A brilliant novel from an exciting new writer.
Isadora Myung Hee Sohn—Isa—worships her mother, an exceptional beauty, born in S... read full description
Isadora Myung Hee Sohn—Isa—worships her mother, an exceptional beauty, born in S... read full description
reviews
Jan 28, 2009
Mindy
rated it: 
I don't know what's up with me lately. I don't seem to read like I used to. And I find most of what I read... *sigh* I don't know. Reading is starting to seem like a chore, not a pleasure, and I think it has something to do with Goodreads, like I'm reading for an audience now. And reviewing for one. Maybe I miss the days when reading was just a solitary pleasure, me and the book, the story, the poem, intimacy... Whatever's going on, I also seem to have become unenamoured with "life" st
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Apr 26, 2008
Shrina
rated it: 
This was depressing without being really being uplifting. Not that is a bad thing, mind you. I did give it four stars.
I completely understand the half generation angst. I had it too. I also have been telling my best friend who has married a Korean guy, that a lot of what he does has to do with the PTSD that HIS parents have from the Korean War. My parents were deeply affected by the war, just like any other Korean from that generation. My father was a little less affected (Hi More...
I completely understand the half generation angst. I had it too. I also have been telling my best friend who has married a Korean guy, that a lot of what he does has to do with the PTSD that HIS parents have from the Korean War. My parents were deeply affected by the war, just like any other Korean from that generation. My father was a little less affected (Hi More...
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Jul 28, 2011
Allison
rated it:
an atypical account (as far as I know) of a Korean-American girl living in upstate New York in the 70s. she feels like an outsider in dozens of ways: there are no other Asian people in her area, she falls in with friends on the fringes, her parents are secretly at each others throats yet the house is like a tomb full of contradictory rules, and she falls in love with an Albino boy, contributing to her freak factor at school. this is not simpy a coming of age story -- it includes many subtle and
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Dec 05, 2010
Rachel
rated it: 
I feel like I generally have lot more to say about books I don't enjoy than the ones I love, and...wow. This one is amazing. It's got the struggles of growing up in a bi-cultural household (Korean/American), the beauty and tragedy of an intense first love, sexual exploration and teenage rebellion that challenges a best friendship, miscommunication between children and parents, the haunting loss of a younger sibling...and Katherine Min is an author skillful enough to weave the narratives together
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Aug 26, 2008
NYLSpublishing
rated it:
A taxi driver near downtown London once told me that to truly love a thing you must first identify what you hate about it. Though he was responding to my inquiries concerning his profession, and his feelings towards it, the words seemed universally applicable and managed to stay with me.
Min’s, Secondhand World, follows the protagonist, high school student Isadora Myung Hee Sohn, through stages of personal development that are at once painful and necessary. If being a teenager More...
Min’s, Secondhand World, follows the protagonist, high school student Isadora Myung Hee Sohn, through stages of personal development that are at once painful and necessary. If being a teenager More...
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Sep 03, 2008
Elizabeth
rated it:
This is one of several Korean authors I've been introduced to by my Korean friend.
Although I have qualms with tragedy, I appreciate that this book nails it down in the opening paragraph, and then proceeds to tell the story of the events leading up to it. I guess it's really "surprise" tragedy that bugs the hell out of me.
Even though I know what's coming, I am enthralled by the journey, which can simply be described as a coming of age story. Min's writing, howev More...
Although I have qualms with tragedy, I appreciate that this book nails it down in the opening paragraph, and then proceeds to tell the story of the events leading up to it. I guess it's really "surprise" tragedy that bugs the hell out of me.
Even though I know what's coming, I am enthralled by the journey, which can simply be described as a coming of age story. Min's writing, howev More...
Aug 24, 2007
Tory
rated it:
“It’s a secondhand world we’re born into. What is novel to us is only so because we’re newborn, and what we cannot see, that has come before- what our parents have seen and been and done- are the hand-me-downs we begin to wear as swaddling clothes, even as we ourselves are naked. The flaw runs through us, implicating us in its imperfection even as it separates us, delivers us onto opposite sides of a chasm. It is both terribly beautiful and terribly sad, but it is, finally, the fault in the univ
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Jul 14, 2010
Sarah
rated it:
I'm reading a lot of immigration literature, and this is one of the strongest so far. Min's style is odd, a series of short, almost choppy chapters that feel like journal entries. Her metaphors are not subtle: albino skin, scars, burning, naming, orphans. But the overall impact was very strong and poignant, and I'll be reflecting on the themes for some time. I also came to appreciate the style, as Min veers between minimalist, spare re-telling of event and flashes of lyricism and potent im
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Aug 13, 2008
Patrick
rated it:
Can't quite recommend this one despite the fact that she writes well, its an economical read and the culture clash themes are pretty fascinating particularly when diving into specifics. There's just too much of this ridiculously predictable "coming of age in the American 70's" stuff including the loss of narrator's virginity at a Who concert, first experiences with (gasp!) the devil weed marijuana and that never-ending search for a perfect-fitting pair of jeans. I kid, but I skimmed th
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Apr 16, 2009
Diana
rated it:
This get's 3.5 stars because, while it was lovely, the first half failed to distinguish itself from so many other similar coming-of-age/immigrant novels. It picks up in the second half and becomes genuinely moving, but it read like two novellas held together by a bridge rather than a proper novel. I wanted her to scrap this and start again with a better structure and rewrite it from the beginning. It could have been a stronger book, although the author clearly has a gift for nuanced description.
