A Step From Heaven

Book Description

When she is five, Young Ju Park and her family move from Korea to California. During the flight, they climb so far into the sky she concludes they are on their way to Heaven, that Heaven must be in America. Heaven is also where her grandfather is. When she learns the distinction, she is so disappointed she wants to go home to her grandmother. Trying to console his niece, Uncle Tim suggests that maybe America can be "a step from Heaven." Life in America, however, presents problems for Young Ju's family. Her father becomes depressed, angry, and violent. Jobs are scarce and money is even scarcer. When her brother is born, Young Ju experiences firsthand her father's sexism as he confers favored status upon the boy who will continue to carry the Park name. In a wrenching climactic scene, her father beats her mother so severely that Young Ju calls the police. Soon afterward, her father goes away and the family begins to heal.

Customer Reviews:

Heart-breakingly beautiful.......2007-08-28

What an incredible fresh new voice... I want to find An Na and urge her to write more. I felt this book broke my heart open in the most beautiful of ways... She made me think deeply about the experience of coming to the US as a young child and acclimating, along with one's parents, perhaps more quickly than one's parents, to a brand new language and culture. Her language is clean, clear, pure, beautiful, precise, sparing... this is a must read, hands down.

Between Cultures.......2007-05-31

Young Ju was born in Korea and lived the first four years of her life there. Then she and her parents move to America to start a new life. Young does not speak any English, and she has trouble understanding this new world around her. When her younger brother, Joon, is born, Young feels like she is second best. Sons are treasured. Her fahter changes the baby's diaper and talks of how great he will be when he grows up. This baby gets attention and special priveleges, and Young feels like she is ignored and unloved.

As she grows up and becomes more Americanized, Young begins to realize that her father is abusive. Their lives in the United States are a struggle, rather than the dream they had expected them to be. Young is trying to fit in with her peers in this country, while her parents expect her to follow the stricter rules of a Korean society. She is torn between two countries, and is afraid of her father. Can their lives really work out for the better here in the United States?

I found the mother in this story frustratingly weak. I understand that different cultures have different roles and expectations for women, but I was still horrified at the idea that a woman would allow her husband to abuse her and her children. I liked that this story made clear to me some of the reasons why people would come to this country from other countries. I liked reading about first impressions of the United States. The narrator tells interesting stories of her first day of school and the misunderstandings she had because she didn't speak the language.

A Step From Heaven.......2007-05-10

This award-winning book uses the growth of the character to tell the story through her eyes. The writer uses the language in the book to illustrate the young girl maturing and grasping the English language. Many children in today's educational system are from other countries, but are thrown into American society. They are faced with the struggle to preserve their culture, yet yearn to "fit into" American culture. Other children who do not have this struggle may know people like the main character or they may feel sympathetic to her hardships. The violent behavior displayed by the father is another aspect of the story that children from any culture could relate to. Abusive, alcoholic fathers and husbands are not only found in one particular race. The author does illustrate the negative affects of abusive behavior through both the victims and the perpetrator. The stereotyping in the book is minimal. There is discussion about the author's experiences in America, but they are utilized to illustrate the cultural differences, not a stereotype. The book depicts the story of one Korean immigrant and her family, but all immigrants will not live these same experiences. Readers should keep an open mind and read knowing this is the journey of only one girl. Although her story may be similar to others, not all Korean immigrants will have the same experiences. Overall, the book allows the reader to celebrate how the character overcame numerous obstacles in her life without turning her back on her culture, family, or herself. She remained true, and that is an inspiring message to send to readers.

A Step from Heaven Evaluation.......2007-05-07

A Step from Heaven is an affecting story full of personal challenges and eventual triumph. The reality of Young Ju's life can be easily related to many teenagers trying to conceal their truths to ensure popularity and acceptance among their peers. In addition to Young Ju's battle to hide the truths of her family and home lifestyle, the reader is deeply affected by the hardships that Young Ju encounters within her home. Young Ju's ability to overcome her father's abusive behaviors is uplifting, but more affecting is Young Ju's mother, Uhmma's, triumph over her role as the quiet, compliant, and abused Korean wife to a fearless, strong, independent woman. The stereotypes that An Na includes in her book are evident; however, these stereotypes provide significance to the story being told. In particular, the defined roles that An Na creates for each member of the family are necessary for the impact of Young Ju and Uhmma's triumph over their abusive father and husband. Also, the poverty the family endures in their move to America from Korea is again necessary to provide a realistic view of the hardships that many families encounter when they leave their native country for a better life in the United States. In addition, the struggling home life, multiple jobs by parents, the small, unappealing home, and the monotonous meals of rice clearly illustrate the embarrassments Young Ju feels compared to the lifestyles her friend have. An Na's A Step from Heaven realistically depicts the challenges a young girl faces while trying to find her own voice and place in this world.

