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Didn’t Like It “A Different Mirror is a very interesting book. It is a full take on American history through the eyes of an Asian immigrant. The book shows a new take on Columbus and his treatment of the Indians. It is slanted recollection of American events and how we have reacted to different people in our...” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“A Different Mirror is a very interesting book. It is a full take on American history through the eyes of an Asian immigrant. The book shows a new take on Columbus and his treatment of the Indians. It is slanted recollection of American events and how we have reacted to different people in our culture. The author of the book shares many untold sides of history. I would recommend to anyone who likes US history a lot and reading about different viewpoints. The book requires a very open mind however, because you have to differentiate between fact and opinion. ”
LUCY K wrote this review Tuesday, October 6 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I found this book to be pretty decent. Like "A People's History," I was assigned to read this book in my A.P. United States History class, and I also have the same opinion. This book was very fact-dense and often boring at times because of that, but I think Takaki does a pretty good job trying to make the stories interesting and realting everything back to the interesting topic of multicultural America and the significance that title contains.
Ilir N wrote this review Tuesday, June 16 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
In general, Takaki summarizes the significance of historical events pretty well, and I think this book is ideal for an advanced/college course student looking to gain as much factual knowledge as they can about American History. This book is more about social trends and events more than anything else, but nonetheless, it was very informative and a good read to partake in.”
“at the risk of sounding as though i'm belittling a great book, the most precise and accurate description of the book i can give is that its exactly like Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States" except way more toned down politically (some might say, less biased [i would not]) and focused entirely on immigrant and ethnic groups in america. Personally i found getting by this book to be difficult because it goes into such great detail about even the smallest historical events concerning Hawaiian sugar cane farmers for example. Its a good and honest effort, but simply not my kind of book. That is to say, it isnt a bad book by any means, my distaste for it is not general but very specific. I didn't enjoy reading it that much but i have the utmost respect for takaki as a writer, especially for creating such an all encomapssing book on such a specific subject. By contrast I really liked the part about how the irish were treated by the english in the middle ages and how closely it resembled the way they treated the Indians (though its possible that that was actually in the Howard Zinn book).”
JEAN FRANCOIS F wrote this review Sunday, June 14 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“It was interesting to read this book while studying American History. This book was especially great during a project about immigration. I was able to get a great view of various immigrants and select two groups, Irish immigrants and Japanese immigrants, and study the various ways there were treated and accepted into this growing society. For that project, this was basically my biggest and best source during that project.
DAVID S wrote this review Sunday, June 14 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
This book was also a great source in the beginning of the year during the first Unit pertaining to Christopher Columbus, because Takaki provided the views of Columbus that aren't always shared. Overall, the views presented in this book give a wider view of the history of our nation.”
“This is a interesting book about the different minorities in the United States. It tells the stories of the people and their hardships that they faced in their lives. It talks about immigration and the reasons for the immigrants emigrate. Ronald Takaki also explains how the groups of minority fought for their rights and how they changed the society around them.
Kevin C wrote this review Friday, June 12 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
I think this book does a very good job in telling the story of the people in America that are no recognized in history. It tells the story of the minorities, which is not taught in American History in school.
I think that this book is for everyone that is interested in American History. It is a interesting book with an story that is not known by most people. ”
“I had to read this book for my History class and this was a pretty good read. Takaki writes in many different viewpoints which I thought was very unique. What made this book stand out from other history books is because Takaki doesn't limit himself to one group's perspective, but a whole bunch. "A different Mirror" gives us insight of different cultural groups in the United States. This was very informative since we get to see how different groups lived and were treated.
JENNY A wrote this review Thursday, June 11 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
I would recommend this book to all United States history lovers. This is a great book for people who are interested in the lives of people from other cultures. This was a great book to compare the different cultures in America.”“Very similar to Huntington's Who Are We? Takaki's take on the American Identity is a bit different. He brings up his own cultral experience as an Americanized Japanese man. Takaki analyzes various pieces of history in order to establish this "different mirror" or the side o ourselves that we don't really see. ”
CHRISTIAN G wrote this review Friday, March 27 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Like the other two books read for my history class this year, A Different Mirror presents History in a manner that does not let the reader lose interest quickly. Takaki presents American history through a different perspective: a multicultural perspective. To truly understand history one has to learn it through all possible perspectives. There is always more than one side to a story and Takaki ensures that it is presented. From the Indians to the Mexicans, Takaki presents a multicultural history of the U.S.”
Dylan Y wrote this review Sunday, March 8 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“This book was pretty awesome! However, at the time I actually kind of despised reading it because it was for just one class out of my 5 that semester. But looking back, it was well worth the time spent.”
Michael B wrote this review Friday, February 1 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
