Requiem
Written by Frances Itani
Narrated by Brian Nishii
4/5
()
About this audiobook
A Washington Post Notable Book: A Japanese Canadian man is haunted by childhood memories of WWII internment camps in this "evocative and cinematic tale" (Maclean's).
In 1942, in retaliation for the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Canadian government removes young Bin Okuma and his family from their home at a British Columbia coastal fishing village and forces them into internment camps. Allowed to take only the possessions they can carry, Bin watches looters raid his home before the transport boats even undock. One hundred miles from the "Protected Zone," abandoned by his father, Bin spends the next five years struggling to adapt in the makeshift shacks of the brutal mountain community. For Bin, it was never forgotten, nor forgiven.
Fifty years later, after his wife's death, Bin embarks on a road trip across Canada. Accompanied by his dog, his classical music tapes, and his memories, he intends to find his biological father whose fateful decision destroyed his family all those years ago. But Bin must ask himself: does he really want to confront the ghosts of the past, or is it time to finally let them go?
A novel of grief, coming-of-age, and coming to terms with our own personal histories, "Requiem is a great work of literature from a determined author at the peak of her powers" (Ottawa Citizen).
Frances Itani
FRANCES ITANI has written eighteen books. Her novels include That’s My Baby; Tell, shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize; Requiem, chosen by the Washington Post as one of the top fiction titles of 2012; Remembering the Bones, published internationally and shortlisted for a Commonwealth Writers’ Prize; and the #1 bestseller Deafening, which won a Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and was shortlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Published in seventeen territories, Deafening was also selected for CBC’s Canada Reads. A three-time winner of the CBC Literary Prize, Frances Itani is a Member of the Order of Canada and the recipient of a 2019 Library and Archives Canada Scholars Award. She lives in Ottawa.
More audiobooks from Frances Itani
The Company We Keep: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Deafening: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
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Reviews for Requiem
60 ratings8 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Another ten star read from Itani! I’m not sure how I missed reading this when it was first published in 2011. Luckily my book club picked this to read for September 2018 so I was able to make up the omission. Bin Okuma was a young boy when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and the government of Canada decided that all people of Japanese descent had to be moved to the interior. His family had to give up their home on the west coast of Vancouver Island and were relocated to an internment camp along the Fraser River. There Bin with his brother and sister and mother and father lived in a two room shack crowded onto a small shelf of land above the Fraser along with over 60 other families. Incredibly the Japanese had to pay for the lumber and other supplies to build their accommodations. Slowly the community brought some order to the place. They had a school for the children and a community garden where they grew produce to sell to Vancouver to raise funds for their needs. We learn about life through Bin’s remembrances in 1997 when he makes a cross-country drive from Ottawa to the site of the internment camp. Bin’s wife recently died and he is still grieving. He also thinks about their marriage and their son and his work as an artist. Since he was a young man rivers have figured prominently in his work and an Ottawa gallery is going to give a retrospective but Bin has to provide a few more works and also a name for the collection. Bin also must come to terms with the man he calls First Father. He has not seen him since 1946 and he has never dealt with his feelings of anger to him for giving him to a childless man in the community. Okuma-san raised Bin and was a good example of how to father which Bin could emulate with his own son. He also encouraged Bin’s artistic talent which First Father always called a waste of time. So in many ways Bin was lucky to have been adopted by Okuma-san but he never forgave First Father for giving him away. Now First Father wants to see him and Bin reluctantly agrees to include an encounter in his trip.Every word and every phrase seems carefully chosen by Itani. She says that she took 4 years to write this book and it shows. She lovingly describes Basil the dog who accompanies Bin on his travels and it seems Basil is based upon an actual dog who was part of the Itani family. Itani is herself of Irish Canadian extraction but her husband is Japanese Canadian and experienced many of the same things Bin Okuma did. She is careful to say that Bin is not her husband and her husband did not read the book until it was published. Her research included many other sources than her husband and his family. The list of some of the books is at the back. I will be looking for some of those books myself. Highly recommended.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I found it a little hard to get into this book. A middle aged man, having just buried his wife, sets off on a journey of memory and healing. The chapters alternate between the present; his road trip with his grieving dog, his memories of his wife, his grief, and those of the past; as a child growing up in a Japanese internment camp on the west coast. This is a story not often told, certainly not often taught, and sadly, being forgotten. The writing is clear and matter of fact, the details disturbing (but not unreadable). In fact, the resourcefulness of the prisoners is inspiring. The facts behind the interment Canadian and American citizens of Japanese descent is yet another tale of racism, fear, jealousy, greed and hypocrisy. I will always be searching for books like this, books that teach me more about important historical events that we should all know about and never forget. I did not enjoy the present day chapters as much as I loved the chapters of the childhood, but they come together beautifully and bring the story to it's beautiful conclusion.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A beautiful and sad story of a war torn family and multi-decade healing process. We must know these stories if we hope to avoid the same mistakes again. The tale unfolds in roughly 3 main time periods-- WW2 (the Japanese internment in Canada), the early years of marriage between the main character and his wife, and the present where his wife had died and he returns to the camp and his father to come to terms with his past. I can't say I liked the main character but I did feel for him, especially as his childhood unfolded. Life in the camp was so dismal and bare. A true testament to the will to survive and thrive. I would recommend this book to a wide audience.