Step Up To This Heavenly Novel.......2007-05-06

Na, A. (2001). A step from heaven. New York: Speak.

Synopsis: From the eyes, ears, mind and heart of Young Ju, you are carried from Korea to Mi Gook. In actuality, Mi Gook is America, which Young Ju feels is literally a step from heaven. You will experience the journey, pain, sorrows, and joys as Young Ju matures and grows into a brave, brilliant, and caring young woman. She struggles to balance her new American life with her rich cultural Korea background. Written in almost a free verse format, this story is told through the mind and experiences of Young Ju. This young girl endures many challenges in her life, but the hardest challenge of all is to stop the physical abuse that her father has brought upon the family. Can Young Ju put an end to her family's suffering?

Evaluation: Readers will clearly get the sense of how American life can prove to be challenging for immigrants. An Na presents the strong cultural clash that must be felt by any immigrant. For Young Ju, it is the clash of her rich Korean heritage with the strange new customs of America. While preparing to leave Korea, Young Ju's mother takes her to get "curly American hair". Yet, once they arrive in America, Young Ju's parents do not approve of her new American friends. While Young Ju struggles to learn the language, as she is forced to speak only Korean at home and only English at school. In her mind, words flow smoothly and naturally. When quoted, Young Ju's English is choppy and sometimes mixed up. She goes to the dictionary to find out why boys and girls "go" with each other. Written in a series of vignettes, readers are transported into Young Ju's world. Not all the events are clearly linked through out the story. However, the author's fluid language gives an accurate portrayal of immigrants struggling in America. High school level teachers can use this text with students to create an understanding and appreciation for the challenges faced by young immigrants. Readers can also feel the pain and sorrow that Young Ju must endure. Battling her father's alcoholism, abuse, unfair and sexist treatment is at times brutal. The author presents a strong heroic and triumphant young woman in the end. Young adults ages 14-18 are likely to find this story remarkable. Adults will likely enjoy this light, yet heavy hearted novel as well!

Average customer rating:

Couldn't put it down!
Wonderful Book
This book is the bomb!
Kimchi and Calamari for Everyone!
A Great Read Aloud for Classrooms and Families

Kimchi & Calamari
Rose Kent
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0060837691
Release Date: 2007-04-10

Book Description

Kimchi and calamari. It sounds like a quirky food fusion of Korean and Italian cuisine, and it's exactly how Joseph Calderaro feels about himself. Why wouldn't an adopted Korean drummer—comic book junkie feel like a combo platter given:

(1) his face in the mirror

(2) his proud Italian family.

And now Joseph has to write an essay about his ancestors for social studies. All he knows is that his birth family shipped his diapered butt on a plane to the USA. End of story. But what he writes leads to a catastrophe messier than a table of shattered dishes—and self-discovery that Joseph never could have imagined.

Customer Reviews:

Couldn't put it down!.......2007-05-21

Kimchi and Calamari provided great entertainment and insight for me and my two teenage aged daughters. The characters are real, the plot engaging and heartwarming, and the interaction between the characters are as real and funny as in my own home. Kent's ability to draw analogies using food make the book come alive while providing life lessons. The book works for all ages, nationalities and family situations!

Wonderful Book.......2007-05-18

Kimchi and Calamari was a wonderful book! I sat down one night around 10, and did not go to sleep until I finished it! I loved Kimchi and Calamari because it reminded me....a resident of NJ, growing up as a Korean Adoptee, and being an adoptee in today's world. I was brought up in an semi-Italian family, however, we never ate Calamari! Not only did I understand what Joseph was going though, but being a Jersey Girl, I loved the fact that the book takes place in NJ, and I also understood the few references to NJ humor.

Kimchi and Calamari is truly a real life story, written from the heart.

This book is the bomb!.......2007-05-17

I just finished reading "Kimchi and Calamari" and I just think that this book is really something special. Kent has crafted a great story here, a book that'll stick with you not just because it's well-written and Joseph is a great character, but because it's fun to follow him along for the ride when he goes through the trials and tribulations of coming of age. The food component is great too-- I practically needed to go out to Carrabba's after reading about the many tasty dishes being served up. Also, it's worth mentioning that Nash Potato is just a great character -- what a good friend and funny too! Can a Nash Potato spin-off sequel be far away? For all of us, let's hope not. Anyways, this bildungsroman is a great first time out for Kent, and she deserves lots of kudos for her first book. I look forward to reading more from this up and coming new author.

Kimchi and Calamari for Everyone!.......2007-04-20

I got my hands on an advance copy and had the opportunity to read Kimchi and Calamari before it hit the shelves. If you've bothered to read this Amazon listing all the way down to here, you probably already know that the book is about a boy who was adopted from Korea and his struggles with self-identity. It would be really easy to say the book is great for adoptive families. It would be easy to say the book is great for asian-americans or italian-americans or multi-racial families or whatever.

