Tonight I finished the book, Dog Man, and must say I truly enjoyed it. If you are a dog lover, this book will definitely hold your attention; I must admit it took a while for me to get into the book because of its major emphasis on Morie [pronounced Mor-e-a] and his love for Akita's, the old national dog of Japan.
What particularly interested me was Mori's story of how he survived WWII, and how many of the people in northern Japan were hardly even conscious the war was going on. except for the government restrictions on what they could buy and own. I had never heard about the primitive hard life of those who lived in the 'snow' country; they seemed centuries apart from the lives of those who lived in southern Japan, in Tokyo and Kyoto. Yet Mori, who loved the northern life, was one of Mitsubishi's most effective engineers in dam building during WWII, and himself had a history of fighting on the mainland of China.
Then there was Mori personal life, and as much as he loved his dogs and spent every spare moment with them he could never transfer that love to his own family. The story of his marriage is one that would rarely survive in today's world, yet because of old world customs, he and his wife remained together, and in a weird sort of way grew stronger, [most often unawares]in their bond together. Eventually all their kids started their own lives and often for many periods of time [five to six years] they would not hear from their children. Yet, in the years of their retirement, their kids began to come back home more often, grand kids began to help grandma and grandpa get around, then kids and grand kids began to move in with them .... and one begins to see how those often strange, and rejected ways of being brought up began to mature into bringing family back together.
I am so glad that I've read this book, not because I'm a dog lover, although I do like dogs. But because of the new perspective I've been given on Japanese culture, especially during WWII, and how family ties the world over are so much the same. I don't know that the author intended it, but this book is, in my opinion as much about family as it is dogs. Its a book well worth reading .... but you have to have patience, and also dare yourself to catch the connection between what is happening between Morie and his dogs and the subtleties of what is happening in his family members lives toward him, and the evolution of his toward them.
enjoy!
Sherrill, Martha. 'Dog Man: An Uncommon Life on a Faraway Mountain. New York, New York. Riverhead Book, Penguin Group. 2008 ISBN: 9781594483905
What particularly interested me was Mori's story of how he survived WWII, and how many of the people in northern Japan were hardly even conscious the war was going on. except for the government restrictions on what they could buy and own. I had never heard about the primitive hard life of those who lived in the 'snow' country; they seemed centuries apart from the lives of those who lived in southern Japan, in Tokyo and Kyoto. Yet Mori, who loved the northern life, was one of Mitsubishi's most effective engineers in dam building during WWII, and himself had a history of fighting on the mainland of China.
Then there was Mori personal life, and as much as he loved his dogs and spent every spare moment with them he could never transfer that love to his own family. The story of his marriage is one that would rarely survive in today's world, yet because of old world customs, he and his wife remained together, and in a weird sort of way grew stronger, [most often unawares]in their bond together. Eventually all their kids started their own lives and often for many periods of time [five to six years] they would not hear from their children. Yet, in the years of their retirement, their kids began to come back home more often, grand kids began to help grandma and grandpa get around, then kids and grand kids began to move in with them .... and one begins to see how those often strange, and rejected ways of being brought up began to mature into bringing family back together.
I am so glad that I've read this book, not because I'm a dog lover, although I do like dogs. But because of the new perspective I've been given on Japanese culture, especially during WWII, and how family ties the world over are so much the same. I don't know that the author intended it, but this book is, in my opinion as much about family as it is dogs. Its a book well worth reading .... but you have to have patience, and also dare yourself to catch the connection between what is happening between Morie and his dogs and the subtleties of what is happening in his family members lives toward him, and the evolution of his toward them.
enjoy!
Sherrill, Martha. 'Dog Man: An Uncommon Life on a Faraway Mountain. New York, New York. Riverhead Book, Penguin Group. 2008 ISBN: 9781594483905
No comments:
Post a Comment