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A review by jzmiao
The Evening Hero by Marie Myung-Ok Lee
3.0
3.5
i really wanted to like this book, but there were a number of elements that just didn’t work for me. firstly, i was frustrated with the ways that a lot of side characters felt like caricatures. their characterizations were shallow, and i didn’t get to know them. secondly, the book is described as being humorous and satirical, and i see the author’s intentions of being so, but none of it clicked for me. perhaps it was too on the nose, and jokes about the commodification of health care just don’t ring funny anymore. finally, i have to give admiration to the author for her desire to represent narratives about the korean war and american imperialism in literature—however, i think there was not quite a balance between writing a work of literary fiction and being true to the history. sometimes it felt like i was reading a textbook of events, but that could be my own ignorance about the korean war speaking. the author even acknowledged her struggle balancing these two elements in a note at the end, so unfortunately, i can see the fracture lines. definitely an ambitious undertaking, but i have to say it fell short for me.
i really wanted to like this book, but there were a number of elements that just didn’t work for me. firstly, i was frustrated with the ways that a lot of side characters felt like caricatures. their characterizations were shallow, and i didn’t get to know them. secondly, the book is described as being humorous and satirical, and i see the author’s intentions of being so, but none of it clicked for me. perhaps it was too on the nose, and jokes about the commodification of health care just don’t ring funny anymore. finally, i have to give admiration to the author for her desire to represent narratives about the korean war and american imperialism in literature—however, i think there was not quite a balance between writing a work of literary fiction and being true to the history. sometimes it felt like i was reading a textbook of events, but that could be my own ignorance about the korean war speaking. the author even acknowledged her struggle balancing these two elements in a note at the end, so unfortunately, i can see the fracture lines. definitely an ambitious undertaking, but i have to say it fell short for me.