However, that would be selling this book short. It would be keeping this book out of the hands of the thousands of others who could be enjoying it simply for the fact that it is one great story. Rose Kent does a great job telling the tale of Joseph, and his travails through the school year. This is a book that should be on everyone's reading list.

A Great Read Aloud for Classrooms and Families.......2007-04-19

Rose Kent's new novel, Kimichi & Calamari, is an excellent book on the topic of cultural identity. It tells the story of Joseph, a young boy who was adopted from Korea by an Italian American family. The catalyst for Joseph's struggles is a geneology report assigned in school. We watch as Joseph tries to find a way to fake his way through the report by choosing to write about a famous Korean athelete and pass him off as his ancestor. Along the way his curiousity about his actual birth family grows which leads him to some interesting places.
It is easy to fall in love with Joseph and feel for the predicament he finds himself in. This book would make a great read aloud and discussion book to use with kids in the intermediate grades because the language, setting, and identity struggles are so authentic. Kent manages to teach us all about the struggles of children who are adopted without sounding preachy or condescending. Families formed through adoption should definitely buy this book for Joseph's insight into being adopted alone. Even children who are not adopted can benefit from seeing that they are not alone in asking the age old question "Who am I?". Buy this book!

Happy Birthday or Whatever: Track Suits, Kim Chee, and Other Family Disasters

Average customer rating:

pretty awesome esp. if you grew up with a crazy asian mom
A bucket of laughs and gems :)
Annie is so Good
I wish I had written this!
Funny!

Happy Birthday or Whatever: Track Suits, Kim Chee, and Other Family Disasters
Annie Choi
Manufacturer: Harper Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0061132225
Release Date: 2007-04-03

Book Description

Meet Annie Choi. She fears cable cars and refuses to eat anything that casts a shadow. Her brother thinks chicken is a vegetable. Her father occasionally starts fires at work. Her mother collects Jesus trading cards and wears plaid like it's a job. No matter how hard Annie and her family try to understand one another, they often come up hilariously short.

But in the midst of a family crisis, Annie comes to realize that the only way to survive one another is to stick together . . . as difficult as that might be. Annie Choi's Happy Birthday or Whatever is a sidesplitting, eye-opening, and transcendent tale of coping with an infuriating, demanding, but ultimately loving Korean family.

Customer Reviews:

pretty awesome esp. if you grew up with a crazy asian mom.......2007-10-02

hilarious and heartfelt, Annie Choi's book made me laugh out loud, and explained to the rest of the world what it's like to grow up Asian American or specifically, with nutty but loving parents who can barely communicate with you. Except in "Engrish" that is. However, the funniest thing she has written in my opinion was her "Open Letter To Architects" which is not in this collection. Good stuff though.

A bucket of laughs and gems :).......2007-07-31

What a great read! Almost every other page of Annie Choi's "Happy Birthday of Whatever" got me laughing to tears. Annie Choi does a wonderful job of putting humor and a little exaggerated drama in describing her relationship w/ her parents, especially that with her mother. Pick it up - you won't be disappointed!

Annie is so Good.......2007-06-20

The book is funny. The writer is so clean in her prose, so elegant in her descriptions, and so honest in her feelings. The book is moving. It is the story of a daughter with a blueprint to her mother's heart and roads that will lead beyond it. I highly recommend this book: because it is pertinently funny and universally accurate as a work on how we learn from the women who believe: will always be.

I wish I had written this!.......2007-05-29

Touching, sweet, and best of all, funny! As a first generation Korean- American, I thought many of the scenes could have been lifted from my own childhood. I look forward to Ms. Choi's future work.

Funny!.......2007-05-15

Very funny book -- crazy/real situations and Choi has a good turn of phrase. More than a few parts had me laughing out loud like a crazy woman. Definitely looking forward to what she writes next.

This Is War!: A Photo Narrative of the Korean War

Average customer rating:

This is War!
BEING THERE THRU THE CAMERA LENS

This Is War!: A Photo Narrative of the Korean War
David Douglas Duncan
Manufacturer: Little Brown & Co (T)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0316195650

Customer Reviews:

This is War!.......2000-06-28

My father, who was an artillery Captain in the Philippines during WWII, frequently pulled this book off the shelf to show me what war was like. He said that it was as close as you could get without actually being there. He died before he could see "Saving Private Ryan," but I think he would still say so even after seeing the movie.

BEING THERE THRU THE CAMERA LENS.......2000-06-26

This is THE most unforgettable view of the first days of the then called "Police Action" in Korea. Author Duncan lived with the men and portrayed all the comraderie, terror and fear that they did. His work makes an indelable image in our mind & is easy to grasp the magnatude of it. My now deceased husband was one of those young Marines and one of the walking wounded who lived in pain his whole life. He treasured this book and knew the subjects. He found it a way to bury his emotions and go on with a "normal" lifestyle. This book had to help Truman change and understand it was not a simple mop-up action....but This WAS War! Although out of print, my family is trying to get copies to pass on to their children to help us better understand their father. It is especially appropriate at this time when attention is being given the Korean Conflict's 50th anniversary. I wish they would reprint it and distribute a copy to all high school and college libraries.

