Hotel on the corner of bitter and sweet summary. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet Study Guide 2022-12-31

Hotel on the corner of bitter and sweet summary Rating: 9,4/10 559 reviews

"Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" is a novel by Jamie Ford that tells the story of Henry Lee, a Chinese-American man who reflects on his experiences growing up in Seattle during the 1940s. The novel is set during the time of the Japanese internment, when Japanese-Americans were forced to leave their homes and businesses and move to internment camps due to World War II.

The story begins in 1986, when Henry is in his 60s and working as a waiter at the Panama Hotel in Seattle. One day, he discovers a suitcase belonging to a Japanese girl named Keiko Okabe, who was interned at the hotel during the war. As Henry begins to research Keiko's past and the history of the hotel, he is transported back to his own childhood in the 1940s.

Henry's memories take us back to a time when he was a young boy growing up in Seattle's Chinatown. His father is a traditional Chinese man who runs a laundromat, while his mother is a modern, westernized woman who works as a nurse. Henry's parents have a strained relationship, and Henry often feels torn between their two worlds.

At the same time, Henry is struggling with his own identity as a Chinese-American. He faces discrimination and prejudice from both the Chinese and white communities, and he feels like he doesn't belong anywhere. However, he finds solace in his friendship with Keiko, a Japanese-American girl who lives in the same building as him. Despite the fact that their families are enemies due to the war, Henry and Keiko become close friends and share a special bond.

As the war progresses and the Japanese internment begins, Henry's world is turned upside down. He watches as Keiko and her family are forced to leave their home and business and are sent to an internment camp. Henry is heartbroken and feels helpless as he watches his friend disappear from his life.

Years later, when Henry is an adult, he is still haunted by his memories of Keiko and the events of the war. He decides to track her down and try to find out what happened to her. Along the way, he discovers that their friendship was much deeper than he realized, and he begins to understand the true cost of the war and the internment.

"Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" is a powerful and emotional tale of love, loss, and the importance of remembering the past. It is a moving reminder of the impact of war on individuals and communities, and it encourages readers to think about the ways in which history continues to shape our present.

Review of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

hotel on the corner of bitter and sweet summary

Certainly their relationship is sweet and I felt myself pulling for them, but I was pulling with all the strength and enthusiasm I would if I were pitted in a game of tug-o-war against a two year old. Thanks Lisa -- Hope you are enjoying it! Geee --How did I not mark this gem? This book is told by a 50+ year old second generation Chinese-American. Instead he got a button and was forced to speak his American. But I had heard so many good things about THE HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET that I bought it, though I sat on it a while before I cracked it open to read. The novel is told from the point of view of young Henry 1942 and older Henry 1986.

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Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet Study Guide

hotel on the corner of bitter and sweet summary

I read it twice, and own it! See more of my reviews at "I had my chance, and sometimes in life, there are no second chances. I found both periods equally compelling to read about. When its doors are opened they discover the belongings of the interned Japanese people from 1942. Written by Julia Wolf The protagonist of the novel, Henry Lee, was born in the USA. But like science, life is unpredictable. Henry and Keiko bond over their shared love of jazz music. Men in fish-stained T-shirts hauled crates of rock cod and buckets of geoduck clams, half-buried in ice.

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Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet Analysis

hotel on the corner of bitter and sweet summary

Over 100,000 Americans of Japanese descent were removed from there homes and imprisoned during this time. His biggest secret was Taking into account all the terrible things he heard about Japan and Japanese people from his father, Henry had to hate her, but that thought never lingered in his mind. So I put down. Ford is a decent writer, and while he did research 1942 fairly extensively, he did a crappy job portraying 1986. Her husband, David, has left her, and her career has stagnated. Her picture-perfect life—living in Boston, married to a brilliant cardiothoracic surgeon, raising their beautiful son, Asher—was upended when her husband revealed a darker side.


