I cannot believe this novel is 30 years old. I don't know how Chang-rae Lee made a story so steeped in the specific experience of Korean-american families feel so personal to very different audiences. I can't believe he did it all in a spy story. But, here it is, his first novel, Native Speaker and ...
What hasty preparations we make for our future. Think of it: it seems almost tragic, the things we're sure we ought to bring along. We pack too heavy with what we hope we'll use, and too light of what we must. We thus go forth misled, ill equipped for the dawn.
I was absolutely hooked on this novel from the first chapter. From the unreliable narrator to the plucky, mystifying heroine, this world had me in it's grip and didn't let go. It was surprising to me that the writing was so good - I don't often include genre fiction in the same category as literary ...
"Moment to moment we act freely, we make decisions and form opinions and there is very little to throttle us. We think each of us has a map marked with private routings and preferred habitual destinations, and go by a legend of our own. Yet it turns out you can overlay them and see a most amazing co...
On Such a Full Sea shows a beautiful display of language. Lee illustrates here he can masterfully turn a sentence and write scenes that are enthralling. The writing is top-notch, but it doesn't all come together as one might hope. Largely, I enjoyed the writing more than the novel itself. The stor...
This being a book of historical fiction I thought I would get a little more history than I did. There is very little in this book about either the Korean War 1950-1953 or the Japanese takeover of Manchuria in the 1930s. The main focus is the relationship between the missionary Ames Tanner, his wife ...
This is a family drama---which usually means a "chick lit" type of book. However, make no mistake: this is a guy's book. Even more specifically, it is a middle aged guy's book. I doubt that I would have found much to interest me if I read this at 20, but at 50 it resonated as closely as stories ...
Chang Rae-Lee is raking it in. 'Native Speaker' has been picked up by the ethnic studies mafia that operates in US universities, and so hundreds if not thousands of people have to read this book every year. what a genius !that said, at least Native Speaker is a pretty good read. it gets skippy at po...
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