Please Look After Mom
English Paperback Reprint Cover
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| Author | Kyung-sook Shin |
|---|---|
| Original title | 엄마를 부탁해 (Omma rul put'akhae) |
| Translator | Chi-young Kim |
| Country | Korea |
| Genre | novel |
| Publisher | Changbi |
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Publication date
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2008 |
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Published in English
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2011 |
| Awards | Man Asian Literary Prize |
Please Look After Mom (Hangul: 엄마를 부탁해) is a novel by South Korean author Kyung-sook Shin. It sold a million copies within 10 months of release in 2009 in South Korea, is critically acclaimed internationally and the English translation by Chi-young Kim won the 2011 Man Asian Literary Prize.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] The novel has been adapted as a stage play and musical.[8]
As of April 2012, the book has sold 2 million copies and the publisher has printed a 10,000-copy special edition to commemorate the achievement.[9] The book was also chosen by Oprah to be one of her "18 Books to Watch for in April 2011[10] and by Amazon as one of its "Best Books of the Month: April 2011".[11]
Plot
When sixty-nine-year-old So-Nyo is separated from her husband among the crowds of the Seoul subway station, her family begins a desperate search to find her. Yet as long-held secrets and private sorrows begin to reveal themselves, they are forced to wonder: how well did they actually know the woman they called Mom? The novel explores the loss, self-recrimination, and in some cases, self-discovery caused by the mother's disappearance. The novel also considers themes related to the self-sacrifice of mothers in general (and in Korean in particular), the relationship between memories of the past and realities of the present, and the chameleonic aspects of identity.[12]
Style
The style of Please Look After Mom is a bit unusual, as Julie Hunt noted in booklist, "Composed almost entirely in second-person narration, the writing is sharp, biting, and intensely moving."[13]
Characters
- Park So-nyo - mother of four children
- Hyong-chol - So-nyo's oldest son
- Chi-hon - So-nyo's second daughter
- Yu-bin - Chi-hon's boyfriend
- Yun Chin Hyong-chol's daughter
- Yun Kyun - So-nyo's brother in law
- Hong Tae-hee: a director of an orphanage whom she donated to
Stage play cast
- Jung Hye-sun - Park Son-yo
- Sim Yang-hong - Mr Yun
- Kil Yong-woo - Young-chul
- Seo Yee-sook - Ji-yeon
Reception
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. The book was also chosen by Oprah to be one of her "18 Books to Watch for in April 2011[14] and by Amazon as one of its "Best Books of the Month: April 2011".[15]
References
- ↑ "South Korean novelist announced as first woman to win Man Asian Literary Prize" Man Asian Prize homepage 15 March 2012. Retrieved 2012-04-24
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- ↑ "Please Look After Mom Sells 2 Million Copies" Chosun Ilbo. 24 April 2012. Retrieved 2012-04-24
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