Native Speaker in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Sep 10, 2017 Samantha rated it it was amazing

Shelves: poc-author-2017

4.5 from me.

Henry Park's life is falling apart, and it's affecting his job as a spy. He's having problems with his wife after the death of their son, and he's got to deal with the pieces leftover from the death of his father. Park botched his last assignment so he's got to make good on this one, but he's not sure if he can. This novel is a spy noir with racial commentary. The political themes are still incredibly relevant, even though it was published in 1995.

This is my first Chang-rae Lee, an ...more

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May 07, 2007 Kecia rated it really liked it

Shelves: general_fiction, usa

In light of the shootings at Virginia Tech, this is a searing look inside the life of a first generation Korean American. Lee brings the lives of all immigrants to life in this brillant gritty suspenseful novel. It makes me wonder if we have forgotten the words on the Statue of Liberty...

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.

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Sep 27, 2009 Sarah left GR rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction

"A good spy is but the secret writer of all things imminent."

So says Henry Park, and he would know. (Henry being a spy, although I'd have to give a spoiler warning if I were to tell you exactly what kind.)

Loved this novel for the beautiful prose, sparse dialogue, and richly (but not overly) drawn characters. ...more

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Nov 05, 2022 Mary rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I felt like there was a pane of ice in front of the story. As I read, I was at a cool remove from the story of a Korean American who’d become a spy. Watching him fly beneath everyone’s radar because of his cool reserve, I was chilled.

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