Chorus of Mushrooms

Find out the beauty of tradition in the words of Obachan. Learn more about what it is to be a Japanese in Canada and what it is for a Canadian to be of Japanese descent. Great book, well written, revealing and touching.

This is a story about three generations of Japanese-Canadian "Tonkatsu" family. Grandma Naoe, daughter Keiko, and granddaughter Muriel-Murasaki. Obaachan(grandma) tells old Japanese folk tales to mago-daughter Murasaki, who doesn't understand her grandma's Japanese well, but gets it somehow, while Keiko refuses all the Japanese things. So they have some trouble with their communication each other. But after Naoe had set out... Read Full Review

The first Novel from the Canadian-Japanese author Hiromi Goto.The novel tells the story of three generations of Japanese Canadian women lives in Canada, who seeks their special identity: the grandma who refuses to give up from her Japanese roots (and who hides salted squid in her pockets...), her daughter Kaiku who wants to be "real" Canadian and therefore refuses to speak Japanese, and the grandchild, Murial-Morasaki who... Read Full Review

This is one of the best books I have ever read. The agony and joy of intergenerational struggles, intensified by immigrant worries, comes through on every page. Readers follow Murasaki's journey to know her grandmother's story through such imaginative contours. Canadian or not, anyone can identify with an adolescent's awkwardness; and everyone stands to learn from the struggle against racism that emerges on the Canadian... Read Full Review

Chorus of Mushrooms really captures the sense of conflict that is felt by those who feel compelled to "fit in" to a new culture, and the effects that this can have on other members of the family. It deals brilliantly with the notion of individual and collective hi/stories, and is one of the best books I've read in a while.