Please Look After Mom by Kyung-Sook Shin

I was telling one of the ladies in my class that I wanted to read a Korean book that had been translated into English and she suggested I read 'Please Look After Mom' by Kyung-Sook Shin. It is supposed to be popular worldwide and was one of the books guaranteed to be translated.


Tonight I headed over to Shinsegae Department Store at Centum City where there is a Kyobo Books with an English section. It's tiny though. Sure enough there were copies of this book available.

As I was heading home on the subway I couldn't help but unwrap it from the plastic and start reading.

The novel is about an older woman who has gone missing at Seoul Station when her and her husband were going to visit their son and his wife. It is written to the reader which I think is quite powerful and starts:

It's been one week since Mom went missing.

The family is gathered at your eldest brother Hyong-chol's house, bouncing ideas off each other. You decide to make flyers and hand them out where mom was last seen.

It is a tale which is heard from the perspective of the daughter, son, mother and father and tells the story of one family's search for their mother.

People who know me are aware that I do not, and I mean NEVER, buy a book unless I know the ending and am happy with it. Why waste so much time reading something that is going to leave me upset? When I asked the lady in class how it ended she wouldn't tell me, only saying that it does not have a happy ending. Under normal circumstances I would not touch this with a ten-foot pole but just hearing the storyline almost made me want to cry because I can just imagine how it ends. Without even starting it, it made me miss my mum. It promised:

You will never think of your mum the same way again after you read this book.

Definitely one worth reading.

Centum City is only 6 stops from Kyungsung/Pukyong Uni station so I didn't get far into it before getting off. I read to the end of page 12 and it tells of how the father made it onto the train but the mum just missed it. She walks around Seoul Station not knowing what to do and then she gets on another train. The father hops off at the next stop and goes back to find her but of course by this time she is gone. There is a lot of questioning as to why she doesn't just use a payphone or look for directions as there are signs and instructions everywhere. Page 12 then ends with:

When was it you realised Mom didn't know how to read?

When I read those words my heart nearly broke. I can't wait to finish it. Even if I have to hole myself up in a cafe tomorrow night and miss the Pukyong National Uni party to finish reading this, I will.

Have I sold it to you already? I have taken the quesswork out of how to find it. You can buy it for US$20 from Book Depository and they even have free shipping. Here's the link, BUY IT!

http://www.bookdepository.com/Please-Look-After-Mom-Kyung-Sook-Shin/9780307593917