The Ocean in the Closet

By Yuko Taniguchi

Book Overview

"Yuko Taniguchi's writing is remarkable for its music and vision. In the sounds of ice breaking in the river, silkworms eating mulberry leaves in the night, and Mahler played on the double bass, her... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1566891949
• ISBN13: 9781566891943
• Release Date: May 2007
• Publisher: Coffee House Press
• Length: 268 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.1" x 7.5"

Customer Reviews

The Ocean in the Closet

This was actually my first reading of a Taniguchi book. I felt that it was compelling and beautifully written. Many times through the book I was immensely touched by the story, by the imagery and by the connection I found to the characters. I won't repeat here the story synopsis but I am definitely now looking foward to now reading her previous book "Foreign Wife Elegy". As a side note I'm a bit confused by some of the other reviews written here particularly in that they seem to attack the author personally but don't really provide a professionally written critic of the content, style or prose of the book.

A refreshingly engaging story

This isn't so much a story about how families are torn by war, or how racially mixed immigrants struggle to fit in, as much as it is about the plight of a kid whose parents don't even seem to deserve to be parents. It is November 1975, in Japan, and a man named Hideo Takagawa is uneasy about a letter from a young Helen Johnson in America, who identifies Takagawa as her mom's uncle. Helen tells her Uncle that her mom is sick and asks if she could visit him in Japan. Hideo remembers Helen's mom named Anna, but only as a baby. He is queasy. This letter opens up wounds from the past. Then the narration switches to Helen. We are held captive by her innocence,candor, and worries. Helen tells us about things that are very abnormal at home about her Mom and Dad. "What is wrong with this family?" readers think with alarm. Be prepared to turn the pages quickly. What worse things might happen? When narration switches back to Hideo, we learn about the suffering of Hideo's sister named Ume, who is Anna's mother and Helen's maternal grandmother. We cling to Hideo's stories of his silky Asian childhood dominated by callous males and we watch as his mostly loveless family unravels during and after World War II. The story fast-forwards to Helen and now we really simmer at the actions of the adults in her life. Helen learns remarkable new things about her mom's and dad's past. She wants to know more because she hopes she can help Mom. Author Taniguchi's language is both poetic and convincing. The narrators seem authentic and believable. As Helen's thoughts race with impulsive questions and her feelings shift between anger and hope, readers forget their surroundings and think like a girl. Likewise Hideo's sad language of lost honor seems immediate as he tells the dark stories of the Hiroshima horrors. Readers hope for a hero. We read and hope as narrators alternate and we learn more details. This is a must -finish story. You may not always forgive, but you will not put the book down.

Beautifully written book...And now one of my favorites

The Ocean in the closet is a fantastic and beautifully written book...And now one of my favorites. I ordered this book as soon as it came out, after having read Taniguchi's "Foreign Wife Elegy". The story is about a mother, Anna, going through a nervous breakdown, and her young daughter Helen, trying to understand why. This leads Helen to Hideo's home in Japan. Hideo has been wondering about Anna, his niece, who was adopted by a family in the U.S. I enjoyed the easy flow between Hideo/Japan & Helen/USA (notice the chapter titles!). I also enjoy Taniguchi's writing - her similes, metaphors, allegories, how Helen & Hideo describe their feelings. It's a well-written beautiful story with fantastic imagery and descriptions. I would definitely like to see another novel (or book of poetry) by Yuko Taniguchi.