Average customer rating:

bee-bim bop
Tasty reading!
Terrific Book
Delicious!
Bee Bim Bop

Bee-bim Bop!
Linda Sue Park
Manufacturer: Clarion Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0618265112

Book Description

Bee-bim bop (the name translates as "mix-mix rice") is a traditional Korean dish of rice topped, and then mixed, with meat and vegetables. In bouncy rhyming text, a hungry child tells about helping her mother make bee-bim bop: shopping, preparing ingredients, setting the table, and finally sitting down with her family to enjoy a favorite meal. The energy and enthusiasm of the young narrator are conveyed in the whimsical illustrations, which bring details from the artist's childhood in Korea to his depiction of a modern Korean American family. Even young readers who aren't familiar with the dish will recognize the pride that comes from helping Mama, the fun of mixing ingredients together in a bowl, and the pleasure of sharing delicious food. Includes author's own recipe.

Customer Reviews:

bee-bim bop.......2007-04-14

How lovely! i love the illustration of the book and good story to read to my kids. My son kept me very busy while i was reading to him because he kept asking so many questions on what is the picture of this and that and on and on all day long.

Tasty reading!.......2007-03-06

This is a very fun way for the kids to learn about ethnic food, in this case the eponymous Korean dish. Happily it is a very kid friendly dish, so after helping make it (the recipe gives specific duties to the kids), they were very excited to eat it. As were Mom and Dad!

Terrific Book.......2006-08-10

We lived in South Korea for a year when our children were smaller. We like to cook Korean food at home to help them remember our experiences there. I was thrilled to find this book. The rhymes are delightful, the pace is light, the illustrations are charming, and the recipe and instructions are wonderful! We've had so much fun as a family with this book. It's a keeper.

Delicious!.......2006-06-28

I am a first grade teacher and used this book while teaching my class about South Korea. My kids really enjoyed the fun rhyme and rhythm of this book, which I used to culminate our week-long unit. When I finished the story, we made "bee-bim bop" right in class! It was yummy, the kids loved it, and they were eager to read the book over and over again in our class library.

Bee Bim Bop.......2006-06-26

My 3 and 4 yr old Korean born children LOVE this book, and run around the house repeating the rhyming verses. They can't wait to make Bee Bim Bop at home, there is a recipe at the back of the book.

Lost Names: Scenes from a Korean Boyhood

Average customer rating:

Insightful and uplifting
Nonfiction bogged down by fiction
Lost Names
Korean pride triumphs
No blame, just poetry

Lost Names: Scenes from a Korean Boyhood
Richard E. Kim
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0520214242

Amazon.com

From 1932 to 1945, the Japanese occupied Korea. Organized in seven vivid scenes, Kim's fictionalized memoir tells the story of one family's experience, as told by the boy. The narrative starts in 1933 with a dramatic iced-river crossing into Manchuria, when the boy was just a year old, a story the boy knows from the many times his mother has told him the tale. Next scene and we're in 1938. The boy and his family have moved back to Korea, where the boy is the new boy in school and is learning new routines like bowing his head toward where the Japanese emperor is supposed to be in Tokyo. He does as he is told, but wonders if the emperor knows the children are bowing to him, wonders if he's asleep, or eating breakfast--or maybe even in the toilet. He pictures someone knocking on the door, saying, "Your Majesty! The children, the children! They are bowing to Your Majesty!" and him saying, "Wait a minute! I have my pants down!"

A few years later, the children are told they need new names--the Koreans must renounce their family names and take Japanese ones instead. Later, his father takes him to the cemetery to ask forgiveness from their ancestors for the humiliation of losing their names. The scenes continue as the boy grows up, mingling the experiences of childhood with the history of the occupation, seen in the small day-to-day moments that bring history alive. Richard Kim uses a simple but powerful voice to evoke painful times, a loving family, and a strong spirit of survival. Lost Names is a beautifully written tribute to the people of Korea that is subtle, moving, and hard to put down.

Book Description

In this classic tale, Richard Kim paints seven vivid scenes from a boyhood and early adolescence in Korea at the height of the Japanese occupation, 1932 to 1945. Taking its title from the grim fact that the occupiers forced the Koreans to renounce their own names and adopt Japanese names instead, the book follows one Korean family through the Japanese occupation to the surrender of the Japanese empire. Lost Names is at once a loving memory of family and a vivid portrayal of life in a time of anguish.

