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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book left me feeling heartbroken and angry. It was a very uneasy read, but equally amazing. 10/10 if you need a good cry.
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It's a heartbreaking book with a clear message: appreciate the ones you love before it's too late. The book also makes you reflect on the things that go unsaid in life because we always think there'll be a next time to say them, when in reality that's not a guarantee.
I have always loved reading books that explore family dynamics and how complex they can be. Despite the family in the book being far from perfect I really enjoyed reading about their relationship with each other. It's just a really sad story and makes you reflect on your own family and loved ones.
The narration being in the 2nd person took a little bit of getting used to.
I have always loved reading books that explore family dynamics and how complex they can be. Despite the family in the book being far from perfect I really enjoyed reading about their relationship with each other. It's just a really sad story and makes you reflect on your own family and loved ones.
The narration being in the 2nd person took a little bit of getting used to.
If this heartbreaking book doesn’t make you call your mom, it will at least make your guilt about not doing so more resonant.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I started reading this book the week my aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer. It’s a cautionary tale of seeing your loved ones while they are in your life and appreciating them while they’re around.
So-nyo Park goes missing at a train station in Seoul and her family searches tirelessly for her in the following months. Chi-hon reflects on her mother’s humanity and what must have been her whole life before she became just “mom” and a slave to all that entailed. Her eldest son, Hyong-chol reflects on how his mother supported his schooling and was the catalyst for getting a big job-- he never wanted his mother to sleep in the cold again. But in grinding for a better lifestyle, he forgot to cherish her. Life happened, and then she goes missing and after a while, is presumed dead without ever having Hyong-chol take care of her in kind. Her husband reflects on how shut down and cold he was to his wife, alternately freezing her out and blowing up at her after his brother Kyun’s death, to whom So-nyo was close. He reflects on leaving their family more than once, having an affair, and then neglecting/unappreciating his wife to the point where he spurned her attempts to connect with him, dissociated through her cancer diagnosis and ignored her symptoms of dementia. Memories of when he should have spoken up and advocated for his wife, cooked for her, or spoken more kindly to her haunt him. He goes home and cries for the first time since he was a boy-- not since Kyun, or the war. Final Chapter spoilers after this:
I was deeply confused as to what was going on om the final chapter before realizing that So-nyo is dead. My friend recommended this book for me, and I think they told me that?? But I had definitely forgotten by the time I realized it again! In some cultures, they believe a spirit roams the earth until their body is given a proper burial, so, tragically, So-nyo visits those she loves, confused and lost in the memories of her life in death. This means no one has found her body. It’s painful not knowing what happened to her, reading about how she’s trying to find her children but could only find one or how she visits her friend who has dementia like she did. So-nyo finds the spirit of her dead mother, holding her own dead body. The book ends with Chi-hon praying on a rosary in Italy over her mother, asking the mother Mary to please look after mom.
https://www.supersummary.com/please-look-after-mom/summary/
Everyone feels like they couldn’ve appreciated their loved ones more when they’re gone. Reads like this inspire me to spread the love while I still can. Sad, staccato, and incredibly moving. 4.5 stars!
So-nyo Park goes missing at a train station in Seoul and her family searches tirelessly for her in the following months. Chi-hon reflects on her mother’s humanity and what must have been her whole life before she became just “mom” and a slave to all that entailed. Her eldest son, Hyong-chol reflects on how his mother supported his schooling and was the catalyst for getting a big job-- he never wanted his mother to sleep in the cold again. But in grinding for a better lifestyle, he forgot to cherish her. Life happened, and then she goes missing and after a while, is presumed dead without ever having Hyong-chol take care of her in kind. Her husband reflects on how shut down and cold he was to his wife, alternately freezing her out and blowing up at her after his brother Kyun’s death, to whom So-nyo was close. He reflects on leaving their family more than once, having an affair, and then neglecting/unappreciating his wife to the point where he spurned her attempts to connect with him, dissociated through her cancer diagnosis and ignored her symptoms of dementia. Memories of when he should have spoken up and advocated for his wife, cooked for her, or spoken more kindly to her haunt him. He goes home and cries for the first time since he was a boy-- not since Kyun, or the war. Final Chapter spoilers after this:
I was deeply confused as to what was going on om the final chapter before realizing that So-nyo is dead. My friend recommended this book for me, and I think they told me that?? But I had definitely forgotten by the time I realized it again! In some cultures, they believe a spirit roams the earth until their body is given a proper burial, so, tragically, So-nyo visits those she loves, confused and lost in the memories of her life in death. This means no one has found her body. It’s painful not knowing what happened to her, reading about how she’s trying to find her children but could only find one or how she visits her friend who has dementia like she did. So-nyo finds the spirit of her dead mother, holding her own dead body. The book ends with Chi-hon praying on a rosary in Italy over her mother, asking the mother Mary to please look after mom.
