About this title: It is 1959 when Haruko marries the Crown Prince of Japan. Thirty years later, now Empress herself, she plays a crucial role in persuading another young woman to accept the marriage proposal of her son, with consequences both tragic and dramatic.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Edition: Hardcover First Edition, First Printing
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Nan a Talese, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780385515719ISBN:0385515715
Description: New, never Read, Not a Rem in New jacket. Hardcover with DJ. New, never read, not a remainder. read more
Edition: Advanced Reading Copy.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Nan A. Talese
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780385515719ISBN:0385515715
Description: Very good. No dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 368 p. Audience: General/trade. (ADVANCE READING COPY)-Appears to be gently read! Minor shelf and edge wear, no markings or highlighting. Cover has some scuffing and minor scratches. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Nan A. Talese
Date Published: 1/22/2008
ISBN-13:9780385515719ISBN:0385515715
Description: New. FIRST EDITION STATED. Hardback w/ DJ. Enjoyable reading copy for your personal pleasure. You are buying a Book in NEW condition with very light shelf wear to include very light edge and corner wear. Buy it Now! ! ! As always, thank you for buying this book from International Book Source, YOUR ONE source FOR ALL your BOOK related NEEDS. Please remember to CHOOSE carefully how QUICKLY you would like to RECEIVE this material FAST, or standard (on next page). Thanks again! ! ! ! read more
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Nan A. Talase / Doubleday, New York
Date Published: 2008
Description: Very Good. No Jacket as Issued. Advance Reading Copy (ARC) 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. A4-A bound galley trade paperback in very good condition that has 2.25" tear with chipping and crease on the front bottom, some wrinkling and crease, and light shelf wear. John Burnham Schwartz, acclaimed author of the brilliant Reservation Road, now gives us an imaginative tour de force inspired by the dramatic real-life stories of the reigning empress and crown princess of Japan. 9.25"x6", 305 pages. ... read more
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Nan A. Talase / Doubleday, New York
Date Published: 2008
Description: Very Good. No Jacket as Issued. Advance Reading Copy (ARC) 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. BT5-A bound galley trade paperback in very good condition that has light discoloration and shelf wear. John Burnham Schwartz, acclaimed author of the brilliant Reservation Road, now gives us an imaginative tour de force inspired by the dramatic real-life stories of the reigning empress and crown princess of Japan. 9.25"x6", 305 pages. Satisfaction Guaranteed. read more
"This novel was good, but could be better. The story idea is fantastic, based in 1959 when a "common" girl, Haruko, marries the crown prince of Japan. Readers get a brief glimpse of her life before she literally hands it over, seeing life in Tokyo during world war two, her education, her childhood friend, and her close relationship with her parents, namely her dad. Here I have one complaint. When she meets the prince and begins to "court him" there is complete lack of emotions among all involved. Never does it say why she accepts his marriage proposal. At a later date she says she loved him but I never got this vibe once throughout the novel. They are cordial to each other, but very unemotional. A few years into her marriage and after a generous amount of insults and criticisms from the grand empress (her mother in law), Haruko becomes severly depressed and loses her voice. I had a hard time feeling pity for her tho. I mean, can one really expect to marry the most famous and watched person of Japan and proceed to live a normal, happy life? Her parents did warn her. Eventually, Haruko recovers her voice and becomes grand empress herself and convinces another young, promising woman to follow in her own footsteps by marrying her son. Basically, she leads another woman into captive misery. However, Haruko redeems herself of this grave error by the end of the book."
"The Commoner was a pleasant surprise. Not the return to geisha-land that I'd envisioned when my book club selected it, this story about young Haruto, the first non-arisocratic woman to marry into the sealed Japanese monarchy when she weds the Crown Prince, has layers of story to savor. Haruto's kind and supportive parents, the mean-spirited Empress, vacant Emperor, the stifling trappings, ritual and isolation of the royal palace come vividly to life. Schwartz casts a different light on the saying "you can never go home again" when Haruto tries to recapture her relationship with her parents and housekeeper, then experiences their deference, distance and awe at her new role. These passages and those about the rearing of her son were the most touching in the book. Later, as Empress, she confronts the realization that she is doing unto her son's wife what was once done to her.
The Commoner kept me intrigued and involved throughout."
"I enjoyed the book overall and found it easy to read, however I was hoping for something that would move me and engross me in Japanese culture the way Memoirs of a Geisha did. The Commoner did not. Schwartz did not develop any of the characters as much as I would have liked. He took the basic story of the current Emperor of Japan and his family and made it fiction ,but didn't breathe any fresh life into it. I won't make excuses for him because he was a man writing in the voice of a woman, Arthur Gold did it brilliantly in Memoirs of a Geisha for example. Overall, not bad at all, but not a great novel. If you haven't read Memoirs of a Geisha, I highly recommend it instead."
"I really wavered between a 3 and a 4 on this book. There were a handful of times as I was reading, when the author used a completely unlikely or unbelievable excuse to explain away why Haruko knew or felt something she ought not have. For example, during a tennis match with the Crown Prince, Haruko describes her tennis partner, an American teenager, as someone who likely came from the American Middle West. Schwartz half-attempts to explain how Haruko might know this, which makes the gaffe even worse - he knew she shouldn't know this, yet he put it in anyway. It was times like that, when Schwartz's voice broke through the narritive while still pretending to be Haruko's, that instantly sucked me out of the story. It is a shame, because those few instances of sloppy writing really marred an otherwise engaging narrative.
The author also glosses over so much of the story - we're told that the Crown Prince became interested in Haruko because she dared to beat him at a game of tennis, and because she spoke her mind. Yet, after the marriage, she is no longer free to be Haruko. Could he still love her if she changed so much? Wouldn't this affect their relationship? It is impossible to tell from the book, as the story of their love is completely flat before and after the wedding.
I also have to agree with a previous reviewer who found that the book didn't capture her attention as well for the first 150 pages or so. The ending was also unbelievable - it felt like he didn't know how to wrap it up, and wanted to give it a happy ending, so cranked out one last chapter. That said, I did have a hard time putting the book down for the second half of the book, so I went with 4 stars, despite my reservations."
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