Customer Reviews:

Insightful and uplifting.......2007-10-10

While reading this book I got the impression that it was a memoir. It is actally not so please be aware of this when reading. Considering that it is fiction the author was surprisingly "tame" in telling the story. I was expecting another depressing memoir of a family destroyed by the Japanese occupation. In Kim's book, however, the family's suffering is more subtle and their eventual triump refreshing. It's nice to not read a book where everyone and their mothers die a painful death. This book gave a lot of insight into the lives of Koreans during the occupation. It was also nice to know that not all of the imperial Japanese soldiers were as gruesome as they were in the Rape of Nanjing.

Nonfiction bogged down by fiction.......2007-06-15

The "scenes from a Korean boyhood" in this book, which are evidently based on actual events, are very compelling and convey powerfully what life was like under the Japanese occupation of Korea. So that's the reason to read this book. Unfortunately, these scenes are set in a kind of fiction jello that connects one episode with another by means of impressionistic accounts of the Korean landscape and so on. This sort of writing is much less successful, and you'll find your eyes sliding past some of it. Kim is not as skillful at blending fiction and nonfiction as, say, Dave Eggers, and one wishes the author had related more about the father, who had been imprisoned by the Japanese, or the grandparents, or even the village, which was located in what is now North Korea. However, that would be a different book. Lost Names is not difficult reading and is certainly a good place to begin learning about what Koreans endured during World War II.

Lost Names.......2007-04-05

Imperialism is something that is often associated exclusively with the West. The histories of the British colonization of India and the Spanish colonies of Latin America abound, but many fail to notice the history of the Empire of Japan, which held Eastern Asia prior to and during the Second World War. Richard Kim writes about his childhood experience in Korea from 1932 to 1945 in his book Lost Names: Scenes from a Korean Boyhood and focuses on the situation of Japanese imperialism on the Korean peninsula, and the effects of the colonization.
Richard sees first hand how Japan influence on Korea is affecting his family life, school, and friendships. The book begins with an image of Kim's family leaving Korea for a job and being stopped by the Japanese Imperial Army. This was the first of the scenes that were told through the eyes of Richard Kim. The book goes on to depict six more stories, separated by chapters.
Japan is painted as an outside influence, which is taking over Korea in a more passive way. The narrator describes the Japanese as not bad people, but people who are distinct from the native Koreans, and collectively more powerful and all-surrendering when it comes to their Emperor. This is shown when the narrator talks about how the books gets it's name, in which the Koreans are made to give up their Korean names in exchange for a Japanese name. Showing the strong nature of his family the name chosen by his father means "Foundation of Rock."
Throughout the book, Koreans are portrayed as being in control in Korea behind the thick wall of Japanese occupation. This is largely personified in the character of Kim's college-educated father, whose firm anti-Japanese standpoints are looked-up-to by much of the local community. In spite of this, many Koreans are portrayed to be people who are indebted to the Japanese - shown by the character of Kim's teacher.
Aside from the educated people, Koreans are portrayed as being unaware of the events around the world at the time, shown by the narrator's mother's obliviousness to the unfolding of German invasions in Europe and Japanese occupations in China. These chapters's focus on day-to-day event, which make it very important to the overall understanding the reader, gets of the depth of the effects of the Japanese colonization.
Overall this book was very informative, one is able to see the true impact of the Japanese during World War II. However, not every event depicted in the story is completely true is still shows a first hand perspective in a new way, through a child eye. I would recommend the book to anyone interested in history or the impact of war. Just keep in mind this is not completely factual, but it will give you a better understanding of Korean history.

Korean pride triumphs.......2005-09-21

This was probably my favorite of the books we read in the Japanese History course I took my senior year of college. Young Richard Kim spent the majority of his childhood in his native Korea while it was under occupation by the Japanese, who were not very nice to or tolerant of his people, no matter they were the majority and the occupying Japanese were the minority. There are many hardships and much prejudice he faces growing up, from neighbors, the government, teachers, and schoolmates, but he never loses his sense of pride and Korean nationalism, constantly being reminded by his parents (who are ministers) and his grandmother to remain aware of where he comes from, his identity, the sustained hope that the Japanese won't always be in Korea, and to do well in school and set a fine example to the Japanese, since he mustn't let those Japanese boys at school think they're better than he is. When WWII comes along, everyone suffers the normal wartime deprivations, such as food shortages and bombing raids, but it is especially hard for the Koreans in the midst. Young Richard is forced, along with his classmates, to bow in the direction of the Emperor each morning, recite an ode of allegiance to the Emperor and Japanese government, and, worst of all, to even change his family name. All Koreans are forced to change their surnames to Japanese surnames, although Richard's father is clever and changes their family's name to one with the root meaning "rock," which of course is a reference to Saint Peter and the family's religious faith, a reference the Japanese won't get. It's enough to take away and try to usurp one's culture, traditions, customs, language, and way of life, but when you take away someone's name, that is in a way the ultimate erasure of their identity. Even when forced to, at least on the surface, speak a foreign language, submit to foreign leaders, and follow alien customs, there's still the comfort of knowing your base identity, your name, is still the same, but taking it away makes this prejudice and attempted usurpation of Korean culture incredibly personal and insulting.

