One-sentence summary: An epic story of one family from Korea to Japan that hinges on the decision of a young girl and the ramifications through the generations of that choice.
B.A.D. Girls Book Rating: 8 (unanimous rating)
Our favorite thing about it: The story was so rich in culture and history and realistic family relationships. Fantastic story.
Our least favorite thing about it: Some of the last chapters / character stories felt rushed. (Honestly, we are reaching on this one, but we did discuss that point.)
Main Topics of Discussion: Korea, Japan, family ties, honor, shame, women/gender, suffering, race, immigration, death
Our favorite quote: “Seeds, blood. How could you fight such hopeless ideas? Noa had been a sensitive child who believed that if he followed all the rules and was the best, then somehow the hostile world would change its mind.”
Notes: We really enjoyed this story and the book – even though it was pretty long. It addressed so many issues that are true in every culture while giving us such a great dose of Korean and Japanese history and culture. We loved learning about that. Other thoughts:
- We were so interested in the Asian ideas of honor and shame and how that affected characters decisions and actions. This is one area where Eastern culture differs a little bit from Western (among others!) and it was interesting and heartbreaking to see it play out in the lives of the characters.
- The theme of women’s’ suffering was littered throughout the story. Many different versions of women suffering were told through the stories of the women characters. It was such a vivid picture of what it means to be a woman in that culture, in all cultures, in the past, and in the present.
- Hansu, who reasonably could be labeled the “villain” of the story was such a complicated character. You did not like him, but exploring his motivations, his actions, and how he lived his life was immensely interesting. He may have been the most interesting character in the book because he was so well fleshed out and explored.
- We were all surprised by (SPOILER) – Noa’s death. It actually took us all by surprise.
- We were so interested to hear about the immigration issues in the East that almost exactly mirror the immigration issues that we hear about and wrestle with today. It is a human concern, not just one for our country.
Memorable Meeting Moments: Rachel gave some Japanese candy to us all to enjoy.
What We Ate: Korean beef with fried rice, stir fried broccoli and chocolate cookies with ice cream for dessert.
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