The Evening Hero by Marie Myung-Ok Lee
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This book is the story of Dr. Yungman Kwak, a Korean immigrant. The story goes back and forth through his life, from his present, as an almost retired Doctor in the US, to his youth in Korea during the Korean war.
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My thoughts:
-I love when a book teaches me more about a part of the world I know little about. It was wonderful and heartbreaking to learn about what it was like living in Korea at a time like that.
Wonderful to learn about how much the people there value family and community. And heartbreaking to read of the travesties they suffered.
And then to read about Yungman’s own child and how his life in America was vastly different from his parents, was eye opening.
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4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I enjoyed slowly savoring this story. I really liked how it ended as well, it made a full circle and kept some tidbits of Yungman’s history for the last part.

Yungman Kwak is a mild-mannered obstetrician living in the rural town of Horse Breath, Minnesota. Accompanied by his wife, Young-ae, who has an icy demeanor and a new found devotion to the local Korean church. Their egocentric son lives in a nearby town, with his wife and son, working for a start-up medical corporation as a “doctorpreneur.” They are all living the “American dream.” That all changes when Yungman finds himself out of work and the recipient of an unspecified aerogram from Korea.

The novel is separated into five “Books” spanning present day Minnesota to 1950s Korea. Book I and Book II are interwoven with satire and humor; which I don’t always love, but Lee did an exceptional job of presenting irony in (mostly) subtle ways (his son lived in a replica castle, moat included!). I have to admit, I was unsure where this story was going, it felt meandering during these first two books. However, when “Book III” opened in 1949 Korea, I was hooked. There is unspeakable tragedy that Yungman and his family endured as a result of the Korean War. These experiences, along with the decisions that Yungman made in the aftermath, have haunted him throughout his life.

I was impressed with Lee’s ability to cover such an expansive topic and the assiduous character development of Yungman. I found myself laughing with Yungman, rolling my eyes at ignorant characters, and was distraught from the callousness of war. It was evident how much research Lee conducted in order to accurately portray a divided Korea. I enjoyed reading this and recommend it to anyone interested in historical fiction and character-development novels.

This is the story of Yungman Kwak, a Korean whose name translates to 'Evening Hero.' His is the twelfth generation of Kwaks so there is a lot of tradition being passed by his many ancestors. But Yungman and his wife leave for America after the Korean Conflict ends and their home village becomes part of North Korea, purely by how the lines are drawn during the peace agreements.

'Yungman had presumed that with enough effort, anything could be achieved, including seamlessly becoming an American.' He finishes his courses to become an ob-gyn and finds a position at a small-town hospital in Minnesota. There he and his wife have a comfortable life and raise a son named Einstein who also becomes a doctor. But it's not that easy to fit in and he finds so much of this culture to be so inexplicable.

Now in the twilight of his life, everything changes in a blink of an eye. The hospital closes with little notice and Yungman finds himself working for boutique-style retail medicine at the Mall of America. In the midst of all this new craziness, he can't help but look back at the events that have shaped his life, remembering his beloved family and homeland...and the secret he's kept all these years, even from his wife.

Beautifully written descriptions of Korea, the countryside, its people and customs and the events that tore their country and lives apart. The author contrasts this seriousness so poignantly with the silliness of modern-day American life and politics that one cannot help but cringe.

I received an arc of this new novel from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I am grateful for the opportunity. Compliments for the beautiful cover art as well.
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Dr. Youngman Kwak’s life has been all encompassing. He has survived the worst of Korean history, been a refugee, experienced the racism of Birmingham, AL and northern Minnesota. He is at loose ends when the hospital in which he has been employed suddenly closes and he is harboring a secret he has kept for years from his wife and child.

A well written, memorable saga, there is much to this book; many layers that intersect. It is poignant, humorous, entertaining, horrifying, engrossing. With evocative descriptions, there are thought provoking cultural and generational comparisons. I also appreciated learning more about the brutality visited upon Korea by Japan, Russia, China, and the United States.

I highly recommend this book.

While I really enjoyed aspects of this story and the author's writing style (so beautiful!), the plot seemed disproportionately to focus on Yungman's modern life in Minnesota when the more interesting part of the story in my opinion was related to his past in Korea and his journey back (only a very small part of the story was devoted to the journey back which I felt was a shame).

I am still uncertain as to the point of Yungman's brief stint working for SANUS in "retailicine" and felt that there could've been a whole storyline pursued in relation to his son's family. As it is, these details seemed superfluous to the actual plot. I actually wondered at one point (in regards to the whole "retailicine" subject), if this would unexpectedly turn out to be science fiction. It didn't. The protagonist, Yungman, was loveable at times but overall I had some difficulty connecting with his character.

