Now that you’ve finished reading Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, write about your final thoughts about the novel. What do you think of the ending? Did you enjoy the story? Did you like the “double narrative”- reading about Henry as a teen, and as an adult?
Overall I really enjoyed reading this book, it had a great plot and was very well written. I personally was let down at the ending and I expected more talking between Henry and Keiko. I wish Henry and Keiko could have had a conversation about what has happened over the years and about their families. I also would have liked if Henry could have told Kieko about what his father did with the letters and his relationship with Ethel.
ReplyDeleteI loved the "double narrative" thing because it allowed you to see how the events in Henry's childhood really changed him as an adult.
-ampettyfer
After reading the book, this is what I think about it. I really liked the book overall, but, to be honest, I was disappointed with the ending, though. Henry travels across the country to make it up to a person you haven't seen in decades, just to have iced tea and say a few words to each other. That is my only criticism on the book, which I still really enjoyed. I think the double narrative is very creative, and set it apart from other books.
ReplyDeleters suprise838
I love the story let alone the ending it was perfect it didnt make you wonder " what happened to Keiko?" or " What happen to Henry or Sheldon" At first for the first 4 chapters the double narrative was confusing but in the end it was for the better because you didnt have to wonder about Henry past or present. I love this book Ive read it 5 times so far. I enjoy the bits of history in it too.
ReplyDeleteknsplash
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ReplyDeleteThis book was not at all what I had expected. While there were times when I didn't quite appreciate the story as much as I usually do, I loved the Romeo and Juliet feel spanning countries. My favorite part would be the ending. Some of my classmates couldn't believe that they hadn't seen one another for 40 years and when they finally meet up, it's to have ice tea and talk, but I think that there's much more to the story, just not actually included. My reason for liking the ending is simple - it subtly reminds us all that true love never dies and conquers all.
ReplyDeletemjaphrodite20
The book "On the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" is unlike any other book I have read before. I'm pretty positive that if it had not been chosen by Ms. Plisko to read in class I probabaly wouldn't have picked it off of a shelf- but I am glad that she did. I probably would not have chosen this book for myself mainly because I had no real previous knowledge of the time period that it takes place in, so it had no specific interest to me. And that is why I'm especialy glad that we read this book- because I leanrned alot about somthing that I knew near-to-nothing about.
ReplyDeleteI really liked that this book gave the perspective of the people in America who's feelings were totaly disregarded during the war-the Japanese-Americans. Everybody always seems to feel bad for the Americans because they were living in fear, afraid that they would be attacked or that the Japanese-American citezens were plotting agaist them, but in the end it is pretty obvious that the innocent Japanese people that were being re-located were the ones who were realing having the hardest time.
This book really shows the "other side of the story" in a way. It shows that our country, although we may not want to admit it, isn't totally perfect like we think. It is almost like defending a parent, even when you know that they are wrong. You want to agree with them and defend them because they are your parents and you look up to them, but deep down you know that they are wrong, but you dont want to admit it- to not make them seem bad. We want to say "Well, we (America) only did it(re-locate the Japanese) to protect ourselves," and frankly,I'm sure that if I had been living in that time period I would say the same thing, but now that we look back on it, with books such as "Hotel on the Corner...", we put ourselves in their shoes, in very real situations, and realize that we were wrong.
In the end, I really liked this book and I think doing the blog along with it was a good addition. I think that now that I have read a book like this, and liked it, I may read more like it in the future.
~C.H.Lafandala
I myself think that the ending was perfect. Jamie Ford ended it at the perfect moment and in the cutest way. I know some people wanted more from it but I don't know what else there is for him to write. If he wrote a sequel it wouldn't be very interesting I don't think. I think that what he did write summed up all of the loose ends. Henry found Keiko and that is all that matters.
ReplyDeleteI, myself, loved the whole double narrative style to this book. Some people said today in the class discussion that it made the whole book to predictable but I don't think so. Yes, you knew that Henry didn't end up with Keiko but what you didn't know is how they got split apart (I bet no one guessed what really happened). I think that this made me want to read the book more. I even read this book more and finished it faster than my own personal book.
Also, the story was unbelievably sweet. I really got attached to not just Henry and Keiko as individuals but as them as a couple. I didn't want to believe that Henry ended up with Ethel and not Keiko. In the back of my mind I always hoped that Henry would find a way to get Keiko back. In fact I was kind of disappointed when Henry proposed to Ethel, mad even. He just gave into his father and gave up on Keiko. But it was an amazingly good book, maybe even one of my favorites. I would recommend this book to anyone.
It is weird to think this is our last blog post! haha
LK Bertha98
When we first started reading this book in class, I didn't think I would like it because usually I don't like those kinds of books but I ended up really enjoying it. I liked the double narrative because you could tell how he was thinking and even though it might of been a little confusing the first couple chapters, it definitely became more understanding. I liked everything about this book. I thought the ending was very well written and was the best part to stop because if it went on any farther, it would of been hard to end it. I also enjoyed the blog posts, class discussions, etc.
ReplyDeletelcpink30
I really liked "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet". I liked the ending and how it didn't give a definite ending so you could decide for yourself what happened with Henry and Keiko. I liked the double narrative and I haven't seen it used in a book before so I found it very interesting and unique. I liked the double narrative because you could could see into Henry's adult life and how his childhood effected him as an adult, like how he went searching for the Oscar Holden record his whole life because he wanted something that would remind him of Keiko but he never told anyone why and was always secretive about her. I think that the double narrative made the book more interesting and made me want to read it even more to find out what happened to Henry and Keiko and why they weren't together anymore. Overall, I really liked this book and enjoyed reading it.
