Sayonara

Zusatztext A master storyteller . . . Michener! by any standards! is a phenomenon. The Wall Street Journal Sentence for sentence! writing's fastest attention grabber. The New York Times Michener has become an institution in America! ranking somewhere between Disneyland and the Library of Congress. You learn a lot from him. Chicago Tribune While he fascinates and engrosses! Michener also educates. Los Angeles Times Informationen zum Autor James A. Michener Klappentext A brilliant tale of love and war! SAYONARA tells the story of Major Lloyd Gruver! son of an army general stationed in Japan! dating a general's daughter! and happy with his life. He didn't understand the soldiers who fell in love with Japanese girls. Then he met Hana-ogi. After that nothing mattered anymore. Nothing but her.... On April 4, 1952, I shot down my sixth and seventh MIGs. It happened up near the Yalu River and when I returned to base at J-10 I was excited. The Air Force doctor took one look at me and said, Gruver, you've had it. Boy, they were sweet words. They meant I was through flying for a while. But since I'm a West Point man I felt obligated to appear eager before the flight surgeon who had been called back from civilian life, pot belly and all. So I frowned and said, Nothing wrong with me, Doc. A bottle of beer'll fix me up. That's right, the doc agreed. He had taken my eagerness seriously and for a minute I felt a little sick inside. I didn't want to fly any more. Not just then. I wanted to appear rough and ready but I also wanted some solid chairborne duty. But the doc was smart. He laughed and said, Don't turn pale, Gruver. I was only kidding. I never take this hero stuff seriously. I relaxed and said, Thanks. I could use some Korean sleep. It's even better than that, Doc said, putting away his stethoscope. You're going back to Japan! From the way he said this you knew he thought Japan was paradise, but I'd been through the place and it never impressed me much. Dirty streets, little paper houses, squat men and fat round women. I had never understood why some Air Force people got so steamed up about Japan. I said, If you go for Japan, I suppose it's good news. I'd just as soon rest up right here at J-10. Doc said, You mean you never tangled with any of those beautiful Japanese dolls at Tachikawa? I said, I'm a four-star general's son. I don't tangle with Japanese dolls, beautiful or not. Doc looked at me sorrowfully and said, Chum, you're sicker than I thought. I hadn't meant to sound stuffy, but when you know your outfit sort of has you ticketed for fast promotion right through to colonel and maybe one-star general by the time you're thirty-five, a lot of the ordinary razzle-dazzle connected with military life doesn't impress you. On the other hand, I had always tried not to act superior to reserve officers just because they were civilians at heart. I said, I'll think of you, Doc, when I hit those clean Tokyo sheets and that good Tokyo beer. He shook his head with a tricky little leer and said, For you, Chum, it ain't gonna be Tokyo. For youspecial orders. Like a warning flash and without my actually thinking the word I blurted, Kobe? Yep, Chum! You made it. Instinctively I put my left hand on my hip and felt for my wallet. I said, About these special orders? Were they from General Webster? Yep, Chum! You're in. He gripped his hands in a tight little ball and winked at me. Why wouldn't one general look after another general's son? I had always known the doc to be a second-class sort of guy and I refused to be drawn into an argument. I played his game and said, It'...

ldquo;A master storyteller . . . Michener, by any standards, is a phenomenon.”—The Wall Street Journal
 
“Sentence for sentence, writing’s fastest attention grabber.”—The New York Times
 
“Michener has become an institution in America, ranking somewhere between Disneyland and the Library of Congress. You learn a lot from him.”—Chicago Tribune
 
“While he fascinates and engrosses, Michener also educates.”—Los Angeles Times

Auteur

James A. Michener

Texte du rabat

A brilliant tale of love and war, SAYONARA tells the story of Major Lloyd Gruver, son of an army general stationed in Japan, dating a general's daughter, and happy with his life. He didn't understand the soldiers who fell in love with Japanese girls. Then he met Hana-ogi. After that nothing mattered anymore. Nothing but her....

Résumé
From a great master of historical fiction comes a brilliant tale of love amid war. James A. Michener combines powerful storytelling with deep sensitivity in this novel of a U.S. Army man who, against all odds, falls for a fascinating Japanese woman. Stationed in the exotic Far East, Major Lloyd Gruver considers himself lucky. The son of a general, dating the daughter of another powerful military family, he can look forward to a bright future. And he just can’t understand guys like Private Joe Kelly, who throw away their lives in the States by marrying local girls. But then Lloyd meets Hana-ogi. After that, nothing matters anymore . . . nothing but her.
 
Praise for James A. Michener
 
“A master storyteller . . . Michener, by any standards, is a phenomenon.”—The Wall Street Journal
 
“Sentence for sentence, writing’s fastest attention grabber.”—The New York Times
 
“Michener has become an institution in America, ranking somewhere between Disneyland and the Library of Congress. You learn a lot from him.”—Chicago Tribune
 
“While he fascinates and engrosses, Michener also educates.”—Los Angeles Times

Échantillon de lecture
On April 4, 1952, I shot down my sixth and seventh MIGs. It happened up near the Yalu River and when I returned to base at J-10 I was excited. The Air Force doctor took one look at me and said, “Gruver, you’ve had it.”
 
Boy, they were sweet words. They meant I was through flying for a while. But since I’m a West Point man I felt obligated to appear eager before the flight surgeon who had been called back from civilian life, pot belly and all. So I frowned and said, “Nothing wrong with me, Doc. A bottle of beer’ll fix me up.”
 
“That’s right,” the doc agreed.
 
He had taken my eagerness seriously and for a minute I felt a little sick inside. I didn’t want to fly any more. Not just then. I wanted to appear rough and ready but I also wanted some solid chairborne duty.
 
But the doc was smart. He laughed and said, “Don’t turn pale, Gruver. I was only kidding. I never take this hero stuff seriously.”
 
“I relaxed and said, “Thanks. I could use some Korean sleep.”
 
“It’s even better than that,” Doc said, putting away his stethoscope. “You’re going back to Japan!”
 
From the way he said this you knew he thought Japan was paradise, but I’d been through the place and it never impressed me much. Dirty streets, little paper houses, squat men and fat round women. I had never understood why some Air Force people got so steamed up about Japan.
I said, “If you go for Japan, I suppose it’s good news. I’d just as soon rest up right here at J-10.”
 
“Doc said, “You mean you never tangled with any of those beautiful Japanese dolls at Tachikawa?”
 
I said, “I’m a four-star general’s son. I don’t tangle with Japanese dolls, beautiful or not.”
 
Doc looked at me sorrowfully and said, “…