I loved this book and found the characters complex and interesting. The unresolved grief from his old losses, the recent loss, and the interweaving of the above made for a moving account. The story of the families life in the camp and their struggles afterwords are insightful. Beautifully told.

I did not enjoy this book, I found the plot and characters flat. The subject matter is important to know about because it is part of Canadian history. But bearing that, I could not get into this book. I am going to try Obasan by Joy Kogawa instead.

Good book. Highly recommend

Although I learned a little, I did not find the book that insightful.

This book really picked up in the last third if you have the patience to get through the first 2/3 I thought it was worth it. I didn't give up on the book because I so enjoyed reading the beautiful descriptions of the Canadian landscape.

Beautiful language and musical imagery. I found the story line was a little too subdued to hold my interest, though. Even the big reveal happened with a whimper. I think the story was just way too introspective for my taste. The subject (Japanese detainees) is a serious one that should indeed be explored and I'm looking forward to reading more on this sad period of Canada's history.

Beautifully written, and full of characters I came to care deeply about. An important fictionalized account of the Japanese internment camps in Canada for readers who might not otherwise read non-fiction accounts. Itani continues to amaze me - she is one of Canada's best writers.

Itani is an amazing writer and her books never fail to capture me. Her writing just flows so naturally. This novel is about Bin, a painter, who has recently lost his wife to a stroke. The sudden death has hit both Bin and his son Greg very hard. Bin and his family were among the many Japanese to be forcibly moved from Canada's west coast after Pearl Harbour, and they spent the war years at an internment camp in the Fraser River valley. As Bin struggles with grief, he decides to drive from his home in Ottawa across Canada to the camp, accompanied by his dog Basil. The war years and what happened during them and as a result of them are something Bin has never really faced and dealt with, despite his wife's encouragement to do so. The river that the camp lay beside was the first river to capture Bin's artistry, and rivers have become a major theme in his art ever since. Bin's memories move back and forth to happier days to with his wife and his childhood during and following the internment as he wanders back west. Music is another theme here, one that he can date to his life before Pearl Harbor, and that was intensified with his relationship with Okuma-san, and later a shared love with his wife. The music of Beethoven, his first love, carries him back across the country, both consoling him and reminding him as he goes. This is a novel of feeling, a novel of grief, a novel of consolation. A joy to read.

"Requiem takes the form of a multilayered reminiscence by a fictional artist named Bin Okuma, pulled by the death of his wife into reliving the childhood he spent interned in a camp on the banks of the Fraser River." John Barber Globe and Mail