Seventeen Syllables and Other Stories

I enjoy American short stories, and I feel that reading this book opened my eyes to new perspectives. For example, I had not thought about the relationship between Asian and Latino immigrants in the 1940's. The themes are fresh and varied and it's possible to read the stories in whatever order suits you.

Hisaye Yamamoto was not a prolific writer, but her output of fine short stories spans decades. Central themes include assimilation and the loss of traditional cultural values, troubled marraiges, and, of course, the shameful internment of Japanese Americans during WWII. As a writer who was raised in the culture and who originally published many of these stories in Japanese American publications for a largely Japanese American audience, she produces uniquely authentic accounts of a lifestyle that has largely disappeared. Here are the farms, the oil fields, the New Year's celebrations, the dusty internment camps, the tragic generation gaps, the hopes, dreams, and loneliness of a people who are inclined to remain quiet about personal matters--these stories present a fully developed portrait of the Japanese experience in American and its consequences. Highly recommended.

"Seventeen Syllables and Other Stories," by Hisaye Yamamoto, was first published in 1988. The revised and expanded edition adds 4 more stories, for a total of 19. Yamamoto was born in 1921 in California to parents who were immigrants from Japan, and hers is one of the most remarkable voices in 20th century United States literature. These stories originally were written or published between 1942 and 1995, and thus represent many decades of Yamamoto's literary career.Her style is a blend of delicacy and determined passion. The book as a whole strikes a balance between tragedy and tenderness, and her best stories are quite moving. Yamamoto's stories mainly have Japanese-American female protagonists, and offer glimpses into many decades of Japanese-American life. Some topics include troubled marriages, crippling addictions, racism, and relations among the many ethnic groups of the U.S. Some stories deal with the experience of Japanese-Americans who were incarcerated in concentration camps by their own government during World War II. Other important themes include the human toll of World War II on those Japanese Americans who lost family members in the war, and the cultural shift between generations in Japanese-American families.The four new stories in the expanded edition are "Death Rides the Rails in Poston," a murder mystery; "Eucalyptus," about a woman's experience in a mental facility; "A Fire in Fontana," about a Japanese-American woman's connection to the African-American community; and "Florentine Gardens," which centers around a visit to a military cemetery in Italy.Hisaye Yamamoto's work is highly regarded by many, and many of her stories have been anthologized (which is how I first read her work). It is wonderful to have her stories brought together in one volume; I feel richer for having read "Seventeen Syllables and Other Stories." One final note: as a fitting complement to the title story of this collection, I recommend Richard Wright's book "Haiku: This Other World."

These stories are beautiful, sensitive, thoughtful, and occasionally painful in their depiction of the condition, not only of Japanese- Americans, but of anyone who lives slightly off the beaten track. She writes with kindness, humor, and insight. I especially liked "The Legend of Miss Sassasagawara" and "Wilshire Bus," as well as the interview with her. Her stories remind me of Faulkner's and Flannery O'Connor's. If she had written more, I am certain she would have been better known.

So much more intricate than at first glance. If you grow weary of the usual themes of the Asian-American experience, you will find this collection remarkable in its originality, especially considering the first story was written in 1948. A wonderful book to read.