Play Book Tag discussion

Flashlight relates the story of a man, Serk, who returns to the country of the his origin, Japan, with his American daughter and wife. Serk's parents are Korean, so Serk in some ways is a man of three countries (Japan, Korea, US) and in other ways a man with no country. The story of this family is meticulously detailed, and when Serk's parents return to North Korea, without him, there are ramifications both large and small.

I want to give this book 4 stars. I really do. But I just can't. It's so overwritten. There's like ZERO space for the reader, and I don't care if you are writing romance or historical fiction, please leave something for my own brain to fill in.

That all being said, Choi sure can craft a beautiful SENTENCE. This book is filled with very specific details, each evoked with perfect words. I admire that immensely. It cannot be easy to write 450 plus pages and have each sentence be like artwork. So hats off to her talents.

But storytelling requires more suspense, and even though there were some quite harrowing scenes, I never really felt the suspense viscerally. By the end, I really wanted to skim. I resisted the urge, but I just wanted to be done.

Another thing I really did enjoy about the book was the historical aspects. I didn't know much about the history of post WWII Korea, and Choi helpfully lists ten books in her acknowledgements, and I am super interested in delving into the non-fiction that she references. I am always appreciative if I learn something new from fiction - - whether it's about history or the human condition or something else. This book was a winner from that aspect, but I probably won't be running to read more from this author.

I liked it more than you did. For me, the main attraction is the exploration of the historical tensions among North and South Korea, Japan, China, and the US.

I can see that a good portion of the book requires patience, but I found that I became engrossed in the last sections are read it straight-through in one sitting.

Joy D wrote: "I liked it more than you did. For me, the main attraction is the exploration of the historical tensions among North and South Korea, Japan, China, and the US.

I can see that a good portion of the..."

I am so glad it all worked for you! I honestly think the end portion was where it started to fall apart for me. I liked the element of surprise when it came to Serk's situation, but it went downhill from there. Not severely - - I still enjoyed the book overall. But I preferred the first half to the second enough to revise my rating.

Can you help me with a plot point question that I had?

(view spoiler)[I feel like I must have just missed it, but can you explain to me who exactly Mrs. Ishida was? Was she Serk's sister? I never was clear on who she was to him and why Louisa needed to get to know her. (hide spoiler)]

Regarding your spoiler:
(view spoiler)[ When we first encounter Mrs. Ishida, it is not clear who she is, but it is hinted that she has ties to the DPRK. As the story goes on, there are many more details provided that point to her being Serk's sister. I don't think it is ever explicitly stated, but yes, I read it that she was Serk's sister, and she knew the whereabouts of his family, which he desperately wanted to find out.

As an added point of interest, the abductions of Japanese by North Korea was finally acknowledged in 2002: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_K...
There were probably many more than the 13 officially recognized. The author has said this novel was inspired by these incidents, especially the abduction of the 13 year old girl. (hide spoiler)]

Thanks for the link, Joy. I found it very interesting and would like to find a book that covers the topic of North Korea's actions. Knowing Anita's tastes well, this one would not be one that I would try.