Go

 

Go by Kazuki Kaneshiro
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

At the time of this review, the GR average for Go was 3.63 stars which is probably where I'd put it. Such an interesting point of view: a Korean in Japan, otherwise known as Zainichi. Sugihara has been bullied in school because of his heritage and has become a proficient fighter as a result. Slightly hot-headed, he grapples with the idea of nationality vs. heritage--where should his loyalties lie? If you speak the language, eat the food, agree with the politics, are you not a member of the nation? But if your history also includes a race that has been discriminated against do you owe that history and culture a certain amount of loyalty? What if it keeps you from loving someone? Or keeps them from loving you? Sugihara struggles with these questions of identity while navigating school, family, friends, and first love. While extremely intriguing, the writing was a little stilted, which could be part of the frustrations of translation--I have found many Japanese-translated books have a similar style-- so I question whether my opinion is criticism of the writing ,my ignorance of Japanese expression, or just one of those things lost in translation.

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I was just living with the circumstances that I happened to be born into.