Sayonara

by James A. Michener

Sayonara (1954), is a novel published by American author James A. Michener about the Japanese word "sayonara." Set during the early 1950s, Sayonara tells the story of Major Gruver, a soldier stationed in Japan, who falls in love with Hana-Ogi, a Japanese woman. The novel follows their cross-cultural Japanese romance and illuminates the racism of the post-WWII time period.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Japan, Romance, Historical, Asia, War

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1953

About the author

James Albert Michener is best known for his sweeping multi-generation historical fiction sagas, usually focusing on and titled after a particular geographical region. His first novel, Tales of the South Pacific , which inspired the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific, won the 1948 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

Toward the end of his life, he created the Journey Prize, awarded annually for the year's best short story published by an emerging Canadian writer; founded an MFA program now, named the Michener Center for Writers, at the University of Texas at Austin; and made substantial contributions to the James A. Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, best known for its permanent collection of Pennsylvania Impressionist paintings and a room containing Michener's own typewriter, books, and various memorabilia.

Michener's entry in Who's Who in America says he was born on Feb. 3, 1907. But he said in his 1992 memoirs that the circumstances of his birth remained cloudy and he did not know just when he was born or who his parents were.

Reviews

[Jonathan Briggs · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ohhhh, it sez "forbidden love" on the cover, I'm all for that!!! Awww, it's just a little interracial action. The Korean War is on, and the Ugly American is overrunning Japan. Air Force flying ace Lloyd Gruver is pretty disgusted by the way his fellow servicemen are fraternizing with the former enemy and even, ugh, marrying Japanese girls. Then he sees a stage performance by Hana-ogi, an actress who specializes in playing male roles, and he falls immediately hopelessly obsessively in love (I'll leave the psychosexual ramifications of that for someone else to ponder). Hana-ogi wants nothing to do with him, but Lloyd Lloyd all null and void confronts her with a truth that she cannot avoid, Lloyd. He will not be refused. In the '50s, they called this love at first sight. Today, we call it stalking. Persistence pays off for Lloyd. Without so much as a single conversation in a common language, the happy couple move in together, and Lloyd learns the important lesson that Japanese people are just as good as Americans despite their wacky heathen customs. "Sayonara" was written in the '50s, and it might have been daring and controversial stuff when World War II was fresh in readers' memories, but it has aged horribly. Michener's condescending and smugly superior attitude toward Asian culture is gratingly ignorant, and he perpetuates stereotypes while preaching tolerance. The Japanese women are praised for being so docile and demure and subservient. "Golden" and "yellow" are Michener's favorite go-to adjectives, and there's this tender bit of loveplay: "She caught me in her arms and cried, 'Oh, Rroyd, I rub you berry sweet.' I was unprepared both for her emotion and her pronunciation and for one dreadful moment I almost laughed and then I looked down at her dear sweet slanted eyes and saw that they were filled with tears." Yea, he's a roid, all right. Maybe I should cut Michener some slack. I'm sure his intentions were good, and he's not alone in literature's long history of clueless/racist portraits. But even if it had been properly sensitive, "Sayonara" would be a lousy and dated novel. The only reasons I finished it were that it's short and I wanted to see how it compared with the movie (Marlon Brando looks sleepy and vaguely irritated to be starring in it).

[Fonch · Rating 4 out of 5]

