Sunday, December 10, 2006
Obsan, by Joy Kogawa
Obasan, by Vancouver-born Joy Kogawa, is a book I’ve meant to read since somewhere in the 1990s when I first heard about it. But it wasn’t until I was at the Steveston Cannery to see a multimedia exhibit by artist Florence Debeugny this summer that I finally picked up a copy of the book in the gift shop. What a powerful story! I knew, intellectually, about this shameful chapter of Canada’s history (not that it’s Canada’s only shameful chpater, but that’s a whole other post) but Kogawa’s book really brought home the absolutely overwhelming grinding down of spirit and soul. The telling of the story from the perspective of the young protagonist, whose lack of information definitely affects her development, is reflected in the lives of the people around her, as well. It’s not often that I leave a book feeling so heavy that the story haunts me for months. This is one of those books.