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Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

hotel on the corner of bitter and sweet summary

I never tasted the venom of injustice as I should have. The story begins in 1986 with Henry, an elderly Chinese-American man walking past the Panama hotel in Seattle, which has been boarded up since the war. The story begins in 1986 with Henry, an elderly Chinese-American man walking past the Panama hotel in Seattle, which has been boarded up since the war. The two meet in a special school where they have won scholarships because of their high intellect. I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone thinks of it. A scent, a food, a location, a sound can take us back to our youth, or to the home of a loved one. Eventually, thinking Keiko has given up on him, Henry sends a final letter asking Keiko to meet him at the Panama Hotel before he has to leave for China.

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Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet Summary

hotel on the corner of bitter and sweet summary

. It is th This was my first ever audiobook. I found this book to be very sloppy indeed. He wonders and starts off on a mission to see if he can track her down or at least find out what happened to her. An editor will review the submission and either publish your submission or providefeedback. Taken together, the comments of the parents do not deny that it is wrong to force members of the non-dominant group to evacuate their homes and be imprisoned, but rather resist the idea that anything should be done about it at the current time.

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Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

hotel on the corner of bitter and sweet summary

You look at what you have, not what you miss, and you move forward. Just because most people weren't online then, doesn't mean no one was. But I had heard so many good things about THE HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET that I bought it, though I sat on it a while before I cracked it open to read. In one paragraph--on page four of the book, I believe--the narrator tells the readers that the main character's s Original review posted: Mar 19, 09 I have to admit that I did not like this book. I did have a hard time rooting for the romantic connection between these two children. The social work profession can gain a better understanding of generational trauma that has had a lasting result of the survivors and family members of Japanese Americans that lived this experience as well as cultural proficiency vs. Henry believed it had belonged to Keiko, the Japanese girl with whom Henry had fallen in love during the war years.

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Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet Study Guide: Analysis

hotel on the corner of bitter and sweet summary

Keiko welcomes a visit from Henry. Can Henry recover what he's lost 40 years ago? In 2008 he married Leesha Ford, and they now live with their blended family of nine children in Montana. The characters are fully realized, the title is a real attention grabber, and the story fleshed out with plenty of local and period detail. The two constantly endure discrimination from their peers, elders, and government. The life of Henry was lonely like a grave; this displays a cultural aspect of burying the dead which is not common in the Chinese culture.


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Hotel On The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet Summary Essay Example

hotel on the corner of bitter and sweet summary

I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone thinks of it. In this scene, Ford also gives an indication that American society more broadly has changed its attitudes toward interracial friendships and families: A young nurse, someone new whom he didn't recognize, came up to Henry and patted him on the arm. Recently widowed, Henry thinks about his relationship with Keiko and wonders if there could be anything left for them. Great to meet Jamie Ford at the High Plains Bookfest in Billings in October! Perhaps I could attend the Tehran Book Festival. It is set against the politically tumultuous period of World War II, where we experience the alienation forces between the Chinese, Japanese and America people as they live together in the United States.

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Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet Summary & Study Guide

hotel on the corner of bitter and sweet summary

The clerk showed a resistance to change in that she did not want to do business with people who appeared to be of Asian descent. Bottom Right: An American soldier of Japanese ancestry at the railroad station of a small town in an agricultural community. This section contains 455 words approx. As historical fiction, the book is top-notch; Ford's insertion of references to historic Seattle landmarks, locations and events create a heightened sense of realism. But when her five-year-old daughter exhibits similar behavior and begins remembering things from the lives of their ancestors, Dorothy believes the past has truly come to haunt her.

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Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet Ume (1986) Summary & Analysis

hotel on the corner of bitter and sweet summary

. With echoes of Edith Wharton transposed to a different time and place, family, tradition and friendship highlight this beautifully crafted historical novel. Ford 2009 provided many scenes that can illustrate both the three points on the continuum reflecting both the attitudes of cultural intolerance, as well as the four barriers to cultural proficiency in the novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. It does go somewhere by the way. There are some diamonds in the rough, though: the historical aspects of the novel are very interesting; the relationships depicted in the book, while not always believable, are complex; and, the issues related to cultural identity and racial discrimin "Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" is as saccharine and overly sentimental as the title suggests. Life is difficult for both of them.

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