Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Regret is a hard master
A book in translation,set in Korea. Heartbreaking story of a family who doesn't appreciate the mother until she is gone.
As her spirit tries to explain her actions and feelings, the reader is enveloped in the family drama - yet may see themselves in the children. A thought-provoking storyline. I enjoyed the read.
A book in translation,set in Korea. Heartbreaking story of a family who doesn't appreciate the mother until she is gone.
As her spirit tries to explain her actions and feelings, the reader is enveloped in the family drama - yet may see themselves in the children. A thought-provoking storyline. I enjoyed the read.
It's a very heartbreaking story of a Korean mom who devoted her entire life to look after her husband and children. It has a very realistic representation of countryside Asian moms. This book made me appreciate all the things my mom does for me even more and it made me tear up.
After losing their mother on the subway, we get to see how they all came to realize how much their mother meant to them and how we sometimes forget, while living our own lives, that our parents also need us. It highlighted so many points that compelled me think and look at moms in a new light.
This book might come as a bit too unrealistic for people who are not familiar with Asian culture but I absolutely loved it. I definitely recommend everyone that read it
After losing their mother on the subway, we get to see how they all came to realize how much their mother meant to them and how we sometimes forget, while living our own lives, that our parents also need us. It highlighted so many points that compelled me think and look at moms in a new light.
This book might come as a bit too unrealistic for people who are not familiar with Asian culture but I absolutely loved it. I definitely recommend everyone that read it
It's a very heartbreaking story of a Korean mom who devoted her entire life to look after her husband and children. It has a very realistic representation of countryside Asian moms. This book made me appreciate all the things my mom does for me even more and it made me tear up.
After losing their mother on the subway, we get to see how they all came to realize how much their mother meant to them and how we sometimes forget, while living our own lives, that our parents also need us. It highlighted so many points that compelled me think and look at moms in a new light.
This book might come as a bit too unrealistic for people who are not familiar with Asian culture but I absolutely loved it. I definitely recommend everyone that read it
After losing their mother on the subway, we get to see how they all came to realize how much their mother meant to them and how we sometimes forget, while living our own lives, that our parents also need us. It highlighted so many points that compelled me think and look at moms in a new light.
This book might come as a bit too unrealistic for people who are not familiar with Asian culture but I absolutely loved it. I definitely recommend everyone that read it
I was annoyed by the "you" person narrative in ‘Please Look After Mom’ by Shin Kyung-Sook. You you you. You walk down the street. You fall down You pick yourself up. You laugh at yourself. You shake your head. It's a frame of reference that has always annoyed me. Yuck.
The second thing that annoyed me was this wretched, passive, selfish family profiled in the novel that only realized too late how much mom meant to them and how much she shaped them positively into successful people. The angst and self-recriminations of how they demeaned and ignored their mom rings false since they all put her out of their minds before she became lost. I can see such people being worried and angry, but this sudden guilt didn't follow logically. It was a good lecture, though. I can see moms giving this book to their adult children for Christmas.
The second thing that annoyed me was this wretched, passive, selfish family profiled in the novel that only realized too late how much mom meant to them and how much she shaped them positively into successful people. The angst and self-recriminations of how they demeaned and ignored their mom rings false since they all put her out of their minds before she became lost. I can see such people being worried and angry, but this sudden guilt didn't follow logically. It was a good lecture, though. I can see moms giving this book to their adult children for Christmas.
This was a pretty easy read and I've been trying to read more and more that are outside my 'usual' reads. After a while, however, the point of the story which is "don't take your mom for granted" felt like it was shoved down the reader's throats.
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I never quite know what to say about Shin Kyung Sook’s writing. Whenever I read one of her books, I end up being at a loss for words, my head filled with thoughts. Her writing, although simple — as opposed to a flowery style —, has this rawness and genuineness which makes you reflect on the way you view life up until this point.
What’s terribly heartbreaking in this novel is how each and every character took for granted what their mother (or wife depending on whom we’re talking about) did for them and how they never considered her feelings.
Being a mother is so complex because once a woman becomes a mother, it feels as though she is no longer a woman. She’ll be called mother and even her significant other might start calling her that because they would unconsciously mimic what their children call her.
A mother eventually becomes an almost out-of-time figure who has no past. Children tend to think that their mother is only there for them and once they grow up, they feel stifled by her presence. However, as they navigate adulthood, they become guilty because they realise how selfish they have been towards their mother who has always been there for them.
The mother figure in this book is particularly striking because she is not a perfect mother. Her favoritism, her lack of communication and her stubbornness are traits which seem to be found in almost all mothers. Your heart may ache for her at one point but then her actions will make you frown at her the next moment. However, her devotion is one to be admired.
Shin Kyung Sook’s brillant characterisation gently invites you to put yourself in every character’s shoes so that, by the end of the book, you’ve seen the world through their eyes thus enabling you to understand them.
Throughout this novel, the blame doesn’t fall on anybody. Life is not a black and white picture and the infinite shades of gray which makes it up form a painting so detailed that everything is left to be interpreted.
Shin Kyung Sook’s characters are so deeply humane — flawed, insensitive and selfish at times — that they make for a stunning picture of the human condition.
What’s terribly heartbreaking in this novel is how each and every character took for granted what their mother (or wife depending on whom we’re talking about) did for them and how they never considered her feelings.
Being a mother is so complex because once a woman becomes a mother, it feels as though she is no longer a woman. She’ll be called mother and even her significant other might start calling her that because they would unconsciously mimic what their children call her.
A mother eventually becomes an almost out-of-time figure who has no past. Children tend to think that their mother is only there for them and once they grow up, they feel stifled by her presence. However, as they navigate adulthood, they become guilty because they realise how selfish they have been towards their mother who has always been there for them.
The mother figure in this book is particularly striking because she is not a perfect mother. Her favoritism, her lack of communication and her stubbornness are traits which seem to be found in almost all mothers. Your heart may ache for her at one point but then her actions will make you frown at her the next moment. However, her devotion is one to be admired.
Shin Kyung Sook’s brillant characterisation gently invites you to put yourself in every character’s shoes so that, by the end of the book, you’ve seen the world through their eyes thus enabling you to understand them.
Throughout this novel, the blame doesn’t fall on anybody. Life is not a black and white picture and the infinite shades of gray which makes it up form a painting so detailed that everything is left to be interpreted.
Shin Kyung Sook’s characters are so deeply humane — flawed, insensitive and selfish at times — that they make for a stunning picture of the human condition.