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Some heavy subject material, strong themes, imagery, and emotions. The story moves along at a good pace, with significant detail but not extensive minutiae. I liked the contemporary story more than the historical one, but the historical one is the bigger point. Definitely a book for artists! Generally a quicker read, good for a discussion.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Author: Frances ItaniPublished By: Atlantic Monthly PressAge Recommended: AdultReviewed By: Arlena DeanBook Blog For: GMTARating: 4Review:"Requiem" by Frances Itani was wonderful written novel that gives a revealing look into the Japanese internment of the Canadians in British Colombian following the bombing of Pearl Harbour, during World War Two in 1942. This author has weaved this story into past and present with a 'heart felt family story shedding light on a painful period of Canada's history when those of Japanese descent were interned.' I felt this was a fascinating story how this man's journey back to his past with his friend...his dog and memories of his wife...along with him in the front seat. This novel is of Bin Okuma who was a Canadian painter of Japanese descent and was married to a Canadian girl...had one son...wife dies...now going on a journey to West Coast...to find that his 'first-father' is ageing...having not been close to his father... Bin now decides to see his father...and goes the story and the part that I say to find out father you must pick up "Requiem" and find out what memories will come back to him during has childhood...with his family...their previous life as fisherman until the boasts were confiscated and then there travel to the camp in British Columbia. In this novel you will see how the author brings to the writer three time frames: "the distant past, when Bin lived with his family in an internment camp, the recent past, with memories of his life with his wife and son in Canada, and the current day, the road journey across Canada with his dog, Basil."This was a different read for me because I hadn't read about the experiences of the Japanese in Canada. Having done so, I found "Requeim" a very interesting read. I thought that the characters were very well developed with this novel showing much feeling, grief and even consolation and yes, I would recommend this novel as a good read.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An interesting insight into internment of the Japanese in Canada.I found this book fascinating because, although I had read books about the internment of Japanese Americans following the bombing of Pearl Harbour in 1942, I hadn't read about the experiences of the Japanese in Canada.This novel is based around Bin Okuma, a Canadian painter of Japanese descent who had married a Canadian girl. They had one son, who was studying at university, when his mother suddenly died of a stroke.Bin finds himself alone, his painting skills failing him. On the urging of his sister, he makes the journey to the West Coast, where his 'first-father' is ageing. (The significance of this title is explained in the narrative). Bin has refused to see him for many years but now decides that he might finally make the journey, something that his late wife had often urged him to do. This brings back memories of his years as a child interned with his family, and their previous life as fishermen - until the boats were confiscated and they were forced into to a camp in British Columbia .The book seemed to have three time frames: the distant past, when Bin lived with his family in an internment camp, the recent past, with memories of his life with his wife and son in Canada, and the current day, the road journey accross Canada with his dog, Basil. Unfortunately I felt the book was let down by the road journey, which didn't grab me, especially with the slobbery dog on board, but the other two parts were excellent.Not an author I had read before, but I'd certainly read more by Frances Itani. Recommended.Also read:Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston (3.5 Stars)
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is the story of a journey, both literal and figurative, as Bin travels across Canada as an adult, confronting his memories of growing up Japanese-Canadian through the start of the second world war, the internment camps, and building a life thereafter. Beautifully told. I felt it a bit slow at first, but as the story unfolds you get caught up in the mystery of what happened between Bin and his father. Hauntingly sad at times, but filled with joy at others. This is probably something every Canadian should read.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This novel examines the injustice of the internment of thousands of Japanese-Canadians during the Second World War and the scars that remain for the survivors and their families. The narrator is Bin Okuma; chapters alternate between his boyhood at an internment camp in interior British Columbia and his westward journey from Ottawa to the camp 50 years later, after the sudden death of his wife Lena. Lena recognized that Bin is full of suppressed anger about his past and wished him to reconcile with his past, especially with the man whom Bin holds responsible for fracturing his family.As a child Bin was told his fate based on his birth in the Year of the Tiger: "'A tiger may be stubborn, but can chase away ghosts and protect. . . . But . . . you are destined to be melancholy, and you will weep over nonsensical things.'" The reader soon realizes that this description fits Bin perfectly. His stubbornness is evident in his refusal to even visit B.C. for decades. He definitely has periods of deep melancholy which, like Lena suggests, will continue until he makes peace with his ghosts. It is clear that Bin wants, more than anything, to protect Lena and their son Greg from life's vicissitudes, just as it becomes obvious that some of his harsh judgments are ill-conceived. The problem is that this description of Bin, given in the opening pages, too clearly foreshadows the development of Bin's life story.Throughout the book, rivers are a metaphor for life. Bin is trying to complete a series of river paintings in time for an exhibition, but he feels there is some essential element missing. To express the essence of rivers through his art has been his lifelong pre-occupation. Obviously, this quest is a metaphor for his trying to come to terms with his life. Towards the end of the novel, he admits that "there could be a soft or hard look to water, that there could be many ways of depicting rivers, that this was a matter of technique and choice" and perhaps some of his attitudes were the result of his choosing a harsh interpretation. In the end he finally chooses a title for his exhibition, a title that reflects his changed attitude to the past.This book possesses similarities with Joy Kogawa's "Obasan" in its examination of a dark episode in Canada's history; nonetheless, it offers additional insight both in terms of history and human nature.