A review by cais
Native Speaker by Chang-rae Lee

3.0

For a debut novel this is a good book with some solid, thoughtful writing about identity, grief and political power. The writing often seems forced, though. Lee's attempt to weave together three ideas, the immigrant experience, personal tragedy and spy/political intrigue, into an examination of his main character's identity crisis as a first-generation Korean American sometimes works well, but more often than not it is distracting. This book feels a bit dated, as well, like watching a television show from the 90s and thinking, Is that how people really looked and sounded or was that obviously fake even at the time? I'm glad that I read this, but something about it is lacking and unsatisfying.