The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet

I listened to a Fresh Air interview with David Mitchell, the author of "The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet." Fortunately, I heard it while en route to the library, so I promptly borrowed it.

And as an extra bonus, the book cover is lovely.
I also love this font. It's very art deco.
The book is a historical fiction based on the Japanese island of Dejima. It's a tiny tiny manmade island off of Nagasaki. Japan was famously closed off to foreigners for a long time, but allowed this one outpost for Dutch tradesmen to come to (it started as a Portuguese trading post). In order to prevent unseemly influence onto the Japanese people -- Christianity, weird body odors -- foreigners were only allowed on this island. In rare instances, a top administrator or two would be allowed to cross into the Japanese mainland to meet with a shogun.

I enjoyed this book very much. David Mitchell did a good job of describing how the Dutch viewed the Japanese and vice versa, without falling into the trap of "GOD THOSE JAPANESE PEOPLE ARE WEIRD," which is so easy to do. That isn't to say everyone on either side was courteous to each other, but Mitchell did a good job of balancing the views of both sides.