Book Review

Title: Please Look After Mother

Author: Kyung-Sook Shin
Year: 2009
Setting: South Korea
Main Characters:
Park So-nyo : mother of four children
Yun Hyung-chul: Son-yo's oldest son
Yun Chi-hon: Son-yo's second daughter
Yu-bin - Chi: hon's boyfriend
Yun Chon: Hyung-chul's daughter
Yun Kyun: Son-yo's brother in law is a young boy who become close her after his older
brother married her. he was run away from due punishment and found dead by police who
beaten him, Son-yo named a young orphan for horned for his life
Plot/Summary:
The story begins when the 70-year old mother of a family disappears from a Seoul train
station. The family, 5 grown children and her husband, is desperate to find her and yet, on the
other hand, are blaming themselves and each other for not spending more time or paying more
attention to her. The book is divided into 4 major sections with 4 narrative voices: the oldest
daughter, the oldest son, the husband and the mom herself, with a shorter epilogue again
narrated by the oldest daughter. A second person narration is heavily used in the book..in all
except for the personal narration of Mom. It takes a little getting used to but then ultimately one
would start to identify with the voice:
"You were the one who always hung up first. You would say, "Mom, I'll call you back," and then
you didn't. You didn't have time to sit and listen to everything your Mom had to say..."
"Mom was the kitchen and the kitchen was Mom. You never wondered, did Mom like being in
the kitchen?"
As the story unfolds with each person's narration, we understand a little more about Mom, her
love for all, her everyday life, her relationship with each of her children, her relationship with her
husband and her husband's demanding older sister. We come to know that her children and her
husband know very little of her, except that she was always there for them, taking care of them.
When Mom's voice starts narrating at the end, we get the complete picture, almost...

Reaction:
I found this book to be very emotional at times and you could really feel sorry for mom's
suffering and realize the love she felt for her family. I had a hard time developing a rhythm to the
personal narrative coming from the characters telling the story. It seemed sometimes as if they
were having a conversation with themselves recalling to themselves how they felt and acted in
past events as if they themselves did not know what had happened. I do not know if this was a
consequence of the translation, the way literature is written in Korea, or just something that I
was missing out on. All in all I thought the book did a good job in showing the contrasts between
and old impoverished Korea and the current prosperous modern Korea .This amazing story will
rip you to shreds and force you to face difficult questions about your own relationships--not just
with your mom but with all those people who claim a piece of your life and heart: "Who are
these people who love me so much?" "Why do I take their very existence for granted?" "Do any
of these people really know me?" These are hard questions, and this short book is a warning to
you to ask these questions when you still have a chance to answer them! You might think you
have a strong and open relationship with your mom, dad, sister, spouse, etc., but you can
always do more. This story makes you realize that you should take the time to know those you
love and also allow them to know you!
"All the relationships in the world are two-way, not determined by one side." ~ page 132