By James A. Mirchener. Dedicated with love to Japan the beautiful country of the rising sun. Ladies and gentlemen, I've been doubting that you'll notice putting a novel as beautiful and moving as this. I opted to finally put it 4.5 stars, but I didn't rule it out to five stars. Most readers will know that apart from the country where I was born there are two pretty girls in my eyes. Two countries that seem really opposite Poland because of kindness, religiosity (it is precisely their Catholicism that I love the most), their gripping history, and above all their women. I'm an admirer of the beauty of Polish women. To Poland I know it is idealized, but I can only see it through the writings of Nobel laureate Henryk Sienkiewicz https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... as not to love the jewel of the Baltic when I saw the best of that Central European country embodied in one man in the figure of St. John Paul II the Pope of my childhood and to which I have loved most https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...# You know that one of my favorite characters is Maria Walewska. My other great country that I admired and loved so much is and cannot be seemingly more opposed to Japan. I remember that this country was always in my heart, when I was a child what I wanted to be was Ninja, or Shinobi, now it could not be because of the strong presence of Yambic Buddhism in its path, although a Samurai can be Catholic. When I was a kid, I played video games from Japan, played consoles, which they made, watched their wonderful animated series and movies, and that was falling apart. My paternal grandmother was very devoted to St. Francis Xavier, and I have inherited that, although I believe, that as Santa Teresita de Lisieux, I will only be able to evangelize Japan in my dreams, thoughts and in my imagination. In a review I wrote for Quaterni https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... I gave it to a man I would have liked to have been for two reasons the Jesuit Peter Milward https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... who had a long life and was a great friend of the Inklings in particular of C.S. Lewis https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... (in fact Lewis consulted him close to his marriage to Joy Davidman https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... ) and J.R.R. Tolkien https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... Milward apart from that he was a great connoisseur of William Shakespeare's work and always defended the Catholicity of the Avon Bard or Swan https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... in fact Peter Milward was a friend of my admiratous Joseph Pearce https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... but what touched me more is that because Father Gereon Goldmann https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... accepted a position as Professor of English Literature at the Sophia Press, perhaps as Victor Hugo, https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... who wanted to be Chateubriand or nothing https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... What I would have liked is being able to talk to that man. My friend Manuel Alfonseca https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... he told me that he had been to the Sophia at the Jesuit University of Tokyo, but because he did not know of the existence of Peter Milward did not ask for him. One thing that seemed impossible was to unite the Catholic religion with Japan, because it is a country that despite having had several Christian ministers resists Christianity. It is a country where the presence of Christians is very small 0.4% despite the great presence of personalities converted to Christianity. In the evangelizing model, the Jesuit model of conversion of the elites prevailed over the Franciscan model that spoke of converting the people. Several people have told me, that it is an amoral people who have no religion or are indifferentist, or syncretist takes what they like about the religions of the country. Yet in Japan the most atheist branch of Buddhism does not dominate, as in other countries. It is curious that South Korea, China with its Clandestine Church, Vietnam (Philippines I do not tell because it is one of the most famous Catholic countries more religious) have a significant percentage of Catholics while in Japan, but that's what makes it more appealing to my eyes. The woman who is most restilike is the one who likes libertines the most. Ask Valmont with Madame de Tourvelle, or our Don Juan with Doña Inés. The more G.K. Chesterton resists i would have said in the "Equivocal Form" "Asia does not give up," the more I want to share my faith with them, and the more he loved this country. It is true that there have not been many converts, but in return has bequeathed us several figures of great relevance such as Takashi Nagai https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...# Ayako Miura, who is not Catholic but Christian, but has a beautiful novel "Shiokori Pass" translated in Spain as "A Christian Samurai" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... but perhaps from all of all my great favorite is Shusaku Endo https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... who despite his peculiar vision of religion. He is one of my three favorite writers and fuses being Japanese with the Catholic religion. Already in one of his stories he told us about St Maximilian Kolbe, who was a missionary in Japan https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... he also wrote a novel in which he linked the destinies of Spain with that of Japan "Samurai" Velasco is practically an image of myself. It also influenced the conversion of Ayako Sono https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... and Kaga Otohiko https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... Anyway, it's not just Catholicism that draws me from Japan. I'm attracted to everything about Japan. Everything that's said about this country interests me. But I've overstretched myself, and it's time to talk about this little "Sayonara" gem I bought from a thrift store. Of course Mircherner has shown me with the two novels I've read to him. One thing, he's a great writer. I had already read Poland https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7... it is a history of Poland through several families. It is a masterpiece, which pre-empts Edward Rutherfurd https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... so he's also united the fates of the two countries I love the most. I was unaware that James A. Mircherner had written "The Bridges of Toko-Ri" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7... This novel Sayonara from which a great film was made, which as my friend Professor Manuel Alfonseca reminded me https://www.filmaffinity.com/es/film8... Hollywood gave him a Happy Ending. The Hays Code prevailed, and besides, who doesn't like love stories