that it would be fun hearing the experiences of a foreigner in Japan and comparing them with my own experiences during my 3 months in Tokyo. I was wrong. I could in no way shape or form relate with this girl on any level. I felt that she was blinded by her own beliefs and took little time to digest the things she was experiencing, simply placing judgement on everything she came across. Not only did she not have much to offer in the form of an open minded opinion, I didn't find the things she said funny, in fact sometimes actually offensive.
   
   I honestly did want to like this book. I gave it a chance. When I became frustrated with the author I put the book down, took some time and came back to it later, hoping it was just me. But time and time again I found myself shaking my head in disbelief to what I just read.



3. I laughed and I cried. This is such a great memoir told in such a way that I felt like I was sitting in the pub catching up with a hilarious old mate. Memoirs Of A Gaijin will make anyone want to take the plunge and have some time out in rural Japan. The combination of highs, lows and quirky things Japanese people do makes this book an accessible and enjoyable read for everyone.



4. Needing to lose a few extra calories? May I suggest reading "Memoirs of a Gaijin"? That's right! This book is guaranteed to tone the abdominal muscles. Seriously though, this is a VERY amusing book. Read at your own risk though. Besides the calorie loss, you will find yourself wanting to travel more. At least I did



5. I loved this book! The author is a natural story teller, with a great gift of humour! I laughed out loud so many times! The book was easy to read and thoroughly enjoyable! Through the author we gain a rare perspective on day to day Japanese culture as seen through the eyes of a gaijin! This book is a must read for anyone who has been or is thinking about going to Japan!

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