WINNER OF THE MAN ASIAN LITERARY PRIZE When sixty-nine-year-old So-nyo is separated from her husband among the crowds of the Seoul subway station, her family begins a desperate search to find her. Yet as long-held secrets and private sorrows begin to reveal themselves, they are forced to wonder: how well did they actually know the woman they called Mom? Told through the piercing voices and urgent … piercing voices and urgent perspectives of a daughter, son, husband, and mother, Please Look After Mom is at once an authentic picture of contemporary life in Korea and a universal story of family love.
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I loved this book. I read it several years ago and still can vividly feel the pain of the daughter desperately searching for her lost mother. The love between mothers and daughters crosses all cultural boundaries. Learning more about Seoul was an added bonus. I will read this book again and anything else by this author.
So-nyo goes missing in a train station one afternoon in a crowded subway in Seoul, Korea. She was with her husband and meeting her children, and somehow this 69 year old woman just vanished without a trace.
The family starts a desparate search for her – hanging flyers, following up with people who think they spotted her. But they always …
Wasn’t a fan of the use of “you” pronoun, but loved the fluidity of time. The story was interesting although melancholic. The characters unfolded piece by piece and were intriguing.
Confusing narration, mother is portrayed as all-sacrificing, rest of family as selfish and clueless.
This book was excellant, about family is Korea elderly mom lost in subway the devoted children and their lives trying to find mom. A different read
I had read glowing reviews of this book. I liked it rather well, although the translation at times made it seem artificial. I appreciated the multi character viewpoints and the fantastic realism of the mother viewing her children and places she’d lived. Challenging read.
I thought Mom was a wonderful character. It is a shame her children and husband did not realize how she spent her days serving them. Unfortunately, I see this in daily life her in the US. I am fortunate to have six children that do appreciate and remember me. I can’t imagine being lost in a large city and not even being able to read the street …
A treasure. Unexpected. Amazing. Thought provocating. Whether you identify with mom, or the other members of the family, one day you will find yourself involved. Pay attention.
Very lyrical writing – the point of loving and valuing and making time for family members that are important to you- is very well fleshed out.
I gave it 3 stars, because I think books written by Asian writers, are always different in style. You have to like the. Had mixed feelings about the way it was written. Daughter, son, mother father had their sayings.
I can’t say that I was pulled in by this book. I kept waiting for something to happen, or to pull the story together. The only redeeming part of reading this book was to affirm that often times mothers are under appreciated and sometimes invisible to their children. But the book told from various people had a lot of repetition and no clear …
The only word I can think of is “intriguing.”