to end well? I must admit, in a few pages James A. Mirchener has written a masterpiece. As I would say and copy my friend Professor Manuel Alfonseca, after reading this little gem, passed me as Steven Spielberg with "The Bridges of Madison" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8... I cried like a samurai. I like this novel, because it has a Chateaubrianesque component of interracial loves. I was always fascinated by those stories. Spain is not a country that has racial prejudices, perhaps more religious (like me), or economic, but it has not seen bad marriage to people of other races. This novel is very inspired to my way of seeing With Madame Butterfly, Giacomo Puccini's immortal opera. The author himself does not hide his influence. I liked the exotic component I had as Mikado de O'Sullivan or the novels of Pierre Loti https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... but to my view this is a very brave novel, which tries to seek harmony between a victorious and one defeated people, and it is a very harsh denunciation of racism. Mircherner is relentless against the army bureaucracy, perhaps the only thing I didn't like was the role of the chaplain, convincing protagonist Lloyd Gruver to dissuade Private Kelly from marrying Katsumi. Apart from the racism in this novel, what they will say and reputation will mean. Gruver's conversion, which goes from hostility to worship, is felt to a lesser extent by the reader, who is captivated by the charms of the country of the Rising Sun. There is no country that cares more about beauty, and how beautiful it is Japan. It's a country, which almost looks like Platonic. I certainly have not been surprised by the triumph of Parasites in the Oscars. . While the West seems stagnant in part by the enormous ideological debts it has to certain lobbies, and because of its lack of creativity and imagination. Except for progressiveism, I'm very pacato and conservative, and they don't do anything new. It is true that parasites underlies the ghost of communism and the critique of capitalism (I have already said that neither of these two themes seems to me as a solution), but the triumph of Parasites was seen to come because in Asia the cinema is being made that I would like to see , and if it weren't for the Disney-PIXAR Mafia, the Japanese would win the award for Best Animated Film. The solution is not to accept the racism of Michael Chrichton's "Sun rising," but to get on the lines and re-make a religious, moral, values in which scripts and good stories are firsted in the face of ideologies, which is what the public wants. Let's learn from this continent that shows us the way. Because let's not kid ourselves, that's Mircherner's novel, a novel, which has soaked up japanese, and is full of beauty. Apart from several love stories. The characters are very well characterized the jovial, blissful and lovable Irish Kelly, the hesitant Lloyd Gruver, who is always afraid to do what he wants, who wants to get out of his life, but in the end ends up always doing what is expected of him. That's the tragedy of the novel, which reminded me of a very famous Spanish play "Three Hats cup" by Miguel Mihura https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... in which a businessman engaged with a girl falls in love with a dancer, and is separated from her by his host Rosario, and by his father-in-law Don Sacramento. I have not found it difficult to draw parallels Gruver is Dionysus, Webster (who is a, scramred and hence his frustration. Because his wife and daughter do with him what they want) is Rosario, Lloyd's father is Don Sacramento, and he also has something of Dosttoyevsky's Porfiri in "Crime and Punishment" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... Eilleen is Margarita and Paula is Hana Oigi. One character that impressed me a lot is Bailey, who keeping distances plays a celestine between Lloyd Gruver and Hana Ogi. I'm fascinated that both characters, to love each other, must overcome a prejudice. Gruver his rejection of the Yellows, and Hana Ogi hate the Americans, who killed his family. This novel also offers a denunciation of the hypocrisy embodied in the Websters, especially in the lady, who talks about getting together and enjoying all the pleasures that Japan offers her, but then indeed despite the peace has not made peace of heart, and continues to judge with contempt the Japanese. It is a character Mrs. Webster, who dislikes me more than the hateful character of the novel Craford (who is the one who makes life impossible for Kelly, and Katsumi). The latter goes face-to-face and deceives no one, but Mrs. Webster is ladina, and malicious. It's interesting, because this novel shows us like the Japanese, despite all the impediments, they married the Japanese ones. Anyway, as in "Three Cup Hats" there's something else that makes the novel end, as it ends. It's also fascinating to discover where Hana Ogi takes its name from. What I liked most about this novel is the great capacity that Japanese women have of love, and we see this in the three Japanese women of history. Nor is this the only novel of interracial loves between Japanese and Americans that I read, and here I make an explicit homage to that great Swedish actor that Has left us Max von Sydow already had the honor of seeing the wonderful film of Scott Hicks Snow in the Cedars" https://www.filmaffinity.com/es/film5... that more or less denounces the same racism of the United States against Japanese immigration in World War II, and after. With all of James Mircherner's novel, I liked it better than David Guterson's novel https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7... (destroyed by the excessive libidinousness of the author), while moral dilemmas were more primacy in the film, which reminded me of Graham Greene's novels https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... perhaps what he decided me not to put the five on was a side of my aversion to suicides. Something, which I never understood, there is more glory and honor in fighting failures than in accepting annihilation, even if it is done with the courage of a stoic. It's the only thing I haven't been able to accept from Japan, if they're going to change that, and their cruelty would be the best country on earth, in fact, it's very close to me. It's what my admired Juan Manuel de Prada calls https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... as an honor hypertrophy. As our Baltasar Gracián https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... said, although to me the Japanese seem to me the English of Asia to him they were the people that most resembled Spain. I hope this tribute has pleased Japan, and I wish you your fate to be that of the Japanese girl from Michael D's novel. O'Brien from "Elias in Jerusalem" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... My next review will be Carlo Goldoni's "The Fan" who will be dedicated to the Italians and To Doña Inés for their fight against Coronavirus.