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Apr 17, 2008
Slug
rated it:
'A strange paradox: after a severe burn, the body manufactures collagen to form scar tissue atop the injured area. The new surface is harder than normal skin. It has the look and feel of rope. Yet a healed scar is twenty percent weaker than the skin it replaces. It's more sensitive to air currents, to heat or cold, and even to touch. Which means, I suppose, that despite appearances to the contrary, I've grown more thin-skinned.'
Katherine Min has amazed me with this work. The diction sh More...
Katherine Min has amazed me with this work. The diction sh More...
May 19, 2011
Karen
rated it:
I thought this book was a good read. I particularly liked how Min contrasts Isa's family dynamics with Rachel's sloppy but happy brood. My only qualm is that the conflict with her, Rachel, and Hero never really gets addressed. I don't need it to be solved and tied up with a red ribbon, but I felt dissatisfied with the lack of closure in some way. Maybe that's how Min meant the reader to feel.
Jan 22, 2009
Danae
rated it: 
This looked like a good book, and I enjoyed the first few chapters, but in the end . . . it just seemed like little substance and a lot of sex. The main character was rather disappointing, not sure exactly why. Short book, as well - I would've liked the chapters to be a bit longer.
Feb 03, 2010
Lisa
rated it: 
Really strange, disturbing book. ALmost stopped reading it. Korean-born parents of Isa living in New York. Isa's friends are Rachel and Hero. Isa is bullied at school and barely noticed at home. Depressing story. Drugs, alcohol, sex. Don't need to read this book again.
Feb 18, 2009
Emily
rated it:
I would recommend this to other friends studying abroad in Korea - it's a brief read and underlines what we have experienced in Korean culture. However, the plot and characters are a little weak. Good for beach reading.
Oct 22, 2007
Irene
rated it:
This was an alright book; better than a lot of stuff I've been reading these days, but I wasn't completely involved with the characters. This book is about a teenager's experience as a Korean-American and the growing distance between her and her parents, especially their expectations for her to be a "good Korean girl." The best parts concerned her relationship with her first boyfriend, and I thought that the "typical teenager" parts of the book-- all the emotion and experim
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Jul 30, 2011
Well written, melancholy, understated tragedy, full of foreshadowing and themes of fire, death, Korean-American identity, and family pervade throughout - enjoyed it.
Aug 11, 2009
Jenny
rated it:
Told from the point of view of a second generation Korean American who grew up in Connecticut in the 1960s, it's an interesting view of what it's like to be a minority during that time. She has the same attitude of a normal American teenager, but also has to deal with her parents who don't quite understand "normal" American life.
Nov 25, 2008
Laurie
rated it:
i was interested in the korean-american perspective used throughout the book. but, i thought it got pretty cheesy in some places.
Jun 04, 2010
Cathy
rated it:
This is a typical coming of age story with a sad twist. The plot is a little weak. Overall quick and enjoyable.
Feb 10, 2009
nitsirkvil
rated it:
it was fine. not very realistic, i thought, but entertaining enough.
Mar 20, 2008
Pamela
rated it:
Amazon reviews this book as the Adult/High School level and I can see why. It deals with an American-Korean girl born into an emotionally struggling family. Pretty sad and tragic but the characters carry a thread of strength that is also encouraging. Although the book is based around racial strife, the discomfort is something we can all relate to at some point in our lives.
Jun 17, 2008
Jodie
rated it:
I liked it, but wasn't blown away. It smelled of first novel out of MFA workshop to me. Min is a "lyrical" writer (I hate this phrase, but it's what all MFA types use to say "really good"), but it felt way too tightly controlled and alas, rather predictable in an alterna-indie sort of way. Anyway, it certainly is worth a read.
Mar 26, 2009
Maya
rated it:
I thought this was an amazing story. It was gut retching, surprising, and heart breaking- but that is exactly what I book should do! As a person with parents from different cultures I was able to feel their struggle, although I believe that anyone could be consumed by the story of these characters.
Mar 05, 2008
Linda
rated it:
God coming-of-age novel with some quotable passages. Not stellar. The underlying idea that we all become who we are because of the histories we inherit from our parents is compelling and universal. This one happens to be about a Korean family - but the same could be told about any family.
Jan 27, 2008
Ginna
rated it:
I stumbled in to a Katherine Min reading in October and left with the book. It's a series of snapshots -- she says she tricked herself into writing a novel by framing it in shorts. The brother/sister relationship was particularly poignant to me.
Aug 02, 2008
Vy
rated it:
A coming-of-age story that touches on subjects ranging from being not quite American but not Asian, being the child "left behind" when a sibling dies...
Eloquently written, this is an impressive debut novel from Min.
Eloquently written, this is an impressive debut novel from Min.
