Daughter of the Wind: by Michael Cadnum-Setting

Daughter of the Wind, by Michael Cadnum, takes place during the Middle ages. The main characters in this story are Norsemen/ Norse. The first few chapters of the book are about two boys who go hunting for a bear. Both boys are from the village of Spojothof. In the place where the two boys are hunting, it is quite cold and icy. The two boys manage to kill the bear, but only one survives.

Moving on to the next few chapters, the point of view shifts, and a girl is introduced. Whereas the environment in the hunting place is cold and icy, the environment in the village of Spojothof seems warm, and the land lush and fertile. The village of Spojothof had never really liked the Danish. The Danes often came around the village just to steal a bride for them, and that is exactly what happens to Hallgred.

In my opinion, this book is extremely boring. The pace of this book is really slow, and the author takes too much time and space to explain about the most randomest things. The names of the places and people were too hard to remember. Especially the names of people. I would read the first few chapters, and when I came back to read, the same character comes back, and I can’t remember who he/she is, due to the weirdly spelled names. Besides, the author doesn’t really give much background info of the characters. Also, what happened more than once, was that a new character would pop out and not much would be described about them. There’s just too much characters.

Moreover, the shift between characters is really confusing, because it shifts between three different characters, and the chapters don’t have any title’s whatsoever. Just a number. It would be easier if the chapter title had something like “Hallgred” to show the reader that the point of view was now on Hallgred; but it doesn’t. Besides, why is the title even called "Daughter of the Wind"? The book has nothing to do with "wind" or anything. Cadnum should have named his book something like "Daughter of the Jarl", since that's basically who Hallgred is. Overall, my group and I agreed that this book isn’t very well written, and we will probably abandon it, and hopefully, we will choose a more interesting book next time.

So Far from the Bamboo Grove: by Yoko Kawashima Watkins-Response 3 [chpts 8-11]

I am finally done with the book So Far from the Bamboo Grove [well actually I finished the book the first day we got it :P –sorry Ms. Orlando!], and I thought that this was a really moving memoir. It showed how a young girl was forced to flee from her home in Nanam to Seoul just because of the Russians coming and landing there. Plus, it was during World War 2, so naturally they had to flee, or basically get captured and die.
Of the four characters that popped up in the book most often, my favorite character was Ko. Even when her family was on desperate measures when they were fleeing to Korea, she always showed some grit. Though Yoko considered her to be “mean” sometimes, Ko only did that for Yoko’s own good. For example, in chapter 2, it says, “’Right,’ said Ko. ‘Don’t talk. Just walk.’ Ko is bossy, I thought.” This shows that when Ko told Yoko to do something, Yoko usually thought that Ko was being mean and bossy. But what Ko was actually trying to do, was help her, so that she could walk farther and faster without having any distractions, like talking.
Kind of like in those little fairy tale stories, like Sleeping Beauty for example, There is always this one prince who comes and saves the princess when she is a “damsel in distress”. In this memoir, Corporal Matsumaru is like the “prince”. Only except they don’t fall in love, and live “happily ever after”; like the other stuff that happens in those fairy tales. He basically “saves” Ko, in a way where he helps Ko and Yoko live through there lives during all the hardships and everything. Moreover, Mr. and Mrs. Masuda help Yoko and Ko after their mother dies, and gives them a place to live. Even though it was a warehouse, to Ko and Yoko, it probably seemed like paradise since they had been living in a train station for a while, and had the fear of having their belongings stolen. When they were in the warehouse, the walls protected them from thieves, and the elements.
I also like Kawashima Watkins’ style of writing. She flits from her own point of view to her elder brother Hideyo’s point of view. This really helped me understand what it was like for her and her family during the war. Furthermore, it showed how even when your running away from something, and you become separated from your family, friends, or whoever you are with, there is always hope. Yesh. Hope. Even if it might seem nigh impossible, there is always that little thread of hope.

So Far from the Bamboo Grove: by Yoko Kawashima Watkins-Response 2 [chpts 4-7]

