One could say too much about Michael Knight's THE TYPIST and ruin it for future readers. So I will say simply that it is a beautiful little book - understated, eloquent and fine. An historical romance, of sorts, set in post-war occupied Japan, there are faint similarities to SAYONARA, but Knight's story of an army clerk in MacArthur's command is original enough that it defies comparisons. I loved it.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the Cold War memoir, SOLDIER BOY: AT PLAY IN THE ASA ( )

Francis "Van" Vancleave is an enlisted man during WWII. He never saw battle because of a skill his mother taught him secretly - typing. He could type faster than any other enlisted man. As such, he was assigned to work with General McArthur in post WWII Japan.

Although he was far from his home in Alabama, he always remained a Southerner in heart. He exuded hospitality in situations that made him uncomfortable. He treated his roommate like family even when he wondered if he was using him in the pursuit of pan-pan girls. He remained true to himself even while those around him did not. If he had any faults, they were that he was naive and at times ignored his better judgement to bring joy to others. Van is probably one of the most honorable characters I've gotten to know in a very long time.

This book complimented and reminded me of two other books I enjoyed this year. While I was reading this book, I started listening to The Thousand Autumns of Jacob DeZoet. It was interesting to read these two books in conjunction as they show Japan in such a different light. While the subject matter of The Typist is different from The Blind Contessa's New Machine, but both novels gave me the same feeling in the end. Both were short novels that were interesting and comforting to read. I genuinely liked the main characters in both stories.

Final Thoughts

I would most definitely recommend The Typist. I'm so glad that I saw Rebecca from The Book Lady's Blog's display at Fountain Books and picked it up. What a nice souvenir from my business trip to Richmond. If you live around Richmond or are visiting the area, you should make the time to stop by Fountain Books. Any bookstore smart enough to partner with Rebecca is a great place to browse and pick up some great reads. ( )

This story of a young GI typist in occupied Japan just after the war is written beautifully, and Knight creates characters and situations seemingly without effort. He puts historical figures (General MacArthur, MacArthur's son) on the page in such a way that I believe they may have acted this way, done these things, and makes me forget to care that they almost certainly did not. But the novel feels curiously flat, as if nothing that happens to the narrator actually means very much, though the things that happen appear significant and the narrator identifies them as such. (I was reminded of Peter Ho Davies's The Welsh Girl, which, though ultimately a very different sort of a book, does some of the same things and has this same curious near-brilliance while failing to be terribly compelling). In the end, I felt I surely must have missed something (in particular, it seemed that a revelation had been promised about a certain incident on a train), and I flipped back looking for the moment that would make it all gel. I didn't find it. I'm still not convinced that this isn't my fault. Guardedly recommended; recommended because the writing here and Knight as a writer generally deserve the recommendation (and because if someone else sees what I missed, this could be a wonderful read), guardedly because the book just wasn't as good as I thought it would be. ( )

What a lovely book. Read it in one night.