It didn't really bother me that some of these memories and thoughts are very complex and detailed for a child as young as Richard is in the beginning. Many times memories of traumatic defining events are stronger and more vivid and real precisely because they were so awful and traumatic, leaving more impact than something as mundane as, say, eating breakfast or walking the dog. And even if some gaps in Richard's memory may have been filled in by what he imagines happened or what his family have told him happened, it doesn't lessen the emotional impact of these events in the slightest. And I like how it was told in the present tense; since discovering quite some time ago that books can be written in the present tense and there's no rule written in stone saying you must only and always write in the past tense, I've much preferred books written in the present tense. It makes the events seem more real and gripping, full of suspense and tension, like constantly wondering what's going to happen next, living right in the moment.

No blame, just poetry.......2005-08-28

A beautifully written book that places you in Korea during the second world war. Fast reading, and well paced told from the POV of a very (maybe too!) wise young boy. Only thing that got me down was knowing that it ended just before the next war again wreaked such damage and havoc, and there was no post script. Definitely worth reading.

Average customer rating:

Fictionalized Memoir of a Yangban
Amazing!
Great summer reading
Incredible!
I love Good Books

Still Life With Rice
Helie Lee
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0684827115

Customer Reviews:

Fictionalized Memoir of a Yangban.......2007-10-03

This book was recommended to me, and although I was warned about some of the "weirdness" of the approach, still thought it might be worth reading. I was disappointed on many levels, and would not recommend this book to anyone else.

First off, this is not a biography in the strictest sense. It should be treated as historical fiction. The author takes the voice of her grandmother and is clearly making up a number of details (some slightly disturbing, like grandma's sexual encounters). Some of her history, however, is inaccurate.

As has been mentioned elsewhere, the author isn't the best writer. As an example, at one point she is talking about the U.S.-run refugee camps around Pusan and describes numerous hardships such as being sprayed with DDT, fighting rats, cold showers, and dangerous electricity. And then to finish it off, she writes the line, "The worst hardship, however, was the lack of privacy." What?!?

I think what irritated me the most, however, was what was left unsaid most of the time. I suspect part of this is because the author didn't do her research, and part of it is because of the author's own biases. The grandmother is from the yangban class, so a member of the aristocracy of Korea. The background and connections this entails are somewhat covered in a peripheral way, but not in a conscious way. Through most of her life, the lead character is well off. And when she does suffer hardships, the obvious connection between her background and the experiences and results are stripped out. It didn't come as a shock to me that such a wealthy landowner wasn't happy with land reform.

Another issue here that is important to 20th century Korean history but are completely glossed over is that grandmother collaborated with the Japanese in China. This is skirted around, but there is nothing respectable about selling opium to the Chinese, even before acknowledging that the Japanese are the suppliers. There is mention that this made her a little uncomfortable, but it didn't get in the way of her greed. When they return wealthy to Pyongyang, their neighbors know about what they did in China. Again, no surprise when this comes back to haunt them; the core of the military in the north was formed from people who fought against the Japanese.

All this, taken with the occasional historical inaccuracy and the grandmother's fanatical approach to religion at the end of the book took away all trust I had in the author to tell me a "real" story. Because the grandmother seems to present certain events as "miracles", you have to figure out for yourself how events really played out. When you find out that other male relatives are still around later in the book, you can only guess what role they played during the late 40s.

In the end, the author's search for her Korean identity leaves us with a negative impression of what it means to be Korean. I think that's a disservice to Koreans and Korean-Americans.

Amazing!.......2007-09-15

This book is amazing. It really brings the Korean culture into sharp focus. The North Korea-South Korea divide was tragic and this story is beautifully told tying in the war, family, love, divide and salvation. I recommend that you also purchase In the Absence of Sun.

Great summer reading.......2007-07-03

Summer reading doesn't have to be a chore. This book was required summer reading for my 9th grade communications students at an international school in Korea. While "required" might turn some off, I was pleasantly surprised at the novel's readability. It is the poignant memoir of a Korean woman who survived the Japanese occupation and civil war of her country eventually making her way to America to live in California. Her grandaughter tells the story through her grandmother's eyes, and it is truly amazing how provocatively she relates the private wishes, dreams and feelings of this woman of a different era. What is most impressive is the feelings invoked on the reader of the applicability of this woman's story to the nation of Korea as a whole. I hope that the wish related at the end of this fantastic memoir comes true!

