Customer Reviews
A Great Book - By: , 27 Jul 1999 
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 & 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) & Kenji. Kenji served America during WWII. He lost one of his legin 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, & 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 & 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 & you are going to be Ichiro, you will feel the agony, the logical & emotional torture he's been going through. I loved Ichiro & I felt sorry for Kenji. Kenji knew his end & 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 & customs which play a great rolein the book. I strongly recommend this book to everybody.
A must-read if you're interested in U.S. society and history - By: , 27 Jul 1999 I think the historical signifigance of this novel is enormous. It's a 'first-'hand' account of being Japanese-American during WWII. As an Asian-American & avid student of American history & politics, I found Okada's description of the time to be invaluable. Deconstructing his novel from a modern perspective, however, I do have one big gripe. The tone of the novel is restrained. I can sense the anger & somtimes read allusions into the rage, resentment, & sadness the protaganist Ichiro feels about the situation he is in. He also seems to give a lot of excuses & almost apologize for his unhappiness at times. Considering the time & racial climatein which Okada wrote, it's understandable that he tailored his work to be acceptable to a wide audience. And I'm also not surprised that Okada was reluctant to fully vent his anger at a country that still held so much power over, & animosity towards, him. However, those are not the only reasons. I think this is a real problemin Asian-American literature even today. Instead of self-censoring, mitigating, prettifying, or even apologizing for very natural & necessary feelings & sentiments (like Okada doesin 'No-No Boy'), minority authors should fully unleash their voices. Otherwise the integrity of the work suffers & the work is does not completely realize its potential. There is a critical element missing. Having said that, I would still strongly recommend 'No-No Boy' to anyone who is interestedin America: it's history, it's government, & it's people.
A novel that should be taught in schools more often! - By: , 27 May 1999 In my AP English Literature class, I had a choice of reading any novel of "literary merit" I wanted, & to complete a 25 page analysis of the novel. Of the four books I analyzedin this way this year, No-No Boy was by far my favorite. I am caucasian, yet have always been interestedin the dark side of America's rolein World War II - the Japanese internment camps. This book is a vivid portrayal of one young man's suffering due to his decision not to swear loyalty to a country that had foresaken his rights as a citizen, & the consequences that result from this decision. Okada deals with a very touchy subjectin this novel, for both the white & Japanese-American communities. Ichiro's self-inflicted punishment helps the reader to realize just how awful this experience was for the real No-no boys. This realistic portrayal is rather ironic, since Okada himself chose to serve the United States loyallyin the army during World War II. Perhaps this novel was written from the side of him that related more to his Japanese roots than to his newfound American identity, & the guilt he himself must have carried when servingin the Pacific, telling Japanese to surrenderin their own language. Okada also deals with a seemingly untouchable issue - that of the discrimination the Japanese-Americans themselves practiced toward other U.S. citizens, although they faced discrimination themselves. This adds to the truthfulness of the novel. Perhaps the only disappointing aspect to the novel is the all-American, happy ending that seems a little too contrived, although it must have been necessary for Okada to write the novel this wayin order to gain any readers, because the novel's subject was so controversial at the time it was written. This novel should be taughtin high schools & universities across the country,in American literature courses, & not just Asian-American literature courses. Now, multicultural education movements have succeededin gaining the teaching of more women & African-American writers' novel, but Asian-American literature has still been neglected. The tolerance & understanding that students will gain from reading this novel should be evident immediately after one has read No-No Boy, even though the novel is enjoyable & is hardly preachy-sounding.
Touched my heart deeply - By: , 16 Apr 1999 I have never been so affected by a book before. It amazes me that all the issues brought upin the book still pertains to today's Asian Americans. I found the writing to be honest & refreshing. It shows what happened to the Japanese Americans after the camps & how each were affected differently. I wish Mr. Okada would have received more recognition for his work. Maybe we can change that now.
This Book Is the BOMB! WHY? WEll,You Got To Read it to know - By: , 26 Mar 1999 
The No No Boy could have been one of the most asianized novel I have ever read. The fact that it's similar to the articlein the reader, " READER ACROSS AMERICA CULTURES." He (Ichiro) was a character who felt like a coward because he didn't believein himself. He did not know weather he was Americanized or Asianized because he did not join the War & felt like he wasn't a part of any culture. His mother was proud of him because he didn't jion the war, but he felt like he could do something about it, for his country & for himself. SO the novle is based on an indivisual guy with his own opinion about the things that happens around him & why he didn;t joint the war. I give this novel four stars & I highly recommend it.
