I've lived in Korea for 3 years, and recently read this book as part of my exploration of the culture here. I consider this one of the better books I've read for this purpose.



Everyday I see these old people, and my Korean isn't good enough to have a conversation of any substance with them. I can communicate well enough to know that they have fascinating stories of another world, one I can barely imagine. And then, I can't understand any of the details!



Well, this is one of the stories they'd have to tell me.



As another reviewer pointed out, it's a biography, not an exploration of Korean shamanism; Kendall has written a good book on that topic, however.



The subject, called "Youngsu's Mother," was a young girl at the time of the war, so her memories are quite fascinating. Her perspectives of the family dynamics, jealousies among siblings, relationships between first and second wives, and between a new wife and her in-laws are quite revealing.



A Korean friend told me about her mother, whose mother secretly threw her school books to her over a fence so that the grandfather wouldn't know the girl was going to school. Youngsu's Mother tells a similar story.



In other ways as well I sense that Youngu's Mother's story is not too remarkable for women of her generation. But it's not a summary of Korean history or anything, just one woman's story. And it's a good one, thanks to the story-telling talents of Youngsu's Mother and Laurel Kendall.

I've lived in Korea for 3 years, and recently read this book as part of my exploration of the culture here. I consider this one of the better books I've read for this purpose.

Everyday I see these old people, and my Korean isn't good enough to have a conversation of any substance with them. I can communicate well enough to know that they have fascinating stories of another world, one I can barely imagine. And then, I can't understand any of the details!

Well, this is one of the stories they'd have to tell me.

As another reviewer pointed out, it's a biography, not an exploration of Korean shamanism; Kendall has written a good book on that topic, however.

The subject, called "Youngsu's Mother," was a young girl at the time of the war, so her memories are quite fascinating. Her perspectives of the family dynamics, jealousies among siblings, relationships between first and second wives, and between a new wife and her in-laws are quite revealing.

A Korean friend told me about her mother, whose mother secretly threw her school books to her over a fence so that the grandfather wouldn't know the girl was going to school. Youngsu's Mother tells a similar story.

In other ways as well I sense that Youngu's Mother's story is not too remarkable for women of her generation. But it's not a summary of Korean history or anything, just one woman's story. And it's a good one, thanks to the story-telling talents of Youngsu's Mother and Laurel Kendall.