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Beyond The Blossoming Fields (1970)

by Junichi Watanabe(Favorite Author)

3.5 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

1846880645 (ISBN13: 9781846880643)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Alma Books

review 1: The story of the first female doctor in Japan, fictionalized to add dialog and to fill in the gaps of what is known, kept my interest despite the writing being a bit wooden. From reading other Japanese work, that just seems to be the style of writing versus the lush show-don't tell American preference. Gingko forges a hard, independent path for a Japanese woman and you have to admire her inner strength and persistence, quite a feat in those days. The book gave insight to the hardships of women, the education system of the time, and the presence of Christianity in Japan.
review 2: This semi-fictionalised biography of Ginko Ogina, the first woman medical doctor in Japan falls in between a historical novel and proper biography. The first half or so of the book tel... morels us the story of the struggles of Ginko against her family and the society at large as she pursues with an admirable determination her aim to become a trained and licensed female doctor. One can empathise with her as she overcomes the physical pain and shame of being infected by gonorrhea through her husband to fight against every possible prejudice against women in 1870s Japan. But the style (it may be due to the translation) is very simplistic and you can never really get under her skin and her character remains remote and unfeeling. This is especially true of the later half which describes her at the forefront of women's right movement and her subsequent conversion to Christianity and marriage to an idealistic aspiring minister several years younger to her. And that's when the whole thing just starts spiralling downwards. It is hard to relate the woman who dealt with loneliness, disrespect and chauvinism that even leads to an abortice gang-rape to this woman who follows her husband's naive and foolhardy schemes into wilderness. The ultra-moralistic tone she adopts in the second half also makes her seem quite heartless. The abrupt way in which the last couple of decades of her life is dealt with in a few paragraphs with a brevity that reminds you of a concise precis rather than an inspiring historical novel (or even biography!) less

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