Nov 25, 2011
This is a truly forgotten novel, and it's so charming! The American occupation forces in Okinawa attempt to enforce the American Way of Life on Japanese villagers, but two marooned geisha girls show everyone the real meaning of Japanese civilisation. Vern Sneider's The Tea-House of the August Moon was made into a 1956 film with Marlon Brando, but the book has the hidden depths of a mature saki or a porcelain tea cup. For readers who like to take their tea-breaks on tatami mats looking out onto a stream flowing through a grove of pine trees.
As someone who has lived on Okinawa twice, for a total of nearly four years, I found a lot to like in this book. Sneider captured the spirit and pace of the Okinawans, and his account of life on the island during the early years of the American occupation was enlightening. It made me a bit homesick!