The Commoner: A Novel by John Burnham Schwartz Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Commoner: A Novel
Book Review: A Sense of Duty
Summary: 4 Stars
Like Queen Elizabeth II, this book is based on a sense of duty. However, the two female characters, Haruko and Keiko, were commoners and gave up their educated, modern lives to become part of Japan's royal family. And I'm not sure why they did it.
Haruko was an athletic, bright girl absolutely adored by her father. She was not treated as inferior because she was a female. He was a successful businessman who gave his daughter freedom of choice. Nevertheless, when Haruko decides to accept the proposal from the Prince, her father is accepting but knows that he will never really see her again.
Haruko seems to love her husband but the confines and duties of her new life lead to despondency. Her mother-in-law, the Empress, represents the worst of all mother-in-laws with her constant criticism. This badgering and disapproval enhance her depression. Haruko luckily gives birth to the heir, a son. When it is time for the son to marry, he also falls in love with a modern, creative Japanese woman. Keiko also is persuaded to marry this Crown Prince. I cannot make any sense of why she would accept this future, except out of a sense of duty and a plea from Haruko.
Tragedy follows Keiko and she becomes more depressed and out of touch. She is trapped in the royal life which is the antithesis of her pre-marriage years when she traveled, made decisions and laughed. The end of the book is interesting and there is some triumph for these two commoners. However, it is difficult to grasp that these modern women would dedicate their lives to an ancient tradition.
Book Review: A nice attempt
Summary: 3 Stars
The prose did have its moments of beauty and clarity but otherwise I felt that the plot lacked a bit and the resolution was completely unrealistic. In general, the Japanese as a people hold duty and honor above all else. Once I read the ending I could not help but feel the thin thread that was suspending my disbelief snap... resulting in disbelief spilling all over me...
Throughout the book I kept thinking that it would have been more effective if written in the 3rd person. It would have more effectively communicated the thoughts and feelings of the main character who seems so reticent and socially hindered--i can only imagine that any Japanese woman who has lost the power of speech for as long as she has would not so easily be able to put into words the full complexity of her emotions, the colossal weight and inexplicable grief that must well up in her...in fact I doubt that she would be capable of let alone so brazen as to write a memoir as the one just read. It just seems ridiculous. 3rd person would have also better captured the nuances of feeling between the characters thus giving the reader a better grasp of the context and idea of imperial Japan.
There are beautiful moments in the book but it seems that Schwartz tries to evoke meaning out of impressions that would most obviously have impressed a western observer in a Japanese context.I found the prose alienating in the sense that many of the impressions communicated seemed like a pastische of orientalized novelties that were more for the benefit of the western reader than a true memoir of someone like the Empress Michiko. Perhaps this is simply me never getting over the fact that this is a male western writer.
It is no easy feat to attempt to write and explain something that is meant to remain elusive and inexplicable, how can anyone do that in a sensitive fashion? It is a strong attempt.
Book Review: A wonderful read.
Summary: 5 Stars
Except for the impossible ending, this book was truly spell-binding. I don't want to harp on it, but the ending is pure Hollywood.
Haruko is heroic & noble. Her husband, the Prince, is also a hero as he accepts his fate with its boundaries.
The faces shown in public, so stylized, are quite accurate, I believe. I would like to have had more glimpses of the Empress, the mother-in-law, but all-in-all this book holds your attention to the end. I hated to come to the end. I could have read on & on.
Book Review: An Ordinary Girl Finds Herself In Extraordinary Circumstances
Summary: 4 Stars
In this roman a clef, Schwartz shows the life being drained from a vibrant young woman who falls in love with the crowned prince of Japan. Here, ritual replaces substance and future history governs the present. There is no spontaneity nor room for change. What was done will be done.
If anyone has ever envied the life of royalty, this book will show you the downside of not owning your own life, but rather playing a roll.
Sometimes the writing is repetitive. But overall this is a compelling story.
Book Review: An incredibly engrossing read
Summary: 5 Stars
Such a beautifully written and fascinating story. I found myself so quickly and thoroughly caught up in a world that was previously completely unknown to me that it was hard for me to tell where biographical/historical fact ended and novelistic invention began. The fact that the story of Haruko's marriage into the semi-divine confines of Japan's royal family is in fact based on a true story only makes this book that much more intriguing. Although it's completely authentic in its tiny details of palace life, ultimately what makes this book so pleasurable in the read is it's first person narrative. Haruko is a marvelous and original character that you can't help but root for. Her journey from a cloistered family upbringing in the rubble of World War II through Japan's remarkable 20th century history is so deep and so true that it's hard to believe it was written by a man. Interestingly , one thing I kept thinking as I was enjoying this wonderful book, is that by bringing me into to the interior life of this uniquely contemporary Japanese monarch that I was somehow gaining access to another late 20th century royal icon - on a different continent - who also paid a price for being born a commoner.