Book Review; I'll Be Right There by Kyung-Sook Shin

Earlier this month, I read the historical novel I'll Be Right There by Kyung-Sook Shin and today I'll post my review of the book.

Description from Goodreads

How friendship, European literature, and a charismatic professor defy war, oppression, and the absurd

 

Set in 1980s South Korea amid the tremors of political revolution, I’ll Be Right There follows Jung Yoon, a highly literate, twenty-something woman, as she recounts her tragic personal history as well as those of her three intimate college friends. When Yoon receives a distressing phone call from her ex-boyfriend after eight years of separation, memories of a tumultuous youth begin to resurface, forcing her to re-live the most intense period of her life. With profound intellectual and emotional insight, she revisits the death of her beloved mother, the strong bond with her now-dying former college professor, the excitement of her first love, and the friendships forged out of a shared sense of isolation and grief.

 

Yoon’s formative experiences, which highlight both the fragility and force of personal connection in an era of absolute uncertainty, become immediately palpable. Shin makes the foreign and esoteric utterly her use of European literature as an interpreter of emotion and experience bridges any gaps between East and West. Love, friendship, and solitude are the same everywhere, as this book makes poignantly clear.

My Thoughts on the Book

While it was a bit of a confusing read at times (for me at least), I did enjoy the author's voice and writing style a lot. There's a lot of sadness, tragedy, and heartbreak in this novel, but it's also a book that just maybe might get you to think a bit from time to time. I remember reading "Please Look After Mom" by the same author several years ago, and I if I compare the two, I enjoyed "Please Look After Mom" a bit more than "I'll Be Right There", but that's more of a personal preference.

The characters and the story in "I'll Be Right There" are well-written, and the characters have some dimension to them, so they're not flat cookie cutter characters, which is always refreshing.

It's overall a good read though, so feel free to pick it up.