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Please Look After Mom   Hardcover – Deckle Edge, April 5, 2011

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Kyung-Sook Shin (Author)
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Kyung-Sook Shin (Author), Chi-Young Kim (Translator)
4.1 out of 5 stars 355 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 237 pages
  • Publisher: Knopf; Later Printing edition (2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0307593916
  • ISBN-13: 978-0307593917
  • Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 1.1 x 9.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (355 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #810,783 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsA moving novel, both powerful and fragile
By PT Cruiser TOP 50 REVIEWER on March 4, 2011
Format: Hardcover Vine Customer Review of Free Product ( What's this? )
Kyung-Sook Shin has written an exceptional novel and I can see why it is a bestseller in its native language, in Korea. It is a story about relationships, about families and those close to us. The story is about a mother who is separated from her husband when boarding a train in Seoul, South Korea,on the way to visit her eldest son and her family's search for her. It is told in four voices, a daughter, a son, a husband and a mother. The story unfolds in mostly second-person narration, from the point of view of each these characters. The translator, Chi-Young Kim did an excellent job with the translation and made it seem as though it were originally written in English.

Rather than being given a lot of intimate details about each of these people, the author brings us into the drama of the mother disappearing at the station, and although we come to know a little more about the mother, there are really more questions than answers about the other family members. I normally like stories with a lot of character development, but somehow, this really worked and I was quickly drawn in, perhaps in the way of an accident or other tragedy where you don't want to look, but somehow need to know how and why it happened and how the people involved are affected. In many cases Kyung-Sook Shin gives only a few details and it is up to the reader to fill in the blanks. It gives a glimpse into the culture of present day South Korea both in a large city and in a rural area and we can see how much things have changed in only a single generation. It only took a few pages to become very involved.

This story is about complex emotions and interactions between family members. It was striking how differently each member of the family handled the disappearance.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsIntense, Emotional, Gripping
By JLee VINE VOICE on March 23, 2011
Format: Hardcover Vine Customer Review of Free Product ( What's this? )
This is a unique novel, unlike anything I had read before. It is extraordinarily emotional. I couldn't put it down.

A wife and husband have journeyed from their family farm to the city to visit their grown children. He rushes onto a subway train, expecting her to follow. He travels several stops before he even realizes she's not there.

The family has to deal with the trauma of having their mother/wife/sister-in-law missing. She has various health problems that add to their concerns, and time passes with few leads. They all recall past events that make them realize how important she was to them and how they took her devotion and hard work for granted. They also begin to comprehend how little they truly knew about her feelings, hopes and dreams - - the person behind labels like "mother" or "wife."

The book is alternately heartbreakingly sad and uplifting. It will make you want to hug every person you care about and tell them how much you love them. Better yet, I hope it will make you ask them questions about who they truly are, what their childhood was like, what they wanted in life. All those things you can't ask after they are gone.

It was also fascinating to read about Korean culture and history as it related to the family. However, in the long run, this book is a universal story of human life, equally relevant to modern America.

I highly, highly recommend this beautiful book to everyone. In fact, it should be required reading because you will never see your family, particularly your mother, the same way again.
5 Comments 115 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
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5.0 out of 5 starsPlease Look After Mom
By Becker VINE VOICE on March 27, 2011
Format: Hardcover Vine Customer Review of Free Product ( What's this? )
~
I don't remember ever feeling so fortunate to get my hands on an Advance Reader's Copy, than I did after finishing this English translated Korean best seller, Please Look After Mom. This is definitely one of my favorite Vine books, and it will certainly have a place among my favorites in my personal library.

The novel revolves around an elderly Korean woman, Park So-nyo, who goes missing after losing contact with her husband at the Seoul subway station. As her family feverishly searches for her, the reader gets a taste of what type of person Park So-nyo was, and a feel for the relationships she shared with her loved-ones. The whole book is told in 4 chapters, by 4 different characters: 2 of the missing woman's children, her husband, and the missing woman herself.

I loved every minute that I was able to steal away and read Kyung-soak Shin's poetic prose, and I'd recommend this book to anyone who is a mother, who knows a mother, or who has a mother.
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3.0 out of 5 starsBeautifully written but hard to follow
By S OBrien on May 23, 2011
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
"Please Look After Mom" is the kind of book I find myself gravitating towards these days...books about different cultures. This book delivers great insight into the Korean culture and the interfamial workings of a Korean family. Each of the four relationships are depicted from the point of view of the individual. The central point of the book is the varied reactions of four family members to the mysterious loss of their Mom at a crowded Seoul Train Station. Father gets on the train but Mom does not. The family reacts as most families would. We never do find out exactly what happened to Mom.

Two negatives with this book: the use of the word "You" for every character brings confusion as to who is speaking. Second: I enjoyed the book but could not get excited about reading it straight through. I procrastinated and took weeks to finish it. This is the reason I gave this book 3 stars. I would not discourage readers from reading it but be advised that is's a slow read.

S O'Brien, Illinois
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsI love

As I was reading it I got up a few time to clear my room, I love it

Published 13 days ago by Sara Wong
4.0 out of 5 starsInteresting look at Korean culture & family dynamics, but ...

Interesting look at Korean culture & family dynamics, but it got a little too religious for me at the end. Very well written

Published 16 days ago by srf
1.0 out of 5 starsPainful

This had to be one of the worst books I've ever read. I only completed it because we were reading it for book club. The author surcharge narrator. Read more

Published 22 days ago by Monica Santana
3.0 out of 5 starsBeginning is promising but falls short

The initial chapters showed promise when it came to depth of the story and the creative story narration. Read more

Published 24 days ago by karthik
4.0 out of 5 starsFour Stars

I like it.

Published 1 month ago by Moses G. Myung
3.0 out of 5 starsThree Stars

The beginning has so many names to learn
that is takes away from the story.

Published 1 month ago by richard ascher
4.0 out of 5 starsSearching story (pun intended)

Setting is present day South Korea. An older woman is separated from her husband in the crowded Seoul subway station. Read more

Published 2 months ago by georgina
5.0 out of 5 starsFantastic!

Really a fantastic novel. Very poignant. Hard to imagine someone reading this novel and not being moved by it as it carries you through multiple POVs bound to one central theme:... Read more

Published 2 months ago by Todd Sullivan
3.0 out of 5 starsConfused, but Still Worth Reading.

Please Look After Mom is a translated book from Korea. I wanted to like this book SOO MUCH, have tried to read it multiple times. Read more

Published 3 months ago by MissJoious
1.0 out of 5 starsI really did not enjoy reading this book

I really did not enjoy reading this book. I didn't like this lady's husband or her children. I found their selfish concerns irritating. Read more

Published 3 months ago by Wanda Beitz

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