Book Review: "The Surrendered"

The Surrendered by Chang-rae Lee












My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I chose to read this book because of its roots in the Korean war, written by a Korean. Current events compel me to be very interested in Korea these days. Also, I'm writing a novel and a screenplayrefer hinged to the ongoing strife between North and South Korea as backstory.

In "The Surrendered" we first meet the protagonist, June, as an eleven-year-old refugee fleeing Seoul for Pusan and struggling to protect her two younger siblings against horrific physical and human challenges. Following June's life in a non-chronological way, we eventually come to know the other main characters, Hector and Sylvie, through their own stories.  All are rooted in one way or another to the Korean conflict of the early fifties, but carry forward to the modern era as well. The author skillfully and meticulously weaves the characters' lives together through the second half of the book, creating at the end a cohesive tapestry of both yearning and fulfillment.
It's a well crafted, provocative story with some magnificent prose, albeit overly descriptive at times. Not as dialogue/action rich as other contemporary novels, it is worthwhile read nonetheless. I especially appreciated the well described insights about the physical and psychological effects of war on common people and young conscripted soldiers.

Some of the images are not pretty, but then neither is war or its aftermath. And sometimes life is just like that.