[Linda Knight Crane · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Japanese mom's favorite movie, of course, because she lived it. The movie is pretty true to Michener's tale but different, too. The book is always better but not the ending. The story is nothing new (Romeo & Juliet, West Side Story) but Sayonara adds the additional emotion of patriotism and disbelief how cruel the military and US government was after the war to these American-Japanese relationships. My mother had to endure a mandatory "How to be an American Housewife" course in order to travel with my American dad to America. The irony is, as alluded to in the book, these Japanese women were superior in the care of their men than any US born women. My mom also had to lie that she wasn't pregnant (with me) or that would also be an excuse she couldn't leave Japan. Michener captures the injustice and emotions towards a race of people blamed for Pearl Harbor. Sometimes love doesn't conquer all.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sayonara speaks far beyond the detail within.

'Listen to the white world
horribly weary from its immense effort
its rebel joints cracking beneath the hard stars,
its blue steel rigidities piercing the mystic flesh
listen to its deceptive victories trumpeting its defeats
listen to the grandiose alibis for its lame stumbling

Pity for our all-knowing, naïve conquerors.'

Aimé Césaire - 'Cahier d'un retours au pays natal'

This poem absolutely captures the essence of the larger message of Michener's Sayonara. The poem, by Césaire, came by way of Sartre's essay Black Orpheus, from The Aftermath of War.

Sayonara
P.187 • The stars over Osaka were the same that had shone upon America seven hours earlier: Vega and Arcturus and Altair. They recognized no national barriers and I found myself - an officer sworn to protect the United States - thinking that some day we might catch up with the stars.

Chapter 11 - Easy Lessons in English, 1879. P. 108 - 116.
This is a key chapter in the novel about language and communication.

Reverb to come.

[Fred Lichtenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a real classic and racism at it's worst. A short book for Michener--I think his first--but a must read.

[Sheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like all of Michener's books worth reading again and again.

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Watching SOUTH PACIFIC the other evening got me in the mood to return to one of my favorite authors. James A. Michener is probably best-known for his multi-generational sagas such as HAWAII, THE SOURCE, and CENTENNIAL, but he also wrote a number of shorter works in the 1950s, before the blockbusters, when he was best-known as the author of TALES OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC - SAYONARA is one of those works, a poignant novel about the changes in American-Asian relations after World War Two and Korea. From some of the comments I've read here it's obvious that readers only familiar with his later panoramic epics find this book somewhat disappointing.

