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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
Often i cry when reading a book, it’s because how brilliantly the story is told till it was able to include me inside the story and touch my heart. But this book..the story /is/ me. I cried because how much the of the truth unfolds in each page, as a mom, as a daughter, i wept and wept..
The choice of POV and second-person narration was something unfamiliar to me, i thought it was something that got lost in translation. But then as the chapters went on, i finally arrived at the answer!
I’m sorry mom, i need you my entire life.
The choice of POV and second-person narration was something unfamiliar to me, i thought it was something that got lost in translation. But then as the chapters went on, i finally arrived at the answer!
I’m sorry mom, i need you my entire life.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Terus terang, saya membeli novel ini karena judul dan covernya.
Judulnya kok puitis banget, "Tolong Jaga Ibu".
Eh tapi saat membuka covernya, terpampang nyata di halaman awal tulisan "Please Look After Mom", lalu dibawahnya ditulis "Ibu Tercinta".
Jujur, saya langsung ilfil dan lalu meletakkan novel ini kembali. Sebab kalau judul di covernya "Ibu Tercinta", saya pasti nggak akan tertarik untuk membelinya..hehe
Seminggu kemudian, barulah saya baca novel ini, karena memang sudah kehabisan bahan bacaan.
Dan ternyata, sulit melepaskan novel ni sebelum benar-benar habis saya baca.
Bukunya tipis, cuma 293 halaman. Jadi tidak sampai setengah hari sudah saya selesaikan.
Dan seperti halnya drama Korea, novel Korea sama aja ya mellownya. Tapi kok saya malah sulit terharu, karena saya merasa dipaksa nangis, dan saya memang kurang bisa mengapresiasi kisah yang terlalu didramatisir. Mau itu produk Barat, India, Pakistan, Korea atau Indonesia.
Balik lagi ke review.
Novel ini menceritakan tentang seorang ibu (sudah sepuh dan sakit-sakitan) yang tertinggal di stasiun kereta di Seoul.
Saya bisa memahami kepanikan dan rasa bersalah keempat anaknya saat ibunya hilang. Juga perasaan suaminya atas kehilangan istrinya itu.
Mereka baru menyadari bahwa mereka tidak begitu mengenal atau memahami ibunya sendiri, karena sang ibu selalu terlihat kuat di mata anak-anak dan suaminya, sebab mengurus empat anak dan seorang suami.
Seluruh tulisan dalam novel ini adalah pengungkapan kesadaran akan berartinya kehadiran seorang ibu, mulai dari memenuhi kebutuhan makan seluruh keluarga, mencari penghasilan tambahan, berjuang agar anak-anaknya mendapatkan pendidikan yang layak, sampai memberikan dukungan mental spiritual kepada anak-anaknya sampai mereka berhasil menggapai mimpi-mimpinya.
Di sisi lain, terungkap pula isi hati sang ibu, perasaan-perasaannya, pergolakan batinnya, dan tentu saja rasa cintanya kepada anak-anak yang dibanggakannya.
Bahwa bagaimanapun seorang ibu hanya menginginkan kebahagiaan anak-anaknya, meski untuk itu ia harus mengorbankan kebahagiaannya sendiri.
Buku ini ditulis dengan gaya POV yang berpindah-pindah, namun tidak ditulis di atas babnya, paling tidak POV siapa, jadi pembaca harus pintar-pintar menebak. Nggak susah sih, cuma kalau lagi males mikir ya jadi skip-able aja gitu.
Judulnya kok puitis banget, "Tolong Jaga Ibu".
Eh tapi saat membuka covernya, terpampang nyata di halaman awal tulisan "Please Look After Mom", lalu dibawahnya ditulis "Ibu Tercinta".
Jujur, saya langsung ilfil dan lalu meletakkan novel ini kembali. Sebab kalau judul di covernya "Ibu Tercinta", saya pasti nggak akan tertarik untuk membelinya..hehe
Seminggu kemudian, barulah saya baca novel ini, karena memang sudah kehabisan bahan bacaan.
Dan ternyata, sulit melepaskan novel ni sebelum benar-benar habis saya baca.
Bukunya tipis, cuma 293 halaman. Jadi tidak sampai setengah hari sudah saya selesaikan.
Dan seperti halnya drama Korea, novel Korea sama aja ya mellownya. Tapi kok saya malah sulit terharu, karena saya merasa dipaksa nangis, dan saya memang kurang bisa mengapresiasi kisah yang terlalu didramatisir. Mau itu produk Barat, India, Pakistan, Korea atau Indonesia.
Balik lagi ke review.
Novel ini menceritakan tentang seorang ibu (sudah sepuh dan sakit-sakitan) yang tertinggal di stasiun kereta di Seoul.
Saya bisa memahami kepanikan dan rasa bersalah keempat anaknya saat ibunya hilang. Juga perasaan suaminya atas kehilangan istrinya itu.
Mereka baru menyadari bahwa mereka tidak begitu mengenal atau memahami ibunya sendiri, karena sang ibu selalu terlihat kuat di mata anak-anak dan suaminya, sebab mengurus empat anak dan seorang suami.
Seluruh tulisan dalam novel ini adalah pengungkapan kesadaran akan berartinya kehadiran seorang ibu, mulai dari memenuhi kebutuhan makan seluruh keluarga, mencari penghasilan tambahan, berjuang agar anak-anaknya mendapatkan pendidikan yang layak, sampai memberikan dukungan mental spiritual kepada anak-anaknya sampai mereka berhasil menggapai mimpi-mimpinya.
Di sisi lain, terungkap pula isi hati sang ibu, perasaan-perasaannya, pergolakan batinnya, dan tentu saja rasa cintanya kepada anak-anak yang dibanggakannya.
Bahwa bagaimanapun seorang ibu hanya menginginkan kebahagiaan anak-anaknya, meski untuk itu ia harus mengorbankan kebahagiaannya sendiri.
Buku ini ditulis dengan gaya POV yang berpindah-pindah, namun tidak ditulis di atas babnya, paling tidak POV siapa, jadi pembaca harus pintar-pintar menebak. Nggak susah sih, cuma kalau lagi males mikir ya jadi skip-able aja gitu.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Follows a family after losing their elderly mother at a train station. I found it absorbing though nothing in the narrative gave me any specifically strong emotional reaction. I don't have the vocabulary to give this a good review, I'm not familiar enough with the tropes of contemporary adult fiction to have particular opinions. Good read though. 3.5 stars
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
With the setting sun warming your back, you gazed down at Mother’s face cradled in your lap as if it were the first time you were seeing it. Mother got headaches? So severe she couldn’t even cry? Her dark eyes, which used to be as brilliant and round as the eyes of a cow that is about to give birth, were hidden under wrinkles. Her pale fat lips were dry and cracked. You picked up her arm, which she’d flung on the platform, and placed it on her stomach. You stared at the dark sunspots on the back of her hand, saturated with a lifetime of labour. You could no longer say you knew mother.
Please Look After Mother looks at the intricacies of our relationships with those in our lives, and explores the way in which we neglect and harm one another without realising.
The story unfolds, blooming to reveal multiple layers beneath the surface, as we are first introduced to Mother through her description in the missing posters her children are designing, and, as the book goes on, we learn more about her through her family's recollections and their reflections on their relationship with her. Every character has a complex history with Mother, particularly her husband, and the way Shin unravels information is truly lovely. Everyone, at one point or another, is at fault, including Mother, and it felt honest. It would've been incredibly easy for this to turn into a sickly, overly sentimental novel yet it rarely if ever veers in that direction. Yes, it's emotive; we trespass into these character's minds as they mull on the past and combat conflicting feelings of guilt, desperation and resignation - but it never feels overwrought or overdramatic. The way Shin constructed this novel is practically perfect, and it's handled with attentiveness and the utmost care.
My sole fault with Please Look After Mother is that sometimes it is difficult to discern who is speaking, as Shin writes in the first, third, and second person in intermittent chapters. Rarely are people named, referring to them simply as older sister or by pronoun. It did leave me a bit discombobulated at times and it took me a few moments to adjust to the switch and work out who was speaking, as well as remember names as they were used so infrequently, save that of Mother's eldest son Hyong-Chol, who is named consistently.
A wonderful look at family, Please Look After Mother is a moving read that will touch many.
Please Look After Mother looks at the intricacies of our relationships with those in our lives, and explores the way in which we neglect and harm one another without realising.
The story unfolds, blooming to reveal multiple layers beneath the surface, as we are first introduced to Mother through her description in the missing posters her children are designing, and, as the book goes on, we learn more about her through her family's recollections and their reflections on their relationship with her. Every character has a complex history with Mother, particularly her husband, and the way Shin unravels information is truly lovely. Everyone, at one point or another, is at fault, including Mother, and it felt honest. It would've been incredibly easy for this to turn into a sickly, overly sentimental novel yet it rarely if ever veers in that direction. Yes, it's emotive; we trespass into these character's minds as they mull on the past and combat conflicting feelings of guilt, desperation and resignation - but it never feels overwrought or overdramatic. The way Shin constructed this novel is practically perfect, and it's handled with attentiveness and the utmost care.
My sole fault with Please Look After Mother is that sometimes it is difficult to discern who is speaking, as Shin writes in the first, third, and second person in intermittent chapters. Rarely are people named, referring to them simply as older sister or by pronoun. It did leave me a bit discombobulated at times and it took me a few moments to adjust to the switch and work out who was speaking, as well as remember names as they were used so infrequently, save that of Mother's eldest son Hyong-Chol, who is named consistently.
A wonderful look at family, Please Look After Mother is a moving read that will touch many.
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Very emotional book and an interesting read. I loved how every chapter showed another perspective on the life of this family.
It's not an easy read for some for sure but it touched me.
It's not an easy read for some for sure but it touched me.