Incredible!.......2007-01-19

This is truly an incredible journey: A true story that reads like a gripping novel: from a mother trying to cast out the worms that gnaw at her daughter's stomach, to trying to cross the shell of a bridge from North Korea to South Korea during the war, with children in tow. It will make you appreciate everything you have: your family, the food on your table, the clothes on your back. It will make you want to read the sequel: In the Absence of Sun, which details the family's struggle to smuggle family out of North Korea--unbelievable! There can't be a more oppressive country on the planet. Helie Lee draws attention to this divided country that is often overlooked.

I love Good Books.......2006-02-23

and this is one of them. This is a good quality book written from an interesting perspective. I highly recommend.

Commander in Chief: How Truman, Johnson, and Bush Turned a Presidential Power into a Threat to America's Future

Average customer rating:

Red Hot Anger Harms Strength of Message
Excellent book
Brillant or Left Wing Propanganda ?

Commander in Chief: How Truman, Johnson, and Bush Turned a Presidential Power into a Threat to America's Future
Geoffrey Perret
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0374102171
Release Date: 2007-02-06

Book Description

This is a story of ever-expanding presidential powers in an age of unwinnable wars. Harry Truman and Korea, Lyndon Johnson and Vietnam, George W. Bush and Iraq: three presidents, three ever broader interpretations of the commander in chief clause of the Constitution, three unwinnable wars, and three presidential secrets. Award-winning presidential biographer and military historian Geoffrey Perret places these men and events in the larger context of the post-World War II world to establish their collective legacy: a presidency so powerful it undermines the checks and balances built into the Constitution, thereby creating a permanent threat to the Constitution itself.

In choosing to fight in Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq, Truman, Johnson, and Bush alike took counsel of their fears, ignored the advice of the professional military and major allies, and were influenced by facts kept from public view. Convinced that an ever-more powerful commander in chief was the key to victory, they misread the moment. Since World War II wars have become tests of stamina rather than strength, and more likely than not they sow the seeds of future wars. Yet recent American presidents have chosen to place their country in the forefront of fighting them. In the course of doing so, however, they gave away the secret of American power—for all its might, the United States can be defeated by chaos and anarchy.

Customer Reviews:

Red Hot Anger Harms Strength of Message.......2007-06-16

I've just about finished a very uneven diatribe against American presidential power called "Commander-in-Chief," by Geoffrey Perret, an historian who wrote a good bio of U. S. Grant about 10 years ago. The basic premise of the new book is that Truman, Johnson, and Bush Two extended presidential power in unconstitutional ways to pursue wrongheaded wars, and they had help from Nixon, Reagan, Clinton and Bush One. JFK, Ford, and Carter get somewhat of a pass, but not JFK's advisors, and certainly not his generals.
Much of Perret's prose is so vitrolic and sarcastic that it takes away from the strength of the arguments he's trying to put forward. His footnoting of his research is also uneven; a claim that a Kuwaiti diplomat's daughter gave perjured testimony to the U.S. Congress about butchered babies in the Iraqi attack on Kuwait, and that this testimony helped persuade Congress to vote for war powers to attack Iraq in Gulf One, is unsupported by any footnotes. The hell of it is that he's basically on the money in his assessments.
I'm too old and fixed in habit to stop reading and listening to historical and political pundits, but I would solemnly advise you not to bother to do so, and just simply vote against any politician (such as Rudi Giuliani) who suggests that going to war is going to solve our problems. As Perret points out, the U.S. must reassess the limits of its power, find alernative energy sources other than in the Mideast, and stop parading around as the toughest guy on the block. Otherwise, the chaos and anarchy created by our unwise actions will ultimately combine to make us defeat ourselves.

Excellent book.......2007-05-29

Perret does a fine job of showing how the war powers of congress have been gradually eroded to the point where the president may take the country to war at whim and not be held accountable. He shows how the trend actually began with Truman and continued with a the series of our "smaller" wars. Overall, a very good analysis. No one else has summed up this material quite as well.

Brillant or Left Wing Propanganda ?.......2007-03-31

If you believe that the result of the Korean,Vietnam and current war in Iraq have permanetly harmed this nation and benfitted China then this book is for you. Perret trace the origins of the cold war and although condems Stalin's brutalty chareterizes the reponse of the Soviet Union and Mao as reasonable.

Perret traces the cold war to Gerald Ford and manages to only praise Kennedy's handing. He calls Nixon a mad man but the sub title doesn't mention him. He barely mentions Carter or Reagen which is suprising considering how even liberal historians give Reagen some credit for ending the cold war.

The last one third of the book descends into an anti Bush diatribe. Any pretension about being an even handed historian from a liberal bent are disgarded and every emotional /charge is made agaisnt GW Bush from calling him an action figure to a draft dodger drug user.He details Bush's alleged evil deeds such as signing statemnts. There appears to be factual errors in this part of the book but to detail them is beyond my responsibilty (much like the writer's I suppose). Perret inadvertedly makes Bush's arguments that the jihadists will follow us back to the US. Isn't it the Republican argument that it is better to fight them in Bagdad than in the streets of New York ?

