The Buddha in the Attic

   Some of us will like this book .  Some of us won't.  Some of us will find this way of writing irritating, because there is no narrative.  Some of us will enjoy the content and will stick with the book.  Some of us will just drop the whole thing from irritation.  Some of us will want to discuss this book with friends.  Some of us will never want to hear of the book again.  Some of us will not enjoy this type of writing. 
  I was one! And the preceding paragraph shows how this book was written.

  "The Buddha in the Attic" was strongly recommended to me and I must admit that the subject matter is certainly interesting- picture brides brought from Japan to San Francisco a hundred years ago.    
  From their journey on the boat, wondering about their future life, to their wedding night, to the backbreaking work, to the birth (and sometimes death) of babies.  And then the treatment of the Japanese in the war.  Great content.
   But the style of writing did not work for me! 
  There were no specific characters and no plotline.  For some people, this was a creative method of presenting this history of Japanese picture brides.

  These same issues are dealt with in another book that I enjoyed-
"Honolulu" by Alan Brennert.
   There are several 'picture brides" in this novel, but Jin is the central character, taking the name "Regrettable".
  This novel has great character development. You can read about it here.