8/22/10: In U.S.-occupied Japan following WWII, thousands of American military men fell in love with Japanese women, but restrictions at the time prohibited them from bringing their wives back to the U.S. if they were shipped home. As with so many aspects of life back then, it's hard to believe that people treated each other so shabbily; but just open your newspaper or turn on the news and you'll see that we're still doing so, and much worse.

Michener does a great job of describing post-war Japan, everything from the crowded streets to the cherry blossoms and a bar that's so small there's only room for four customers and two hostesses! He also does a fine job of illustrating the disdain and suspicion with which Japanese women were regarded at this time, all through the eyes of Lloyd Gruver, who is transformed by his love for the dancer/actress Hana-ogi.

SAYONARA does not end happily - of the two couples the novel focuses on, one parts forever, and the other commits hara-kiri rather than be parted (the actors who played these roles in the film, Red Buttons and Miyoshi Umeki, won Supporting Oscars for their performances, but there were obviously changes from page to screen, as the Buttons character is all of 19 years old in the novel). Gruver, for all that he has seen and experienced, will return to his military life and marry the nice American girl he was supposed to all along. But we know that he'll never really be happy (the film version has a different ending).

Michener's own Japanese-American love story had a happier ending - he met Mari Yoriko Sabusawa - an American-born Japanese who had been interned during World War Two - at a luncheon in 1954 and married her in 1955 - they remained a devoted couple until her death in 1994, which left Michener devastated.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, so I definitely recommend you read this one on your own instead of listening to the audiobook because the audiobook is, quite frankly, atrocious. The reader has almost no inflection and the pauses between sentences are so long I kept thinking we were changing scenes. My sister thought it was a computer reading words typed into a text box. It was almost unbearable to listen to. I set it to play at 1.4x speed just to get the torture over with faster and found that to be about a 50% better experience than at normal speed, just because the sentences felt like sentences instead of a death drone.

Onto the actual story itself. The beginning of the book grated on me. The racist thoughts and actions of most of the characters was terrible to get through and I hate, hate, hated how the men acted toward and about women - 'the don't know love until they know me' or saying they'd break a wife's arm for covering her mouth when she giggled or ignoring all the social norms and morals of the place you're in and grabbing a woman and kissing her without permission when it could literally ruin her life. Ugh, I was so angry.

The story got better, more engaging, less racist and misogynistic, as it went on. The more Lloyd grew to understand Japan and the more I believed he actually loved Hana-ogi, the better the story got. My favorite parts were explanations on their daily lives as a not-quite-married couple, of how they helped each other and cared for each other, away from the political quarters of the military and all those character who had said and done awful things about characters that weren't white.

The book is written as if by Lloyd Gruver many years later in his life, and I wish the end of the book summed that up a bit better. Instead of saying what happened in his life, if he married, if he was still in the military all that time later, any of that, it just ends with him finally understanding the meaning of the word 'sayonara.' (which, if you know anything of the word, how this book ends really shouldn't be a surprise)

[Judith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read Michener in many years. In preparation for our trip to Japan in 2025, I have begun reading some books and watching some programs to learn the history of Japan. I enjoyed this book and learned a lot about the history of Japan during the Korean War. I never realized how much hatred and prejudice the American military (and I suppose Americans in general) had for the Japanese after WWII. The fact that military men who might have fallen in love with and married a Japanese woman couldn't bring her back to America was very sad. Also, the protagonist who is a soldier stationed in Japan starts out very prejudiced until he, too, falls in love with a Japanese woman. Oh how our perceptions change when all of a sudden we find ourselves in the very situation we once found offensive! A lesson here: to not be so quick to judge until we have walked in someone else's shoes.

[Emiliya Bozhilova · Rating 3 out of 5]

Много любим филм с Марлон Брандо!