It is said that those who do not learn the mistakes of the past are doomed to relieve them. However Perret stands this on its end by weaving history to fit his conclusions about the present.

I gave this three stars for the insignt one gets from the first half of the book but the second part should have been written twenty years form now when emotions cool .

Quiet Odyssey: A Pioneer Korean Woman in America

Average customer rating:

Excellent
GIves perspective on the lives we lead
Historical significance cannot be stressed enough! Read it!
One of the best ethnic study books I've ever read

Quiet Odyssey: A Pioneer Korean Woman in America
Mary Paik Lee
Manufacturer: University of Washington Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0295969695

Customer Reviews:

Excellent.......2001-05-30

This is a well thought out, organized and very important historical document/autobiography.

GIves perspective on the lives we lead.......2000-10-02

I was assigned Quiet Odyssey for an Asian American studies class, and I was riveted by the clean, simple prose. But the story is far from simple, I admire Mary Paik Lee for her incredible endurance and courage. As a second generation Asian American, my family's roots in the United States are relatively new, but now I realize, that it has been due to Asian Americans like Mary Paik Lee that allow me to lead and pursue the life I wish. Not only is Quiet Odyssey the story of her life, it is also the story of California. It's eye opening to see how much Los Angeles and the rest of California have changed since she first landed here. And lastly, Mary Paik Lee has some incredible spunk to do and say some of the things she did. Impressive.

Historical significance cannot be stressed enough! Read it!.......1999-07-28

I read this book in highschool while living in in Seoul, Korea. I am a Korean-American woman and I found the information in this book to be _invaluable_. Unlike similar historical works such as John Okada's 'No-No Boy' or Sui Sin Far's 'Mrs. Spring Fragrance and Other Writings', this is pure autobiography (or ethnobiography if you want to be technical). I cannot believe how lucky we are as Americans to get a first-hand account of a Korean-American living in turn of the century America, when there were literally only a handful living in the country at the time. The 'memoirs' are not only highly satisfying in themselves, they serve as anchors to the past in which to begin tracing a discernable branch of Asian-American history. Adds perspective in which to view today's world of American race relations. I think this is necessary reading for anyone who is interested in race, American society, and/or history. Will also appeal to minority activists.

One of the best ethnic study books I've ever read.......1999-05-06

I am a student from San Francisco State University and this is one of the books that I have to read for my Ethnic Studies Class. I really think this is a book made for student of Ethnic Studies and I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning more about history of Asian American.

Average customer rating:

Great Stories and Beautiful Pictures!
Very Enjoyable with some reservations.
A charming Korean traditional story book!

Korean Children's Favorite Stories
Kim So-un
Manufacturer: Tuttle Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0804835918

Book Description

Korean Children's Favorite Stories is a captivating collection of Korean folk tales that have thrived for generations. Some are unique to Korea, while others echo those told in other countries. Written with wit and pathos, they reveal the follies of people everywhere and expose the human-like qualities of animals and the animal-like qualities of humans.

Customer Reviews:

Great Stories and Beautiful Pictures!.......2007-05-14

It is rare to find good Korean fairy tale stories in English. Familiar with many Korean folklores and legends, I found the translation to be accurate and the illustrations very beautiful. With a history of 5,000 years, Korea is one of the oldest civilizations in the world, and this collection of fairy tales is a great way to show Korea's rich folklores and legends to the outside world. I highly recommend this book.

Very Enjoyable with some reservations........2005-08-02

My youngest child is adopted from Korea. We gave him this book as a gift on his "gotcha" day, the anniversary of the day we adopted him. To him, this book is very, very special and at only 5, he requests it every night. The stories are fables and are very unbelievable but enjoyable if you like fables as many children do. My only complaint is that, because they are old stories, some are insensitive and a little gory. For instance, one story talks about a woman finding a husband for her daughters. One daughter is the "real" daughter and the other daughter is adopted. She is going to give the more desireable husband to her "real" daughter. Another story has something about stabbing with a knife or something to that effect. Overall, though, the stories are good and it's invaluable to have a book from my son's culture.

A charming Korean traditional story book! .......2005-03-22

A Korean mom living in the US,I've awaited this kind of simple but beautifully illustrated Korean favorite story book.
This book contains the most famous 13 Korean old tales.
-The Story Bag/The Pheasant,the Dovemand the Magpie/The Bridegroom's Shopping/The Bad Tiger/The Great Flood/The Pumpkin Seeds/The Tigher and the Rabbit/The Green Leaf/The Three Little Girls/The Snake and the Toad/The Grateful Tiger/The Three Princess/The Disowned Student-
This book much owes to Jeong Kyoung-Sim's illustration. Her illustraion is charming and elegant. She shows real Korean colors and real Koean old days. You can enjoy the beauty of Korean art with this book.

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