29 June 2010
Book Review: A Million Shades of Gray by Cynthia Kadohata
Filed under reading
A Million Shades of Gray by Cynthia Kadohata
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I didn’t know there were tribal agrarian peoples in Vietnam who were not officially involved in the war. I don’t think I’m especially ignorant about these things, so I admit I was surprised to learn about the Rhade people, a tribe in the southern part of that country, some of whom helped American Special Forces to navigate the Vietnam jungles.
This is the best thing Cynthia Kadohata‘s A Million Shades of Gray has going for it. The story of Y’Tin, a young elephant handler who longs to quit school so that he may pursue his dream of training other elephant handlers, is a glimpse at a culture I was completely unaware of. After the signing of the 1973 Paris Peace Accords, the Americans leave a Vietnam that is divided North and South, assuring the Rhade that if the armies of the North should aggressively move into the South, they will return to help.
Y’Tin is the youngest elephant handler his village has ever seen. Although he is a talented tracker and his father is a successful tobacco farmer, elephants are his passion and he is sure he will spend the rest of his life caring for them. But the northern armies are moving south, and the Americans don’t seem to be coming back. Y’Tin is worried about what his village will do in response as his way of life and the survival of his people are thrown into jeopardy.
It’s an interesting story, but largely unsatisfying. Y’Tin’s character is rather shallowly defined, and although Kadohata’s descriptions of everyday life in his village are interesting, her story feels flat and it doesn’t resolve well. I am currently a few chapters into Kadohata’s Weedflower, and already it has the deep, poetic, heartbreaking beauty I remember from her Newbery-winning Kira-Kira. A Million Shades of Gray lacks that depth, and although it’s a pretty good read, it’s fair to call this one a mild disappointment.
2010-06-29 :: me
7 July 2010 @ 9:13 pm
Have you read In the Heart of the Valley of Love by this author? I highly recommend it.