The Color of Air: A Novel
By: Gail Tsukiyama / Narrated By: Brian Nishii, Natalie Naudus
Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
Maybe…? Had this been m’ First Gail Tsukiyama novel…?
Big Sis and I truly, truly liked the beJESus outta Tsukiyama’s The Samurai’s Garden. It was simply lovely in its simplicity, great and leisurely unfolding of characters, plus it had a tremendous(ly) understated background of Japan’s invasion of China with all its brutality. Throw in that our heroine there suffered leprosy? Gosh, it was quite simply well crafted, well done.
So when The Color of Air turned up as the winner of My Next Listen (By a LANDSLIDE!), I was, like, woohoo! and what, how, shall I be engaged and delighted by a story that also featured characters going through a fraught era, with Union labor strife, and Mauna Loa erupting… all in the background for this one. Quiet simplicity? Oh, doooo, pleeease, Tsukiyama: Delight me, yes?
Uhm… welllll…
It’s like this see: The writing is okay. The characters are okay. The background is okay. It’s decently crafted, okay? And I’m sure that, had this been m’ introduction to a Tsukiyama creation? Well, no doubt I would’ve found it to be a jolly decent little tale, even considering it dabbles in a bit of a Dual-Timeline structure… something I generally am not too terribly fond of.
After an unfortunate occurrence at the Big-Time Chicago hospital that islander Daniel Abe has been working at sends him reeling… and on his way back to the Hawaiian island he called home, there will be a few confrontations with the Past, and a few secrets shall come to light.
And thaaaat’s about it.
I’m serious. Now to be quite fair, I’m sure others can kvetch a bit about The Samurai’s Garden being just as Light On Plot, and whazza? I gave that one a pass?
Uhm, yeh. Cuz with that one, our characters were good-hearted individuals doing their best, growing past their own boundaries, behaving with true and kind and gracious affection.
Here? Okay, Uncle Koji is the best character there was in the story. After Daniel’s father deserted the family when he was but a youngster, Koji stepped in, always assisting Daniel’s mom, Mariko, and quietly holding a torch for her. As time goes on, we see that from the get-go. Daniel’s father was a restless and unreliable gadabout, one who was forever ditching Mariko, and one who got into all sorts of unsavory scrapes.
Hence, The Big Secret that comes to light and that is used to pencil in all sorts of Fraught Happenings and Emotionally Evocative Confrontations. Spoiler? Hmm, kinda sorta, but I do believe it’s done in the name of Saving You Time/Money… Turns out, oh waaaaay back when, Daniel’s dad came back, and he was headed over to harass Mariko. He’d gotten himself into trouble, needed a whole lotta money, and he was going to push her into selling her home.
Koji, at the time, gave the man all his savings, and then things got Uber FRAUGHT complete with fisticuffs and knife-wielding/slashing.
Now, of COURSE Koji comes out absoLUTEly blameless after Tsukiyama unfolds the happening, but you see, Daniel flips his lid. All HE knows is that he’d forever wished to see his dad again, and here Uncle Koji (Who’s more like the only Father Figure he’s known) went and kept it all a secret. And so he throws hissy fits, storms off, almost wrecks a truck not his own, and then later goes off and bolts when lava spews, thereby almost costing someone else their very life. Oh, and he whines, bitches, and moans about his sense of betrayal to his long lost love of a high school sweetheart, snaps at her bitterly.
And did I mention his girlfriend is twitchy and jumpy cuz she’s juuuust run from an abusive dude? Thereby making her really, really jumpy when Daniel snaps at her bitterly?
I can never say anything bad about Brian Nishii as a narrator, but here I’ll just ding him a weeee bit because I truly wanted to throttle Daniel at points, especially since Nishii does Daniel’s nasal whiiiine so very well. And Natalie Naudus was brilliant. She handled the earlier timeframe where we see how Mariko developed and became a strong, emotionally strong, and capable woman after the unceremonious dumping. Naudus also handles all male voices well, makes Koji a masculine and hard-working figure, worthy of the trust and acceptance that he finds with Mariko and Daniel. So Bravo, Nishii; Brava, Naudus!
Okay okay okay. I see, after composing this review, that p’raps I liked this, The Color of Air, somewhat less than I thought at first. So I’ll just add that, while the writing is unassuming and quiet, and the crafting is unpretentious and decently done, I just gotta say it: The characters? ALL okay except for our Hero, Daniel.
Him? I wanted to dropkick.
Him? I wanted to get a wakeup call.
Him? I wanted to bypass so that other, more well-developed and multi-faceted, characters could get airtime.
Him? Well, he kinda sorta ruined a jolly decent Listen…
And had this indeed been m’ first Gail Tsukiyama novel? Yikes! It may well’ve been m’ last…
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