Venue: Online
Date: Thursday, 25th June 2020
Time: 18:00-19:30

In this session of the Dialogue Society Book Group, we will explore Yokohama, California by Toshio Mori on Thursday, 25th June at 6pm.

Publisher's synopsis of Yokohama, California by Toshio Mori

Captures the experience of first and second-generation Japanese Americans in twenty-two vignettes. All but two of the stories were written before World War II and take place in the 1930s and early 1940s. These pre-war stories share a common narrator -- a young Japanese American man, still living at home, interacting with various others in his community.

The narrator, who is never identified by name, visits the homes and workplaces in the community -- even works in a nursery for a while himself -- and occasionally wanders as far afield as San Francisco. The people whose characters he captures are as uniquely human as anyone anywhere, concerned with occupational success for themselves and their children and with maintaining ties with those around them.

About the Dialogue Society Book Group

The Dialogue Society Book Group explores the capacity of books to provide windows into different cultural and intercultural worlds. We will be choosing a series of quality novels to read and then to discuss together at relaxed, sociable gatherings at the Dialogue Society. Participants are welcome to suggest books for future sessions.

Participants will need to find a copy of the book chosen for each meeting and will need to read it prior to the meeting.

We will have a conversation about the book and our responses to it. Discussion may cover:

• the quality of the storytelling
• the authenticity and accuracy with which a historical/cultural situation is portrayed
• our personal responses to it

You do not need to be an expert on literature or anything else to join in. The group should be enjoyable for anyone who enjoys a good book and likes discovering new ones.

Prospective books for future sessions (NB we are open to suggestions)

• Arab in America, by Toufic El Rassi
• Buddha in the Attic, Julie Otsuka
• Independent People, Halldor Laxness
• Nervous Conditions, Tsitsi Dangarembga