In chapters 4-7 of the novel So Far from the Bamboo Grove, the event that made the deepest impression on me was when the Korean Communists came barging into the factory in which Hideyo was working in. If I had been him, I probably would have not thought of diving into the box so quickly. I would probably be very scared, especially when Hideyo sees his own classmate Yasou shot before his very own eyes. I might have just about thrown up right then and there. But, he used his quick thinking, and quickly smeared some blood on himself so he could pretend he was dead, and the Korean Communist soldiers hopefully wouldn’t actually kill him. I thought that maybe he just had a natural instinct on what to do when he was in trouble. I also thought that it was pretty amazing that Hideyo’s three friends, Makoto, Soichi, and Shinzo, weren’t found hiding in the bathroom. It might have been the Korean Communists own fault for not searching so thoroughly in the bathroom, but because that happened, Hideyo, Makoto, Soichi, and Shinzo still survived the invasion.
After Hideyo escapes from the factory, he runs back to his house only to find that his house has been ransacked, and his two sisters and mother were gone. Since it was the most logical that the Korean Communists had ransacked his house, he concluded that his two sisters and mother had been killed by them. That was what he thought: at first. Then he finds himself looking upon a strange site. The Korean’s had taken everything that was valuable in there house, but then why was the sewing machine left? When he looks closer, he discovers that there is a rice bowl on top of the sewing machine and in the rice bowl is a note from his mother explaining that she and his sisters had to leave, and would wait for him at the railroad station in Seoul. He also discovered his family’s savings book, and took it with him, along with some food and supplies for the journey.
While Hideyo is preparing for the trip to Seoul, Ko, Yoko, and their mother living in harsh conditions at the train station in Seoul. Yoko and Ko’s mother had the job of taking care of all their belongings, Ko had the task of finding food, and Yoko helped with her mother. Later on, Yoko became more cooperative and helped Ko along with the task of digging through trash bags in order to find some food. Plus, when Ko saw a Korean man raping a girl, she warned her mother and Yoko. So instead of going to the bathroom in the normal way they did, they had to do the way boys did for fear of being raped.
Ko, Yoko, and Hideyo’s mother sends a message to her parents, but a few days later, is told that the message wasn’t able to be delivered. After pondering over whether to bring Ko and Yoko along with her to Aomori to see her parents, she concludes that her daughters need to continue their education and she would go alone to Aomori. Her choice might have been based on some Confucian rules where education was the most essential thing. It also might have been because since she heard about the bombings in that area, she knew inside that her parents were already dead, but didn’t want to show it and didn’t want her to daughters to face that sorrow. Better to not know for now, then to know and distract them from what they needed to do.
Mrs. Kawashima has many good values about, and her daughters generally have her values. Mrs. Kawashima is a kind woman, very thoughtful of others, and her gratefulness towards those who help her and/or her family. Ko and Yoko generally show her values throughout the novel. During the walk to Seoul, Ko always scouted ahead when they got lost. Also, when Yoko felt dizzy while in the middle of crossing the railroad “bridge”, she put her bag down on the other side, ran over, and piggy-backed Yoko across the rest of the way. She also takes the time and effort to go through smelly trash bags to find some food to feed her mother, Yoko, and herself. As for Yoko, she shows kindness and thoughtfulness when she gives some and water to the patients on the train. Most of all, to the pregnant woman, Yoko gives her a fair amount of food, considering that the woman was carrying a baby and everything. In addition, when Yoko was given a bottle of milk from the medic, when she was at the “hospital”, she also asked for two more bottles: one for her elder sister, and one for her mother.

So Far from the Bamboo Grove: by Yoko Kawashima Watkins-Response 1 [chpts 1-3]

The first reaction I got when I read the first three chapters in So Far from the Bamboo Grove, I felt scared and a little grossed out. I was scared for the Kawashima’s because one little wrong move, could bring them to a bad result; maybe even resulting in death. If they weren’t careful to not let the Korean’s know who they were, they would be captured and who knows hat would happen to them. I was also a little grossed out, because in chapter 2, Ko, Yoko, and their mother boarded the train that would take them to Seoul. That train had no toilet, and they had to use little tubs instead. Also, since no one except for the Kawashima’s had any water to drink, one woman actually drank from the tub in which the people on the box car had used the bathroom in. When little Toshi-chan died, the train people just threw him out the door. The same thing happened to the other people that were found dead.
When the Kawashima’s board the train [in their case, a boxcar] they saw that there were many sick people, who needed a lot of help and attention from the nurse or doctor. Yoko, especially, is sort of freaked out when she sees all these injured or ill people in one little boxcar, and she would have to stay in the same place with them. But then she grows to sort of care for them, and when people were thirsty, she gave them a little water to sip from her own canteen. Plus, when the nurse(s) is busy, the three Kawashima women help take care of them. They also give them a little food and water. This shows everybody else on the train, including the Koreans, that they are kindhearted and helpful to people in need, even if the person is a complete stranger to them.
When two Korean communists come and check the train for “healthy Japanese” called the Kawashima’s, the Korean medic woman helped them escape from being caught. She even said, “You have helped us. Don’t worry, we will help you.” The ironic thing about this, is that the Korean medics knew full well that they would be executed if they were caught helping a Japanese escape.
Since their previous way of getting into Seoul was not possible anymore, due to an enemy aircraft bombing the train, Ko, Yoko, and their mother have to walk by foot in order to get to Seoul. During the long walk of about 45 miles, Yoko feels as if Ko was being to bossy to her, ordering her around and telling her to “don’t talk, just walk.” For example, when Yoko, Ko, and their mother have to cross the train rails in order to get across the river, Yoko thinks that Ko is being mean since she was fr ahead of Yoko and their mother. Then a few seconds later, Yoko feels dizzy, and Ko suddenly tells them to “stay where you are”, and Ko comes and piggybacks Yoko the rest of the way across. But when Ko is not ordering Yoko around or scolding at Yoko, Yoko calls her “Honorable Sister.” Basically, when Ko is being “mean” to Yoko, Yoko calls her “Honorable Sister.”