Buddhaland Brooklyn

Seido Oda, a Japanese Buddhist priest, is better at painting and poetry than dealing with people. After 30 peaceful years in his relatively cloistered monastery, and despite his protestations and reservations, Reverend Oda is sent to supervise the building of a Buddhist temple in Brooklyn. Feodor Chin delivers Oda's plight as a stranger in a strange land with quiet, unassuming grace. As Oda frequently escapes to his Òaerie observation post,Ó to contemplate the American Buddhists he encounters, Chin delivers a sensitive portrait of a spiritual man experiencing sincere culture shock while trying to remain true to his faith and nonjudgmental of his Brooklyn believers. Richard C. Morais (THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY) has written a gentle, wise book made even more satisfying by Chin's luminous performance. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

May 28, 2012
Morais’s latest (after The Hundred-Foot Journey) follows Seido, a Japanese Buddhist priest whose attachment to ritual fortifies him against the heartbreak of his youth: days after his induction into the priesthood, at age 11, his family was killed in a fire. Years later, when he is transferred from his temple in Fukushima, Japan, to Brooklyn, he finds a congregation of American misfits starved for spiritual counsel. Jennifer, his assistant, grieves her fiancé’s death; Michael, a disturbed college student, lives in fear of his mother; and the temple’s benefactors jockey for influence and power. But by leaving the austere orderliness of Japan and entering the noisy hodgepodge of Brooklyn, Seido finds, for the first time, a community. With patience and sacrifice, he learns to communicate his faith and rediscovers it for himself. This is a breezy read that ably moves to a predictable feel-good resolution, yet Morais often indulges in purple prose and cultural caricatures. An uncomfortable propensity to exoticize Seido—whose most profound observations are expressed in Yoda-like bromides and haiku—undermines the sublimity of his spiritual awakening and his fullness as a character. Agent: Richard Pine, Inkwell Management.

April 15, 2013

After living his entire life in a remote mountain village in Japan, Buddhist monk Seido Oda experiences extreme culture shock when, at the age of 40, he is commanded by his superior to open a temple in Brooklyn. This novel, written as a fictional memoir, is similar in tone to Morais's 2008 debut, The Hundred-Foot Journey. VERDICT American actor Feodor Chin narrates Oda's story well, skillfully imparting the character's compassion as well as his initial unease in his new home. This will be of interest to readers of lyrical literary fiction and to those looking for a "feel-good" story as well as to Morais's fans. ["The pacing in Morais's work is unhurried and matches the reserved personality of his main character.... A reflective story that is certain to be appreciated by those who enjoy reading about the human condition," read the review of the Scribner hc, LJ Xpress Reviews, 7/20/12.--Ed.]--Julie Judkins, Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor

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