Shipwrecks (Harvest Book) (Canons)

by Akira Yoshimura

Mark Ealey (Translator)

In a coastal village in medieval Japan, a young boy called Isaku battles to keep his family alive against the odds. With his father gone, Isaku is forced to grow up well before his time. He must learn how to catch fish, how to distil salt, and about all the mysteries of the vast churning sea, not least the legend of O-fune-sama, of ships wrecked offshore providing the village with unexpected bounty.

When a ship founders on the rocks, Isaku and the villagers rejoice. Long have they prayed for the sea's gifts. But the cargo is not at all the blessing they hoped for. At first mystifying, then terrifying, something dark is coming ashore and it's about to change their lives forever.

• ISBN10: 0156008351
• ISBN13: 9780156008358
• Publish Date: 1 February 2000 (first published 1 June 1996)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Houghton Mifflin
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 192
• Language: English

Reviews

[nannah]

Wow, I'm almost not sure what to say about this book. I don't think I've read many like it before.

Book content warnings:
suicide
domestic abuse mention

Shipwrecks is a historical fiction novel (that kind of reads like a nonfiction novel ??) that literally transports you to a tiny fishing village in Japan. The village is very poor, often fighting starvation, and sells able-bodied men and women to the next village into bondage. Every winter, the village's people light fires to lure O-fune-sama to their reef. Basically, to lure cargo ships to their ruin.

The book almost seems coming-of-age, but mostly, it's like a documentary (as told from the inside, of course). It takes place over many years, many hardships, many deaths, and a couple joys. This isn't the typical book I review, so I'm not sure how to handle it.

Except for that it's so interesting and horribly satisfying how O-fune-sama, the saving grace of the village, also became the village's destroyer in the end (for the most part).

I can't say I really enjoyed this book, but it didn't ever lose my interest.