Archive for April 15, 2011
PLEASE LOOK AFTER MOM by Kyung-sook Shin
Those who have traveled in Southeast Asia – and Korea in particular — will know right away that the number 4 (pinyin sГ¬) is considered unlucky because it sounds like “death” (pinyin s?). Why, then, did Korean author Kyung-sook Shin carefully craft a novel from four different viewpoints?
The answer is that the members of this family are unlucky, or at the very least, careless. Through years as a family, none of them ever really knew Mom or understood the sources of her strength. And now she has disappeared in a crowded Seoul subway station, where she and her husband of 50 years were about to board a train. Her disappearance devastates those who are left behind.
April 15, 2011
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Judi Clark В·
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Tags: Around-the-World, Family Matters, Knopf В· Posted in: Award Winning Author, Character Driven, Family Matters, Korea, Motherhood, Translated, World Literature