САЩ и Япония се опитват да изминат пътя един към друг от бивши врагове към настоящи съюзници след втората световна война. Арогантността на победителите, чувството за културно превъзходство на победените и расизмът от двете страни не улесняват процеса.

Хората обаче са си хора навсякъде, и любовта и емоцията скъсяват пътя на сближаването много преди всяка политика. Историята на няколко американски военни и техните японски любими е увлекателно разказана от Мичънър, с всички препятствия по пътя.

И все пак филмът е по-хубав!

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Read. Review is on Facebook.

[Carolyn Hilty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good read. I've always been a James Michener fan, and this doesn't disappoint. A very real look into what a lot of men went through when they were stationed in Japan back in WWII. His people are very real.

[Mark Oppenlander · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is the early 1950's. Major Lloyd Gruver is a US Air Force pilot, who has earned the status of Ace by shooting down seven MiGs during the Korean War. He is also a West Point grad, the son of an Army General and dating the daughter of another General; military service is in his blood.

During a leave in Japan, Gruver's commanding officer asks him to try and talk Joe Kelly, a fellow American airman, out of marrying a Japanese woman. Gruver can't understand why anyone would intermarry with the Japanese, former enemies of the US. But Kelly will not be dissuaded, so Gruver stands up for him at the civil ceremony that makes him a married man.

Shortly thereafter, Gruver takes in a performance by the renowned Takarazuka troupe, a theatrical and musical show where all the performers are women. Gruver is smitten by Hana-Ogi, one of the stars of the show, who always plays male roles. By Takarazuka rules, Hana-Ogi is not allowed to date, and of course the US military continues to discourage their personnel from becoming involved with the locals. But she eventually falls for him too. The two spend the rest of the book trying to find ways to be together in this tale of illicit love.

James Michener started his writing career working out of his own experience. Tales of the South Pacific, Return to Paradise and this novel all are built on his personal experiences in the military and his travels in the Pacific island countries and territories. Michener himself was married for nearly 40 years to a Japanese-American woman whose parents had suffered in internment camps during WWII. So the themes at the heart of Sayonara - racism, colonialism and military discipline - were undoubtedly close to his own conscience.

The plot of this book is hardly unique; this is a Romeo and Juliet style tale, pure and simple. The military replaces the feuding families as the arbiters of right and wrong and there are are a few unique complications (e.g. the fact that Gruver has to deal with his presumed fiancée, Eileen) but all in all, the basic storyline is quite familiar. Michener's execution of these tropes is solid and his description of the time and place is evocative. However, Michener obviously was interested in more than just spinning a good yarn; he has an axe to grind.

So how does the book hold up after 60 years? The answer is mixed. The themes of this novel are (unfortunately) still all too relevant today. Prejudice against mixed race couples continues to be an issue and Michener's anger about the ways in which the Japanese were viewed and treated by the US military seems well founded. But Michener's own descriptions of Japanese culture seems a bit naïve and his views on why American men were attracted to Japanese women (e.g. their docility and submissiveness) seem to carry in them not only racism, but some sexism as well. Also problematic is Michener's attempts to convey Japanese pronunciations of English words, which come across to a 21st century reader as condescending and (intentionally or unintentionally) humiliating.

Nonetheless, stories of forbidden love are still moving and powerful. And I have to confess that one of the late plot turns caught me by surprise and moved me to tears. So there is still power in the basic story, even if some of the trappings of that story have not aged as well.

[Stephen Rowland · Rating 3 out of 5]

I began reading this somewhat as a joke, just as I attempted reading Shōgun several years ago. It turned out to be much better than expected, however. Still, it is so heavy-handed and melodramatic that it is certainly not a literary classic, but Michener knows how to keep a story moving.

[Joel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although there are a lot (a lot) of cringe-worthy moments in Sayonara, it is an enjoyable, fast read with a Romeo and Juliet style ending that may not be appropriate for all readers.

The good: The protagonist begins the story racist and Jingoistic and ends the story having been profoundly changed by the love of a Japanese woman.

