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When the Emperor Was Divine - Book Review
When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Oksuta
This was my second time reading “When the Emperor Was Divine,” and I found it just as moving as my first time.
“When the Emperor Was Divine” is the haunting story of a Japanese-American family from Berkeley during World War II. The father is taken from their house shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor for a loyalty hearing. He is then kept in an internment camp in the desert. Not long after, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 and the rest of the family must pack up their house and let themselves be taken to another camp in the desert. 
This story is told from five different points of view, although there are only four characters. The first three points of view are all third person limited omniscient, focusing first on the mother, then the daughter, and finally the son. This spans from the time the “Instructions to all persons of Japanese ancestry” are posted through the end of their time in the camps. Once the war is over, we see first person narration from the son, followed by almost first person stream of consciousness from the father.
The switch in narration is beautifully done to reflect the shock and dehumanization felt by the family. The book holds you at just the right distance to witness of the confusion and disbelief experienced by the people taken from their homes, called disloyal, and relocated to camps in the American desert. The father’s narration shocks and shames and contains more feeling than the rest of book put together.
I think this is an extremely well-done book on an important topic, and I highly recommend it.
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Wow, this is almost exactly like the book I just read, but a totally different culture. I’ll have to put this on my reading list.
This looks Fantastic, thank you.
[...] yesterday. I finished all of the following books: “Dolphins Under My Bed,” “When the Emperor Was Divine,” Victor Kugler: The Man Who Hid Anne Frank,” “My Father’s Paradise,” [...]
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