Saturday, June 9, 2012

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



Moving from the 1940’s to the 1980’s and back, I was taken into both the life & heart of a young Chinese boy caught in a world of anger, discrimination, and hate, to that of an older Chinese man, still mourning the loss of deep friendship and love - in spite of the many years that had passed.  

Jamie Ford brought to life the steps taken by our own country, not only to the Japanese living in our country and the Americans of Japanese descent, but also how this effected those that shared this time alongside them.  Knowing this was just a glimpse of the heartache and destruction caused by war, even though this all took place far from the battlefield, it showed how deeply hearts and humanity can be damaged by a time such as this.

Sweet, innocent, young love - common to many - takes Henry & Keiko on an extreme emotional ride, while as young as they were, their feelings are intensified as they are forced to grow up much faster than most their age.

A shameful time that seems so relevant today as well.  Hopefully we have learned from this time to not only be sure we don’t repeat this, but to also understand the power of the human heart; commitment, enduring hope and forgiveness, give power to healing.

No comments:

Post a Comment