Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 12, 1994 TAG: 9406050133
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: E-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
By Irene Pollin, M.S.W., and Susan K. Golant. Random House. $22.
The authors have both made significant journeys. Ms. Pollin lost two children to congenital heart disease before embarking on her career as a professional counselor. Ms. Golant is the daughter of Holocaust survivors. Their experience exemplifies the concept of the "wounded healer" which suggests that counselors of any sort are enriched and ennobled in their ministry if they themselves have suffered.
The book is a distillation of many widely taught and practiced concepts into a simple readable guide to self-help. As the authors caution, the book is not a substitute for a competent and compassionate counselor but it surely serves as a handy reference and supplement to that counseling.
- SIDNEY BARRITT
Love and Infamy.
By Frank Deford. Viking. $24.
"Love and Infamy" is a strange novel about the events leading up to Pearl Harbor. It is strange because it comes at us from an unusual premise - that of the Japanese.
The book is the tale of two young men, Cotton Drake and Kiyoshi Serikawa. Cotton, the son of an American missionary, has been reared in Japan. His best friend Kiyoshi is Japanese, but raised and educated in the United States. Both love the Land of the Rising Sun, though with the growing tension between their two countries, they find they must oppose each other in defense of their native lands.
Following college, Cotton and Kiyoshi begin work for a shipping firm in Hawaii, but Cotton decides to become a missionary and returns to Japan after his ordination. There he becomes reacquainted with Kiyoshi's wife Miyuki - and since this is a novel, the minister falls in love with her. Kiyoshi is recruited by Admiral Yamamoto to spy for the homeland, in preparation for "Operation Z," the code-name for the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Deford follows the history with great accuracy. His fictional characters, who are quite believable, make the the story even more gripping. "Love and Infamy" is a great book, though Deford's grasp of the Japanese language sometimes leaves the reader behind.
- ROBERT ALOTTA
Odd One Out.
By Lou Kassem. Fawcett Juniper. $3.99 (paper).
High school junior Alison rejects her boyfriend's advances and a powerful school sorority. In depression she nearly fails a class. Then she meets the mysterious Tony and likes him in spite of herself. In mistaken anger, Alison sends Tony away and ...
"Odd One Out" is a quick young adult novel that tries to be more than a girl-meets-loses-wins-boy, but does not quite succeed. Perhaps in trying to make her story relevant, Blacksburg author Lou Kassem tackles too wide a scope of teenage problems - including parental pressures, teen-age depression, and date rape - to give the book any clear focus. Although Kassem obviously intends Alison's struggles with these problems to complement each other, they don't. The result is a jerky, unclear plot which jumps from one "relevant" problem to another. The climax, while unexpected, has the wrenching sensation of taking place in the wrong aspect of the story. The book offers no insights into any of the problems Alison confronts.
The strongest of Kassem's messages is that it's okay to want to be your own person, and not just what your parents, friends, and school expect.
-WENDY MORRIS
Sidney Barritt is a Roanoke physician.
Robert Alotta is a Harrisonburg writer.
Wendy Morris lives in Blacksburg and works in Roanoke.
by CNB