Scan barcode
A review by zaychiki
The Evening Hero by Marie Myung-Ok Lee
5.0
One of my absolute favorite reads in a while.
There are so many points where I genuinely laughed out loud, and the humor of the book is warm and relatable.
It’s also a great satire on the throes of late stage capitalism in America. Partly hilarious, partly depressing, entirely on point because it’s what we live in. Dr. Kwak’s eyes are the perfect to view it from.
The chapters on his life in Korea are incredibly done. Somehow Lee manages to switch emotional gears effortlessly. In the 48 hours it took to read this book (I was addicted) I laughed and also wept. It’s not easy to write such nuanced emotions for both an individual character and an entire people and time.
As a first gen American, despite hailing from a different region, so much rang inevitably true of Kwak’s experience and monologues. And there’s a scene toward the end that I won’t spoil, but I howled with laughter and loved that Lee managed to show yet another facet of this fantastic hero of the story.
I know this isn’t a great review, as I’m having a hard time verbalizing all my thoughts on this fantastic read. But I will say: Read this. It’s truly a special, once in an era kind of read.
There are so many points where I genuinely laughed out loud, and the humor of the book is warm and relatable.
It’s also a great satire on the throes of late stage capitalism in America. Partly hilarious, partly depressing, entirely on point because it’s what we live in. Dr. Kwak’s eyes are the perfect to view it from.
The chapters on his life in Korea are incredibly done. Somehow Lee manages to switch emotional gears effortlessly. In the 48 hours it took to read this book (I was addicted) I laughed and also wept. It’s not easy to write such nuanced emotions for both an individual character and an entire people and time.
As a first gen American, despite hailing from a different region, so much rang inevitably true of Kwak’s experience and monologues. And there’s a scene toward the end that I won’t spoil, but I howled with laughter and loved that Lee managed to show yet another facet of this fantastic hero of the story.
I know this isn’t a great review, as I’m having a hard time verbalizing all my thoughts on this fantastic read. But I will say: Read this. It’s truly a special, once in an era kind of read.