https://www.supersummary.com/please-look-after-mom/summary/
Everyone feels like they couldn’ve appreciated their loved ones more when they’re gone. Reads like this inspire me to spread the love while I still can. Sad, staccato, and incredibly moving. 4.5 stars!
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Dementia, War
Please Look After Mom is a bit of a different read for me. I liked the book but I didn’t love it I thought the 1st and 4th POVs were extremely difficult to read. I couldn’t find any kind of rhythm to those 2 parts and therefore I found myself re-reading paragraphs. The lack of names for the younger brother and sister was confusing especially on the 4th POV.
A mother goes missing and is unable to be found, what this creates in untold guilt to her family as they begin to try and find her realizing as they look back into the past that they haven’t exactly been the most caring children and find that they have taken their mother for granted. Each POV paints a picture of just how self absorbed the family has become and only after their mother goes missing do they understand that she was and is the backbone of the family.
I am ignorant to the Korean culture on how they view their children for me I have no favorites between mine, but it seems that the mother has definite favorites with hers (is this normal in Korean culture?). I do believe she was proud of all of them but she certainly didn’t view them the same. She had expectations for each of them and made sure that the ones she expected to succeed were given every opportunity, while the others were not.
I think for me the POV that struck me the most was the realization from the father. I found it very difficult to sympathize with him, but it was his POV that was most unputdownable (sp? Possible made up word).
Even before reading this book as I witness my own mother getting older and my kids growing into adults, I find myself regretting that I haven’t gotten to know the person that is my mother, I want my kids to call their grandparents and ask for the stories of their youth? Funny stories from growing up, music they listened to. What they got up to with there friends. I also want my kids to realize that as parents we don’t consider our young adult life that far away, I wasn’t born their mother. For me this resonates throughout this book. The family do not see the mother as anything other than their mother. They have no clue who she was outside of the family and then are shocked when witnesses question them on why they can’t find her. What could be wrong that she is lost?
I don’t consider this book to have a happy ending, I consider that it is giving us a lesson on how we should treat the ones we love while they are still with us.
A mother goes missing and is unable to be found, what this creates in untold guilt to her family as they begin to try and find her realizing as they look back into the past that they haven’t exactly been the most caring children and find that they have taken their mother for granted. Each POV paints a picture of just how self absorbed the family has become and only after their mother goes missing do they understand that she was and is the backbone of the family.
I am ignorant to the Korean culture on how they view their children for me I have no favorites between mine, but it seems that the mother has definite favorites with hers (is this normal in Korean culture?). I do believe she was proud of all of them but she certainly didn’t view them the same. She had expectations for each of them and made sure that the ones she expected to succeed were given every opportunity, while the others were not.
I think for me the POV that struck me the most was the realization from the father. I found it very difficult to sympathize with him, but it was his POV that was most unputdownable (sp? Possible made up word).
Even before reading this book as I witness my own mother getting older and my kids growing into adults, I find myself regretting that I haven’t gotten to know the person that is my mother, I want my kids to call their grandparents and ask for the stories of their youth? Funny stories from growing up, music they listened to. What they got up to with there friends. I also want my kids to realize that as parents we don’t consider our young adult life that far away, I wasn’t born their mother. For me this resonates throughout this book. The family do not see the mother as anything other than their mother. They have no clue who she was outside of the family and then are shocked when witnesses question them on why they can’t find her. What could be wrong that she is lost?
I don’t consider this book to have a happy ending, I consider that it is giving us a lesson on how we should treat the ones we love while they are still with us.
emotional
sad
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Loveable characters:
Complicated