The bad: Michener's attempts at portraying characterization through revealing (repeatedly) the Japanese characters inability to make certain sounds in the English language is particularly clumsy and made worse by the lack of any reverse. If we were shown how laughable the American soldiers pronunciation of Japanese was, the Japanese characters attempts might seem more genuine and less buffoonish.

The ugly: The attitude of the U.S. military and government towards "indigenous personnel" even amongst allied countries (France and Korea) reads as shockingly racist and phobic today.

However, and from a more personal point of view, there was a lot about the book I found charmingly, even endearingly true. I've been in a mixed, American and Japanese, marriage for the better part of ten years and I've lived in Japan for over a decade. I read this book on the way back to Japan after a long holiday in the States. Imagine my surprise at reading passages in the midst of the horrible stereotypes and clumsy declarations of love that mimic the very things I've said when explaining how my marriage works or what it's like to live in Japan.

For those who are curious, delving through the love story and archetypes to find those nuggets of truth may be worth the effort. For those who are looking for lighter, or conversely, more in depth stories, it may be best to look elsewhere.

[Bernadett · Rating 5 out of 5]

"the unhappiest men I know are those who are forced into something they got no aptitude for."

Sayonara is the best love story I've read so far. It shows post war Japan with all its anger and grief and the invading americans who marry japanese women but cant quite live their married life because they cant bring their wives back to the states and they are being deported by their own commanders.
Its a story of privileges and high profile military personnel taking advantage of their status to live a comfortable life and even bring their daughter into japan and Ace , who is just arrived into Korea relocated into japan to meet his childhood sweetheart and fiance he is engaged to because thats the only way he knows. there he gets to be one of his men's best man at his wedding with a japanese woman and meets an artist who turns his world upside down.

I loved it enough to give it 5/5 stars and in my opinion it is deserving of the Pulitzer prize it won.

[Vivian Méndez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aunque sabía como iba a terminar me atreví a leerla, por el simple hecho de que hablada de Japón.
Pues creo que ha sido una lectura entretenida, visto el lado norteamericano y japonés sin importar que fuera ficción, a cualquiera le puede pasar, pero en la segunda guerra mundial involucrarse íntimamente con el enemigo era ofensivo y falto de honor.
La novela nos presenta la vida de un comandante y de una actriz japonesa, el amor, manipulación, dolor y entre otros sentimientos que acabarcan la novela, nos vamos sumerguiendo.
Además de ser corta, fácil de leer, las descripciones no molestan y los personajes de cierta forma son interesantes.
Aunque las cosas aveces me parecio que eran apresuradas y extrañas, si se tratarán de la vida real, sin embargo uno puede disfrutar y sentirse complacido a medida que va leyendo.

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is only the second Michener book I have read, the first being Caravans, but if it had been the first book by Michener I had read, I don't think I would have picked up another by him or recommended him to anyone else. I wasn't that impressed with the story, I felt that the characters were unlikable and the story wasn't very compelling or heart-rending given the circumstances. I was unsympathetic to Lloyd and Hana-ogi's plight and didn't really care what happened to them.

I'm glad I read Caravans first because even though I didn't care for Sayonara I'm still willing to try other Michener books based on the enjoyment I experienced reading Caravans.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was really tough for me to get through. The amount of racism from both the characters and the author was appalling and deplorable. I figured I could soldier through it to find out what happens to Hana-Ogi and Lloyd. I managed but with extreme difficulty. I actually found myself trying to avoid reading it. There were a lot of cringe worthy moments in this book. The only bright side is that it shows how absolutely wrong racism is and how it effects the lives of those involved. You can give it a try, it's only 200 pages but the amount of racism makes it hard to get through.

[Kenneth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set during the Korean War, this is a story of two Air Force servicemen who fall in love with Japanese women, and the consequences of that in a time when interracial marriages were much less socially accepted than now. And of course, this was written in the early 1950s, a time when the war against the Japanese in World War II was still a fresh memory. This story was made into a movie in 1957, starring Marlon Brando, which I saw before I read the book from our local public library.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A romantic fondness of the movie, despite Marlon Brandon, led me to this novel. I loved it then. I liked it now, perhaps with a certain nostalgia and fully recognizing its flaws, which are mostly based on "political correctness." I am not a huge fan of Michener's later works, but I was pleased to see Sayonara had endured in my opinion.

