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magup 's review for:
Please Look After Mom
by Kyung-sook Shin
The worst thing about this book is the cover art. It's not Memoirs of a Geisha and there is zero reason that the cover should feature a young woman peering out through blossoms. Ugh. I guess the publisher thought nobody would read a book about a senior citizen if they put one on the cover?
Anyway, there was a lot for me to like in this book. I checked it out because I've enjoyed watching Korean dramas for years and I saw on the cover that the book was very popular in Korea. I thought it would be fun to see what kind of story struck such a chord with Korean readers.
The answer: a sad story full of details about daily life during the huge cultural shifts that have taken place in Korea since the pre-war years-- but also about families in general and aging parents and children probably everywhere.
In summary, reasons to read this book:
If you're interested in how Koreans evoke and embody the cultural transition from rural poverty and wartorn hardship to urban shopping mecca.
If you like the anthropology of food and learning a bit about about what foods mean what in another culture.
If you have a parent who you find frustrating.
Anyway, there was a lot for me to like in this book. I checked it out because I've enjoyed watching Korean dramas for years and I saw on the cover that the book was very popular in Korea. I thought it would be fun to see what kind of story struck such a chord with Korean readers.
The answer: a sad story full of details about daily life during the huge cultural shifts that have taken place in Korea since the pre-war years-- but also about families in general and aging parents and children probably everywhere.
In summary, reasons to read this book:
If you're interested in how Koreans evoke and embody the cultural transition from rural poverty and wartorn hardship to urban shopping mecca.
If you like the anthropology of food and learning a bit about about what foods mean what in another culture.
If you have a parent who you find frustrating.