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A review by harleighthornton
The Evening Hero by Marie Myung-Ok Lee
4.0
The Evening Hero, the Korean translation of Yungman, is a broad, generational story about fear, grief, regret, hope, family, and redemption.
On this journey, the reader follows Dr. Yungman Kwak from his traumatic childhood in Korea to his life trying to reach the promise of the American Dream. Although this book is fictional, it is clear that Lee put a tremendous amount of effort into researching the history of the Korean War and the conflict between North and South Korea. The writing in this book is lyrical, but do not expect something fast paced. It takes the author time to build this story, and no detail is left unturned. Although this book is in no way a thriller, I really enjoyed the ominous hints that Yungman had an unforgivable secret.
Yungman’s journey highlights the heartbreaking reality of culture and identity loss when immigrants are forced to assimilate to avoid prejudice. I developed a great respect for Yungman’s perseverance, but hated him for abandoning his only family.
The ending of this book completely satisfied me, it was beautiful how the author brought the Kwans back to Korea to honor their families.
On this journey, the reader follows Dr. Yungman Kwak from his traumatic childhood in Korea to his life trying to reach the promise of the American Dream. Although this book is fictional, it is clear that Lee put a tremendous amount of effort into researching the history of the Korean War and the conflict between North and South Korea. The writing in this book is lyrical, but do not expect something fast paced. It takes the author time to build this story, and no detail is left unturned. Although this book is in no way a thriller, I really enjoyed the ominous hints that Yungman had an unforgivable secret.
Yungman’s journey highlights the heartbreaking reality of culture and identity loss when immigrants are forced to assimilate to avoid prejudice. I developed a great respect for Yungman’s perseverance, but hated him for abandoning his only family.
The ending of this book completely satisfied me, it was beautiful how the author brought the Kwans back to Korea to honor their families.