by Kyung-Sook Shin
This
book is a gripping read and well written story about a family and a mother’s
love and sacrifice. All of us seemed to be moved by the beautiful and sad
story.
Written
by the Korean writer Kyung-sook Shin, Award winner of the Man Asian Award, beating
many famous writers such as Murakami, Amitav Gosh and many others. In her home
country she is known as a “writer of conscience”.
We
all agreed the book gave us a authentic picture of contemporary life in
South Korea and the gap between the generations is well described.
Lisa,
who spent 3 years in South Korea and recommended the book, was able to give us
a better insight into Korean mentality and culture.
The subject
of the book is a deeply moving story of a family’s search for their mother, who
goes missing one afternoon among the crowds at the Seoul subway station. As the
four persons (daughter, son, husband and mother) speak in retrospective about
their relationship and interactions you feel immediately drawn in.
Food
plays a major role in the book as an expression of love.
The
final chapter ‘Mum’s voice’ some of us found confusing but as the mother’s
story unfolds most of us were moved to tears.
It
was said that this book carries a universal message, regardless of nationality,
about the feelings we all have to live through.
The
book was mostly seen as a very interesting and good read with the message: ‘We
all should learn of how often we don’t appreciate something precious until it
is gone!’
- Contributed by Christa
Comment from Helen: I wonder whether the mother character, in always giving to her children and not taking from them when they were young (except household and reading help from the eldest daughter), in some way "taught" her children to be taking rather thantaking-and-giving people using a two-way exchange. Looking at the story of the younger daughter, we see her in the all-giving position of the mother and frustrated by it. We also see the mother continue giving to others: in her marraige, to the family of the other man, to the children in the orphanage, etc. I wonder to what extent the mother was taught as a child, by her own mother, that she must be a "giver" and not a taker.
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