3 out of 4 stars
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In Plum Rains on Happy House, Michael A. Greco took his own experiences living in Japan to form the personality of main character Lawrence Thornberry, an American theology major who moved to Japan to teach English, and the very odd sidekicks he encounters. Following the image that the title explains, this novel's events centered around the "rains which came down with a startling new force; a declaration of what controlled the realm of Japan's early summer." Throughout the book, Greco highlights the multiple peculiarities of the environment, such as the nicknames given to the characters. He explains that people aren't born with a peculiar taste, rather that it's "more of an acquired characteristic."
This book is divided by chapter, each allowing the reader to be engaged directly with a character, who is identified as a crow. Lawrence, who "did not desert his commitments", took shelter in a three-story house that took more than it gave. Greco did a fantastic job of using Lawrence's pros to accentuate his cons. Greco uses the main character's adjustment period to a new culture, which included a honeymoon, frustration, and acceptance phase, as a way to measure time.
I really enjoyed that this storyline was hard to predict. As I read, my mouth would often pop open because of a surprising encounter that a character would have. For example, the novel was sprinkled with quick-witted, sometimes crude, jokes that even the most mature person could find hilarious. There were many funny language translations that were so close to being correct. One of my favorite ones was seen on a shirt that read "crap your hands" instead of "clap your hands."
There wasn't anything that I disliked about this book, but it could benefit from a little less sexual references. Some of these were found to be funny, but didn't seem to compliment what was happening in the scene. Many scenes bordered on erotic. I understand Greco's use to refer to the main character by his nickname, Ichiban, Japanese for the number one. However, there were many instances when Ichiban was not capitalized. Transitioning between scenes was sometimes hard to follow.
In result of a few grammatical errors, I rate Plum Rains on Happy House 3 out of 4 stars. I recommend this book to young adults who are adjusting to a new environment and language translators. This book might appeal to older readers of various backgrounds due to it's ability to include the reader in the story. This book contains profanity.
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Plum Rains on Happy House
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