review 1: Judul: Twenty Four Eyes (二十四の瞳/Nijushi no Hitomi)Penulis: Sakae TsuboiPublikasi: Jepang, 1952Sungguh cerita yang menyentuh hati. Perjalanan hidup para tokoh benar-benar menggambarkan susahnya kehidupan pada zaman perang modern. Tragis, namun nyata. Novel ini mampu membuka mata generasi muda yang hidup serba berkecukupan. Sebagian besar dari generasi muda sekarang tidak merasakan perjuangan hidup orang terdahulu, tapi melalui novel ini; susahnya hidup, perjuangan untuk sekolah, perang yang memisahkan keluarga, cinta, kasih sayang, suka dan duka, serta hidup dan mati, semua dikemas dalam masa hidup dua belas anak.Dalam novel ini, tidak disinggung hal-hal yang berkaitan dengan penyebab perang. Kisahnya hanyalah sebatas pada keeratan seorang guru dengan dua belas mur... moreidnya. Ini adalah sebuah kisah tentang guru yang penuh kasih sayang dan dua belas anak yang dulunya polos. review 2: 'Twenty-four eyes' tells the story of Miss Hisako Koishi and the twelve children she teaches at different points in their lives. From the minute Miss Koishi arrives on Shodoshima Island in March 1928, she is seen as 'modern' because she wears Western clothes and rides a bicycle, at the time, Japan is going through a change with the first election of the new Universal Suffrage Act taking place in February of the same year.Shodoshima Island is a small island where all of the inhabitants (including the children) work hard, which Miss Oishi (the nickname given it to her by the fifth grade students because oishi means 'big stone' and Miss Koishi is the opposite by being so small) understands but feels sad for their future because most of them have their futures mapped out for them, with the boys joining the army and the girls marrying young. As the story progresses you see Miss Oishi, who eventually becomes Mrs Oishi (because she is an only child and with no brothers to carry on the family name, tradition states that her husband takes her name as he becomes part of the family) and the children at different points in their lives, the backdrop being the war and prior to that various other military activity, Mrs Oishi feels strongly about the war but does not share her thoughts or feelings as it is frowned upon, they are told they must embrace the fighting, accept that any men that died have died for a reason, which Mrs Oishi cannot accept as she loses her husband and some of the boys from her class, time continues and Mrs Oishi finds herself teaching the children of the children which she originally taught, a scene which is poignant in the book as she reads all their names for the class register and remembers their parents, uncles, aunts, etc. I thought 'Twenty-four eyes' was a lovely read, Mrs Oishi's relationship with the children is shown well, and you can see how much she cares and loves the children. The war is an aspect of the story but it is not just about the war, its about the children's lives and how they develop and how some of lost their lives to the war and how the others grow into adults and have their own children, showing that life goes on. Highly recommended. less
