A review by serendipitysbooks
The Magical Language of Others by E.J. Koh

emotional reflective medium-paced

3.5

 
The Magical Language of Others is a memoir with a unique format which explores some fascinating themes including mother-daughter relationships, abandonment, inter-generational trauma, forgiveness and identity. When the author was 15 her parents returned to Korea for a career opportunity for her father, leaving her and her older brother alone in the United States, ostensibly for three years but contract extensions pushed that out to seven. This was obviously a pivotal event in the author’s life, and was undoubtedly connected to her beginning to skip school, developing disordered eating, and experiencing suicidal thoughts. What makes this memoir unique is that is structured around letters that her mother wrote to her from Korea. Rediscovering the letters, replicas of which are included in the book, and translating them into English the author begins to develop more of an understanding of her mother, and processes again her own feelings about the separation. The reader is privy to some of this, for instance the alternative word choices that are included in the translations. I loved this demonstration of how translation is an inexact art, rather than a precise science, and I wondered how the emotional impact of these letters affected the translation process. Other aspects of the family history are interspersed between the letters and their translations and added an additional layer of depth to the story. I found the letters very revealing of the mother’s mixed feelings and torn loyalties, between a wife expected to support her husband, and a mother, wanting to be with her daughter who she was aware needed her. I found the overall tone of this memoir to be slightly detached and opaque which meant it hit me more in the head than the heart. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, just not what I would have predicted going in. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings