A review by tristesse
Please Look After Mother by Kyung-sook Shin

emotional sad
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

 
“To you, Mom was always Mom. It never occurred to you that she had once taken her first step, or had once been three or twelve or twenty years old. Mom was Mom. She was born as Mom. Until you saw her running to your uncle like that, it hadn’t dawned on you that she was a human being who harbored the exact same feeling you had for your own brothers, and this realization led to the awareness that she, too, had had a childhood. From then on, you sometimes thought of Mom as a child, as a girl, as a young woman, as a newlywed, as a mother who had just given birth to you.”


When I tell you I was crying hysterically throughout the whole thing, it held no ounce of lie, only truth in its entirety. The book is divided into four parts, four point of views. Each one so unique. First of the daughter, second of the eldest son, third of the husband, and fourth of the mom. It was an emotional read yet strangely it, too, provided me warmth and comfort that I would hold in my heart for a very long time.

While reading, I was reminded of the words I heard somewhere, that we oft forget that it's the first time our mom living a life. So please be gentle on her. Mom isn't a hero, she's a human being like us, who makes mistakes, who loves her child with the whole of her heart. It makes me appreciate my mom more. Hugs for all moms out there. ❤️