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4.36 AVERAGE
4.36 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Very good read. Character driven historical fiction which taught me a lot! 4.5 stars
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
This book was incredible. It was full of three-dimensional, well-developed characters who, despite their many flaws (some of them fairly egregious), I became attached to. This multi-generational story is so human, in all the good and terrible ways that humanity is. The story is painful and beautiful and hopeful all at the same time.
I learned a bit more about Korean and Japanese culture, too, which was great. I came into this book knowing very little about 20th century Japan and Korea, Japanese occupation of Korea, and the treatment of ethnic Koreans living in Japan, but I didn't need to in order to appreciate the story and learn from it. I am impressed with Min Jin Lee's nuanced characterization of the realities and emotions of ethnic Koreans born and raised in Japan; I am still mulling over the complexities represented in this book.
A warning for any of my friends who are selective about the content they read: this book had more sexual content than I expected. It wasn't distasteful or gratuitous, and it was used for the purposes of character development (and it was done effectively). However, it was occasionally a bit more graphic than I would have preferred.
I learned a bit more about Korean and Japanese culture, too, which was great. I came into this book knowing very little about 20th century Japan and Korea, Japanese occupation of Korea, and the treatment of ethnic Koreans living in Japan, but I didn't need to in order to appreciate the story and learn from it. I am impressed with Min Jin Lee's nuanced characterization of the realities and emotions of ethnic Koreans born and raised in Japan; I am still mulling over the complexities represented in this book.
A warning for any of my friends who are selective about the content they read: this book had more sexual content than I expected. It wasn't distasteful or gratuitous, and it was used for the purposes of character development (and it was done effectively). However, it was occasionally a bit more graphic than I would have preferred.
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This reminded me a little of Ann Patchett's Commonwealth, even though it didn't have the non-chronological structure. What they do have in common is a tendency to relay the big important life-changing events matter-of-factly, while the bulk of the prose is concerned with the daily life stuff that occurs around those events. This book deals heavily with survival and identity and what those things mean for each subsequent generation.
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes