Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Reviews of Sayonara

Sayonara
Sayonara
Author: James A. Michener
ISBN: 470812
Publication Date: 1974
Pages: 208
Rating:
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 1

4 stars, based on 1 rating
Publisher: Fawcett Publications
Book Type: Paperback
Reviews: Write a Review

3 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

GemGirl avatar reviewed Sayonara on + 37 more book reviews
Lloyd Gruver is a Korean war hero stationed in Japan and destined to marry military brat Eileen Webster. He is dismayed by his military comrades who choose to marry Japanese girls rather than "good old American girls." That is, until he meets Hana-Ogi, the most famous dancer in Japan. Soon he finds himself falling in love with the enemy, and at odds with his commanders.

This is an incredible love story that shows how love can transcend nationality, language, and even prejudice. There are some harsh truths about how American women have created their own prison, their fierce feminism leading to loveless marriages. The ending is both heartbreaking and beautiful, and is a testament to the fundamental differences in American and Japanese culture.
reviewed Sayonara on + 101 more book reviews
A fierce and tender noval of love and war
reviewed Sayonara on + 813 more book reviews
In this book you will find a revival of several themes from Tales of the South Pacific updated to the days of the Korean Police Action. A private and a Major (an ace pilot) are trapped in doomed relationships with Japanese girls: relationships frowned upon by the military and Japanese authority. The real tragedy strikes to the heart of a complacent military that mimics a biased, misplaced government policy; one that might also have been part of Yosarians nightmare (see Hellers Catch-22.).