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A review by sboedecker1024
The Evening Hero by Marie Myung-Ok Lee
4.0
After finishing section "Book 1" I have to admit I was extremely skeptical of this one. The present day situation of where Yungman wound up, his entitled son and disjointed family life had me wondering where this story was going. I am so happy I stuck with it though. The second half of the book really did it for me, weaving the history and scars of the Korean war into present-day Korean-American struggles. I love the snide critiques of American culture, politics and religion that are sprinkled throughout the book. This novel makes for a historical preview of war-time Korea, as well as a look into what it means to be a Korean-American, especially one trying to create a life for themselves outside the cultural enclaves of New York, Chicago or LA.
Many of the critiques and comments throughout the book are things I have heard from Asian-American friends or various independent news sources I follow. The strive to learn and perfect English, seeing language as an express lane to assimilation in America, the irony of the majority of Americans hating immigrants when it is a country of immigrants, and the difficulty of understanding both the overt and underlying racism of this country.
Many of the critiques and comments throughout the book are things I have heard from Asian-American friends or various independent news sources I follow. The strive to learn and perfect English, seeing language as an express lane to assimilation in America, the irony of the majority of Americans hating immigrants when it is a country of immigrants, and the difficulty of understanding both the overt and underlying racism of this country.