[Jerry Hardesty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw the movie years ago and enjoyed reading the novel. It's an easy read (not a typical Michener novel), and a well-written book. It's a beautiful story of love and courage.

[Marjorie Schultz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A real tear jerker about a time I have not studied.

[Trevor Raichura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this book. I have to remind myself that it was written in 1953, and that things that were cultural norms then are downright offensive and racist in 2024. Because of that, I give this book a high rating, but not a perfect one.

It is a classic tale of forbidden love, the canned story of a man and woman whose worlds are so vastly different, and yet they find themselves irresistibly attracted to one another. There are things about this book that I can really appreciate:

- It paints a picture (how accurate, I do not know, but I assume it is somewhat realistic) of Western Japan in the 1950s during the occupation years. It takes place right in my backyard (mostly Takarazuka and Osaka, though Kobe and Nishinomiya are also featured to an extent).
- It tackles the idea of interracial relationships and marriage, and wow, do I ever appreciate having met my Japanese wife in 2010, and not in 1952. That said, the conclusions reached probably rubbed people the wrong way in that day and age (though now, they seem quite obvious). Here are some quotes from the end of the book (without big spoilers, don't worry):

"... I knew that a man can have many homes and one of them must be that place on earth, however foreign, where he first perceives that he and some woman could happily become part of the immortal passage of human beings over the face of the earth: the childbearers, the field tillers, the builders, the fighters and eventually the ones who die and go back to the earth."

"... I knew I lived in an age when the only honorable profession was soldiering, when the only acceptable attitude toward strange lands and people of another color must be not love but fear."

In spite of beautiful passages like this that hit close to home, I found myself rooting against the protagonist and cringing at his romantic feelings. He went from Romeo Montague to a full-fledged lover of Juliet Capulet way too quickly, especially considering he could not even communicate with his belle. He kissed her deeply way too much and it definitely felt out of place with Japanese society that she (a highly reputed and revered Takarazuka dancer) succumbed to him way too easily.

This was also (from my understanding) one of Michener's first books, hence it being on the short side, which showed in his occasional syntactical clumsiness. He probably got better at his craft as he wrote more, but there were times I found myself rolling my eyes at his word and phrasal selection.

Still, it was definitely a page-turner and I enjoyed it for what it was worth: a window into post-war Japan, US military/Japan relations, interracial love.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I revisited an old "friend" again in the author, James A. Michener. Always so special to reread his books, ones that I have read over and over again. This book is an excellent one and can pertain to today's life as much as it did when it came out in the 1950s.

What would you do if you fell in love with someone you weren't supposed to fall in love with? During the Korean War, American flyers and soldiers taking R&R in Japan often dated and fell in love with and then wished to marry Japanese women. Our military thought this was wrong and told its military members that they were throwing away their lives by marrying a local girl.

A general's son, a promising Air Force officer and pilot, dating another general's daughter, falls for a special Japanese woman. Reading this book, I see this man become human, find love, learn about life. It's all so good. But some deem that it is wrong....

[Judith · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was in Japan and wanted to read a book that would enhance the scenery. I'd already read all the usual suspects years ago, ie. Memoirs of a Geisha, Shogun, etc. I even tried the ancient novel Tale of the Ganji. I thought why not read a James Michener book? Unfortunately, Sayonara was his only book on Japan. He must have been very young, as this book read like a high school Sophomore's attempt at creative writing. It was so corny and racist. I'll bet Michener left this one off his resume as he aged and got better and wiser. I did finish it so it was readable but if I were grading it, I'd give it a D.

[Lucien · Rating 4 out of 5]

that ending. i—why?! :(

[Đào Kiên · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bản dịch là Một Thời Khó Quên

[Neels Uys]

Brilliant, brilliant read!!

[Danuta · Rating 3 out of 5]

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