May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, making it a great time to celebrate the richness of these cultures through art. Below, three librarians recommend books, films, and collections, all available through the UVA Library’s catalog.
Recommended by Bret Heddleston, Print Periodicals Specialist
Akira Kurosawa: Adaptations and originals
When I heard that the famous Japanese director Akira Kurosawa adapted a favorite novel of mine, “The Idiot” by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, the UVA Library was the only place I could find the phenomenal, but not well-known adaptation. It’s still the best way to see it for free!
Since then, I’ve discovered that his most famous movie, “Rashomon,” took its premise from “In a Bamboo Grove,” a short story by Ryunosuke Akutagawa though its title and setting are from another story. You can read both of these, as well as other Akutagawa stories at the Library after or before watching the movie on Kanopy or DVD.
His similarly famous adaptation of “Macbeth,” “Throne of Blood,” is also on Kanopy and DVD, but so are streaming and DVD versions of “Ran,” his adaptation of “King Lear.” I enjoyed comparing each to the excellent performances of the plays by Shakespeare on the Lawn. But he also did an adaptation of “Hamlet” called “The Bad Sleep Well,” so maybe I will get to make another comparison next time they perform “Hamlet” . . .
Even the first Kurosawa movie I saw, “Dreams,” has a vignette, “The Blizzard,” that echoes the story “Yuki-Onna” collected in Lafcadio Hearn’s “Kwaidan.” Hearn was not so much Japanese American as American Japanese (or even Euro-American Japanese). If you’re curious about him, you can read not just his published books but even his unpublished papers at UVA Library. (Read more about Hearn’s papers in Special Collections below.)
Recommended by Shannon McCullough, Science and Engineering Research Librarian
“Crying in H Mart” by Michelle Zauner (Alfred A. Knopf, 2021)
“Save your tears for when your mother dies” is a refrain often asserted by Michelle Zauner’s mother in Zauner’s deeply emotional and moving memoir, although you may find that difficult to do when reading this story! In “Crying in H Mart,” Zauner shares about her life growing up Korean American with a focus on her relationship with her mother.
Zauner also explores identity, belonging, grief and loss of a parent, access to cultural heritage, and parent/child relationships in her narrative. Food is centrally featured because Zauner uses food to connect to her mother and her Korean identity. Likewise, music also plays a big role in the story — Zauner may be better known as the founder and lead musician of Japanese Breakfast, an indie-pop band. She provides insight into the time of her life when she wrote most of their debut album, and understanding the context makes the music more meaningful. A compelling memoir from a multifaceted and multitalented artist, “Crying in H Mart” is story that will stick with you long after putting it down.
“Little Fires Everywhere” by Celeste Ng (Penguin, 2017)
A character-driven and thoughtfully paced story that explores themes of class, race, motherhood, and family secrets, “Little Fires Everywhere” is Celeste Ng’s second novel. Set in Shaker Heights, Ohio, the story features a few key families in the community and exposes how small-town America provides a framework that can be either a bolster or a hindrance to individuals’ lives. This story evokes questions without clear answers, and readers are challenged to examine their own preconceived notions of what should or should not be allowed on issues such as trans-racial adoption, immigration, artistic expression, and motherhood.
Recommended by Yuki Hibben, Associate Librarian and Curator of Print Culture in Special Collections
Highlights from the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
Guanhailou (觀海樓) Collection
The Guanhailou Collection includes over 500 East Asian printed and calligraphic works dating from the 12th to 21st centuries. Collected by scholar Edgren Soren and acquired by UVA Library through a partnership with the Rare Book School, the Guanhailou Collection features ink rubbings, scrolls, wood block prints, illustrated texts, early examples of printing using moveable type, and important Buddhist texts. Approximately 350 items in the collection, primarily Chinese, can be accessed through the library catalog and examined in the Special Collections Library Reading Room. The remaining books are held by the Rare Book School for instructional purposes.
Lafcadio Hearn Collection
Lafcadio Hearn/Yakumo Koizumi (1850 – 1904) was a Greek and Irish writer widely credited for introducing Japanese culture and folklore to a Western audience through books such as “Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan” (1894) and “Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things” (1904). Born in Greece and educated in Ireland, Hearn worked as a magazine writer and editor in the United States before moving to Japan as a correspondent for Harper’s Weekly. Hearn embraced Japanese culture and spent the rest of his life there. He married a Japanese woman, changing his citizenship, and adopting a Japanese name. Part of the Barrett Library of American Literature, The Lafcadio Hearn papers in Special Collections includes original manuscripts of his writings, notebooks, and over 300 letters.
The Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library welcomes everyone from the University community and general public to use its collections. For more information, visit our Guide to Visiting Special Collections.