3.5
I Went To See My Father
ByPublisher Description
An instant bestseller in Korea and the follow up to the international bestseller, Please Look After Mom; centering on a woman’s efforts to reconnect with her aging father, uncovering long-held family secrets.
Two years after losing her daughter in a tragic accident, Hon finally returns to her home in the countryside to take care of her father. At first, her father only appears withdrawn and fragile, an aging man, awkward but kind around his own daughter. Then, after stumbling upon a chest of letters, Hon discovers the truth of her father’s past and reconstructs her own family history.
Consumed with her own grief, Hon had been blind to her father’s vulnerability and her family’s fragility. Unraveling secret after secret and thanks to conversations with loving family and friends, Hon grows closer to her father, who proves to be more complex than she ever gave him credit for. After living through one of the most tumultuous times in Korean history, her father’s life was once vibrant and ambitious, but spiraled during the postwar years. Now, after years of emotional isolation, Hon learns the whole truth, from her father’s affair and involvement in a religious sect, to the dynamic lives of her own siblings, to her family’s financial hardships.
What Hon uncovers about her father builds towards her understanding of the great scope of his sacrifice and heroism, and of his generation as a whole. More than just the portrait of a single man, I Went to See My Father opens a window onto humankind, family, loss, and war. With this long-awaited follow-up to Please Look After Mom—flawlessly rendered by award-winning translator Anton Hur—Kyung-Sook Shin has crafted an ambitious, global, epic, and lasting novel.
Two years after losing her daughter in a tragic accident, Hon finally returns to her home in the countryside to take care of her father. At first, her father only appears withdrawn and fragile, an aging man, awkward but kind around his own daughter. Then, after stumbling upon a chest of letters, Hon discovers the truth of her father’s past and reconstructs her own family history.
Consumed with her own grief, Hon had been blind to her father’s vulnerability and her family’s fragility. Unraveling secret after secret and thanks to conversations with loving family and friends, Hon grows closer to her father, who proves to be more complex than she ever gave him credit for. After living through one of the most tumultuous times in Korean history, her father’s life was once vibrant and ambitious, but spiraled during the postwar years. Now, after years of emotional isolation, Hon learns the whole truth, from her father’s affair and involvement in a religious sect, to the dynamic lives of her own siblings, to her family’s financial hardships.
What Hon uncovers about her father builds towards her understanding of the great scope of his sacrifice and heroism, and of his generation as a whole. More than just the portrait of a single man, I Went to See My Father opens a window onto humankind, family, loss, and war. With this long-awaited follow-up to Please Look After Mom—flawlessly rendered by award-winning translator Anton Hur—Kyung-Sook Shin has crafted an ambitious, global, epic, and lasting novel.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities16 Reviews
3.5
mint.booked (Min)
Created 2 days agoShare
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mimi⭑.ᐟ
Created 7 days agoShare
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“i am sooo conflicted about this one. it took me so long to get through, and nearly triggered another reading slump. the middle portion is rough to push through, however it did pick up in the last 20%. this was very interesting to read regarding korean history and culture, and i felt like i learned a lot, but i failed to attach to anyone outside of the father. despite all this i did still get teary eyed at the end, so idk how i feel honestly. glad it's over but glad i read it too”
arghawan
Created about 1 month agoShare
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“this book was a bit of a hard read. the subject matter i could handle but chapter 3 in particular was really a slog to get through. however, the story it told was extremely captivating so i pushed through even at times i didn’t necessarily like the way it was being told. chapter 4 was just as great as the first 2 chapters though. i recommend this to anyone with a father who has gone through war.”Anik Belhumeur
Created about 1 month agoShare
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Kim
Created about 2 months agoShare
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About Kyung-Sook Shin
Kyung-Sook Shin is one of South Korea’s most widely read and acclaimed novelists. She has been awarded the Manhae Grand Prize for Literature, the Dong-in Literary Award, the Man Asian Literary Prize, and many others. Shin is the author of 8 novels, 8 short story collections, and 3 essay collections, including the NYT-bestselling Please Look After Mom, which has been published in more than forty countries.
TRANSLATOR BIO: Anton Hur was double-longlisted and shortlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize and has worked on several of Kyung-Sook Shin’s books. He lives in Seoul.
TRANSLATOR BIO: Anton Hur was double-longlisted and shortlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize and has worked on several of Kyung-Sook Shin’s books. He lives in Seoul.
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