ReplyDeleteabgolfer
The book was actually a very well written novel. I didn't think that I would like this book because I'm not crazy about love books, but it was great to be honest. I like the most about this was the double narrative. I thought it was cool how we heard Henry's thoughts and feeling when he was an adult and a kid. For myself, I didn't like the ending. I didn't like that Henry came across the country to drink tea. I would have like it more if there was an "afterword". That would have helped, but everybody has there own say in what happened in the end of the novel.
ReplyDeletetsace12
My final thoughts on this book are that it was very well written and a very good read. Also after todays discussion it class i realized the ending was really what two adults would do if they haven't seen each other in so many years. Everyone thought they would be over dramatic about it and pour their hearts out to each other but that’s just not how it is in the real world.
ReplyDeletejkricosauve
After reading this novel I was very shocked. I had no idea that Henry would find Keiko and actually talk with her. All along I thought he was going to Re-Mary Keiko. Since the book started with Ethel dieing and then Keiko coming in I thought Henry and Keiko would get together. But after that shocking ending it all came to me. Henry loved Keiko but he gave up after all that time and went with Ethel. If I was Henry I highly doubt I would have waited for a girl for that long. I mean he waited for like what 4 years!? This book shows that even at such a young age as 12 or 13 that is the age boys turn into men.
ReplyDeleteahnighthawk!!
I have to say I really liked the double-narrative because the story would not have been good if it was all when Henry was a kid or all of when he was an adult. Jamie Ford did a great job of staying on the plot and keeping the story straight with all of the time changes. As like alot of people have been saying, the ending felt a little cut off. I think it should have stopped after Henry and Keiko's whole conversation not just the couple words that ended the book, but other than that I liked it alot.
ReplyDeletelfguns7
Over all, being completely honest…I LOVED THE BOOK! There is really no negative thing I could say about it. Now, I will admit I didn’t expect myself to like it. I’m more into vampires, fairies, etcetera.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that touched me the most in this novel was when Henry was at Bud’s Jazz Record’s.
“Some things just can’t be put back together. Some things can never be fixed. Two broken pieces can’t make s lot of anything anymore. But at least he had the broken pieces.”
I realized that that didn’t just mean the record. That it meant so much more. Like a broken heart for example.
I think that Henry and Keiko’s reunion was sweet, but a little too short. Maybe their conversation should have been prolonged just a little bit more.
Now, I would like to thank Jamie Ford for writing such an awesome, touching book.
HM Stormy97
I have said many times that I enjoyed Hotel, however, I could never fully put my opinion into words. I think, after finishing the novel w/ the class rather than when I'd finished it on my own, it helped me grasp what truly amazed me about Hotel.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, Jamie Ford did a magnificent job working with the double-narrative styling. I didn't know it was possible to show such character growth when you transition on such a large scale. However, I think that Henry grew up as both a 50-something yr. old and a 12 yr. old.
Second, I found myself exploring and enjoying a genre of literature I never had previously. I learned a lot, both historically and emotionally and was inspired and puzzled by Hotel.
One thing that, though sad, really stuck out to me was Henry's relationship with is father, and the damage to the fragile family caused by their differences. And one very last thing I found both debatable and phenomenal was the comparisons between Henry's heart and the broken record. I'm not positive it was meant to be written as one-in-the-same, but I felt that it was.
-rdRoxy4
Peace...
Unlike most forced novels we read for academic purposes, I actually enjoyed this book. It delivered well written history, entertainment and what I liked most about this book, was that it gave you room to come up with your own explanations or ideas and would let you think want you wanted to think, unlike other books where they give you a specific way to look upon another character. I definitely enjoyed the "in-class" discussions. I have never read a book such as this one before, combining history, pain and romance. My personal opinion on the ending was that it wasn't exactly what I had expected. To be honest, I was a little disappointed when I finished the book because of the ending. I expected more to happen once Henry got to New York, I thought him and Keiko would give another relationship a try. But I must say, the plot of the book was good enough to cover for the ending, which is my own opinion of course. Like i said before, I had never read a book such as HOTEL before, for the reasons I listed before and because of the double narrative styling, I found it very interesting and not quite as confusing as I thought it would be. I definitely think that Jamie Ford did a good job with making sure what time period he was in and that the reader would not get lost as to which Henry he was writing about.( I know there were the dates but those fly right over some people's heads). If there was one thing I could have changed, I think it would have to be how between the ages of 12 and in his teenage years, alot of what Henry did and said was left out. I do not know Mr. Ford's reasoning on this, but I believe it to be because he must have just sat around and waited for Keiko. Although I was very surprised at how mature young Henry acted for his age of 12 years old, because GOD knows that almost every male "thing" 12 years and even older don't even act half as mature as Henry did. I love the fact that he was so devoted at such a young age and he was one of the most brave and loyal boys I had ever seen..well read about in this case. Overall, I enjoyed the book and how Jamie Ford used his past experiences to really connect with the book along with the readers.
ReplyDelete:)
~lclorenzo5
Thanks for all the feedback and for your amazing and thoughtful comments! Have a great summer!
ReplyDeleteJamie