I Went to See My Father
After losing her own daughter in a tragic accident, Hon returns to her childhood home in the Korean countryside to look after her elderly father.
There, the discovery of a chest of letters compels her to piece together the violent, vibrant story of his life – from experiences of violence and trauma during the Korean War to a love affair and involvement in a religious sect, Hon learns that her father is more complex than she ever gave him credit for.
More than just a portrait of one man, I WENT TO SEE MY FATHER asks us to look at the ones we love, uncover the secrets they keep, and finally see who they really are. Affectionate, epic, joyous and lasting, this is the perfect follow-up to beloved classic PLEASE LOOK AFTER MOTHER.
There, the discovery of a chest of letters compels her to piece together the violent, vibrant story of his life – from experiences of violence and trauma during the Korean War to a love affair and involvement in a religious sect, Hon learns that her father is more complex than she ever gave him credit for.
More than just a portrait of one man, I WENT TO SEE MY FATHER asks us to look at the ones we love, uncover the secrets they keep, and finally see who they really are. Affectionate, epic, joyous and lasting, this is the perfect follow-up to beloved classic PLEASE LOOK AFTER MOTHER.
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Reviews
Once more, Shin masterfully glides between quotidian details and astounding feats of survival revealed through multiple voices (older brothers, their mother, a wartime friend) and formats (letters, recordings, long chat messages) to create another universally empathic masterpiece
I Went to See My Father features the author's hallmark emotional richness combined with a precision of language that pierces the soul. Just as Shin's Please Look After Mother gives a voice to the forgotten mother, this novel vividly shows the father as a figure whom we often overlook. Shin guides us on a journey of heartache to literary catharsis
Shin threads together a lyrical family drama and the multi-layered spectrum of Korean history in a compelling epic. It is not only a story of love and pain between father and daughter, but of how memories can heal tragic wounds and restore damaged relationships. A powerful, elegant, page-turner
Gentle yet piercing . . . [I Went to See My Father is a] sensitively crafted family portrait that's both specific and universal and, above all, humane
This is a book which reminds us that we all suffer from the same wounds, that no individual is free from the pains of their geography and that the greatest losses can only be healed where they all begin
A book that makes you hurt all over and smile at the same time. The experience being shared is so immediately relatable, so universal yet Korean, so beautiful and powerful at the same time