Review: A Good Family

A Good Family by Hajin Seo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"I tend to prefer slightly boring writers. Their work somehow resembles 'life' more closely" (p. 136)

I would have to agree, and I think this is one of the main reasons why I enjoyed this collection so much. I felt like I was being transported to various corners of Seoul and seeing people live their lives.
My favorites were probably "Dad's Private Life", "Where is Everyone Going?" and "The Interview".



***SPOILERS BELOW***
Since Goodreads doesn't provide enough space to keep personal notes, I will write brief synopses here:

What Grows out of Sadness: A lady gets diagnosed with cancer. Over time we realize she has been keeping so many of her feelings and emotions bottled up inside her, and it's implied this may have been a cause.

Dad's Private Life: A daughter and her friend follow a dad and a mysterious "Lady Unidentified" to and around Hong Kong.

A Good Family:Through the various undertakings during the day, we realize how much a mother is the strength and backbone of her family.

Where is Everyone Going: A doctor has tumors, which are most likely malignant. He settles his affairs, with close family members coming to terms with their emotions. He then leaves town to see "someone", and on the way receives a phone call telling him the tumors were benign after all.

The interview: A novice author is interviewing a well-known author, and she has prepared meticulously for this interview, since the author is someone she admires very much. However, there seems to be an ulterior motive.

Sugar or Salt: A woman visits her friend K abroad (in the US), and they reminisce, and we realize what went on behind the scenes, including with K's ex-husband.

Who are you?: An author visits her town's bookstore, which is about to be demolished, and sees many copies of her book there, which she had dedicated to K. She then goes on a search for him. He seems to have been her assistant/inspiration/muse/motivator.

The Little Thing: A woman in a company denounces a superior for sexual harassment. Things aren't as clear-cut as you would think. In the end the perpetrator seems to wish to understand, but doesn't, and is forced to resign, while all the other men remain oblivious. The woman is moved to another department.

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