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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
As expected from Kyung-Sook Shin, the quality is excellent. I didn’t expect it to use a ‘you’ narrative as the first person, which is very unique and something I really like. However, at times, I get a bit confused about who the narrator is, as it tends to mix perspectives. I love how each family member has their own story with the mother and how they express their longing for her. Compared to I Went To See My Father, I find it less sad, and it doesn’t focus as much on the mother herself but rather on the people around her. I also love the similarities in the plot, which make me think it could be about the same family, though there are some differences as well.
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Shin Kyung-Sook’s novel, Please Look After Mom, is one of the most tragic books I have ever read. The characters are all flawed human beings, some deeply so. These flaws unintentionally collide when an elderly woman—a mother, a wife—goes missing in a Seoul subway station...
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type.
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
By parts, this book is extremely moving. A Korean woman disappears, forcing her family to reckon with their feelings about her, with the mystery of her life and all that they don't know of her and all the assumptions they made about her, even as they search for her, are in conflict with each other about her, and trying to piece together what happened to her, not in terms of any suspicious circumstance but just how her dementia was affecting her when they last saw her, though they were all a bit in denial of it.
In its execution, the book was a bit flawed, I don't know if it's the translation or just the book itself, it just felt so-so. The long sections with "you" as the pronoun most frequently used (but in two separate sections, for two separate characters) felt jagged and unnatural, it didn't flow.
And also some plot points and characters felt rushed in in the middle, after a slow start with not a lot going on.
However, some scenes so poignant and beautiful, and the point of the story so evident: how we don't always value that which is most present and right in front of us.
In its execution, the book was a bit flawed, I don't know if it's the translation or just the book itself, it just felt so-so. The long sections with "you" as the pronoun most frequently used (but in two separate sections, for two separate characters) felt jagged and unnatural, it didn't flow.
And also some plot points and characters felt rushed in in the middle, after a slow start with not a lot going on.
However, some scenes so poignant and beautiful, and the point of the story so evident: how we don't always value that which is most present and right in front of us.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Dementia, Death of parent
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
One of the joys of craft is seeing how much the work of an individual improves and changes. I'm much better at finding improvement in visual art than literary, but man, reading this right after I Went To See My Father was such a treat.
I was really enjoying myself with spotting the similarities between the lives of the families in these books - there are so many aspects that are very obviously inspired by the author's real family history. I've found a lot of things that cut me deep in this one, aspects I'll be thinking about.
That being said, something about this story bothered me. While reading, I couldn't shake this feeling that this story about motherhood felt a little incomplete. Slowly, I realized that the reason this one didn't hit me quite as hard was an absence of the mother as an individual. It is the central theme of the book, but the epilogue just sort of... spells it out? I guess the way to put this is that I wanted more. I wish the family got to piece more details of her life together, like her secret friend. His role in the story reminded a bit of Park Muleung from I Went To See My Father, so I was a little disappointed that he didn't really get to interact with any other family members .
I feel a bit bad that I couldn't stop comparing this book to I Went To See My Father. That story likely wouldn't exist without Please Look After Mother, a thing I appreciate this book for a lot. Overall though, I had a good time with this story. A sad time, but a good time nonetheless.
I was really enjoying myself with spotting the similarities between the lives of the families in these books - there are so many aspects that are very obviously inspired by the author's real family history. I've found a lot of things that cut me deep in this one, aspects I'll be thinking about.
That being said, something about this story bothered me. While reading, I couldn't shake this feeling that this story about motherhood felt a little incomplete. Slowly, I realized that the reason this one didn't hit me quite as hard was an absence of the mother as an individual. It is the central theme of the book, but the epilogue just sort of... spells it out? I guess the way to put this is that I wanted more. I wish the family got to piece more details of her life together
I feel a bit bad that I couldn't stop comparing this book to I Went To See My Father. That story likely wouldn't exist without Please Look After Mother, a thing I appreciate this book for a lot. Overall though, I had a good time with this story. A sad time, but a good time nonetheless.
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Since you were the only child who was free from poverty, all I wanted was for you to be free from everything. And with that freedom, you often showed me another world, so I wanted you to be even freer. I wanted you to be so free that you would live your life for other people.
While it took a while to understand the POV with each chapter it seemed like it contributed significantly to understanding the characters better by following the clues left behind by each perspective.
An absolutely devastating read about grief and loss, about the role of a woman in family and society and about the ache that will always follow you when you remember your mother through the years as you see her age.
Will probably think about this book a lot as I grow older and personally, it makes me wonder if I will ever be able to understand my mother’s relationship with her own mother as I navigate becoming an adult and being a daughter, trying to be a better daughter.
DNF ~30%
I suspect (hope?) there are issues with the translation because the language is so flat and listless it contributed to at least fifty percent of my annoyance.
The other fifty percent is The Family Drama plot, which was right there on the blurb, to be fair. Mom disappeared, none of the children cared enough about her, for no apparent reason (up to that point). On the last couple of pages she is compared to the literal virgin Mary. Laying it on a bit thick.
Interesting descriptions of life in rural Korea, the calendar of ancestral rites, etc. Somewhat suspicious of the premise that she was illiterate, but it's hard to place when this was exactly and I don't know at what point Korea reached ubiquitous literacy. A bit weird that her kids (one of them a writer) never took the time to teach her the alphabet? Korean is not terribly difficult to read.
I suspect (hope?) there are issues with the translation because the language is so flat and listless it contributed to at least fifty percent of my annoyance.
The other fifty percent is The Family Drama plot, which was right there on the blurb, to be fair. Mom disappeared, none of the children cared enough about her, for no apparent reason (up to that point). On the last couple of pages she is compared to the literal virgin Mary. Laying it on a bit thick.
Interesting descriptions of life in rural Korea, the calendar of ancestral rites, etc. Somewhat suspicious of the premise that she was illiterate, but it's hard to place when this was exactly and I don't know at what point Korea reached ubiquitous literacy. A bit weird that her kids (one of them a writer) never took the time to teach her the alphabet? Korean is not terribly difficult to read.