The saving grace here is that I was able to glean a lot of information about Korean culture and history and some of the experience of Korean Americans, which I found both enjoyable and informative.

The bottom line here is that yes, this book is entertaining, but I'm not sure it's one I'd recommend.  If you are looking to read more AAPI authors and are interested in Korean culture, you may give this one a try.

Yungman Kwak and his wife Young-ae came to the United States after the Korean War. They settled in Minnesota in a small town with a hospital so desperate for doctors that they hired the young obstetrician without having a green card. The small hospital, lacking funds, is now forced to close and Yungman, who became a citizen, is forced into retirement. Their grown son Einstein, a Harvard-educated doctor, does not share the simple values of his father and has chosen a flashy lifestyle. Einstein encourages his father to join one of his company’s boutique-like medical locations in the Mall of America, a concept they call “Retailicine.” Told in five sections, this riveting book flashes back to Yungman’s life in Korea before, during and after the war. His early years are nostalgic as well as heartbreaking. As memories of his past become overwhelming, Yungman decides to reconcile with unfulfilled promises made long ago.

Author Marie Myung-Ok Lee has written a very moving book about a man who has lived two lives – one in Korea, one in the United States. He tried to keep the two separate but it eventually became impossible. The Evening Hero (which is the translation of Yungman’s name) gives an unvarnished look at the impact of the Korean War. It is also takes a satirical look at America’s healthcare system. It is an immigrant story worth reading.

Having visited South Korea not long ago, this eye-opening book provides a whole new dimension to that experience.

The Evening Hero, though not exactly long, is what I would call a dense read. It took me longer than usual to finish because it’s not something that could just be skimmed. The themes are heavy, although the author made it feel satirical at times but serious on the other. The time jumps were also a bit jarring; I enjoyed the historical parts more than the present, it’s what made me warm up to the prose and made it a much easier read. The commentary on social issues was something I could commend, especially when it comes to the American healthcare system since “The Evening Hero” was a doctor. There’s a lot more to unpack here in the history of North and South Korea, as well as Korea and the US that deserves more marinating from the reader.

The characters on the other hand, are what I think made this less engaging than it could have been. Dr. Kwak’s reflections took up a big part of this book, and sometimes in the middle of a dialogue he would think about something from his past that would take up a lot of paragraphs and pages that I would forget who he was originally talking to in the first place; things felt directionless in some instances so I had to backtrack a lot. After spending an entire book in Dr. Kwak’s head, he still wasn’t the character I looked to warmly. I wished Young-ae - his wife - had a POV at the very least, or his mother or younger brother, Young-sik. That said, maybe the author’s style just isn’t up my alley although it’s not something I’d call bad. I still found poignancy in the storytelling and was satisfied with the ending.

Wow. This is one I had to sit for a bit. Moving, lyrical and complex. The Evening Hero takes you on a journey with two different sides of Yungman Kwak in exploring his identity.

The book has two parallel timelines. One is set in Korea around the start of the Korean War, and the after-effects/rebuilding of Seoul. The other timeline is set in present-day or perhaps futuristic Minnesota.

I enjoyed the flashbacks a little more, but I did enjoy the look of the privatization of modern-day healthcare and the consequences of abandoning rural hospitals, especially with the masterful satirical voice that is in the novel. The look into Korea was heartbreaking, but also highly unapologetic and valiant.

Some insight into the history of Korea and the hope of reunification may provide helpful before starting the novel. Though, I think the novel is moving if you are unaware of Korea's complex history. I have been very lucky to spend a few years living in Korea and the author's descriptions of modern-day Korea moved me, especially in parallel with a Korea of old.


Thank you to Simon and Schuster as well as NetGalley for an advance copy for an honest review!

The Evening Hero is a wonderful work. I am so excited to see what Marie Myung-Ok Lee writes next. I know that she has a fan.

Described as "A sweeping, lyrical novel following a Korean immigrant pursuing the American dream who must confront the secrets of the past or risk watching the world he’s worked so hard to build come crumbling down."

Dr. Yungman Kwak's life is coming apart at the seams, the hospital he works for is closing, his wife is distant and his son is making risky financial decisions.. then a letter arrives threatening to unravel buried secrets from another lifetime.
It is quite the sweeping story, covering Yungman's life in Korea, the Korean War, immigrating to and building a life in the United States. Poetic and beautifully written with moments of humor and satire, this book is perfect for those that enjoy historical ficton and character driven stories.

For me, I found it a bit slow and meandering, I struggled to connect to the story. I value the authors diligence to provide such a well written, accurately correct exploration of the Korean culture, especially to someone like myself who can benefit from that insight.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read and review honestly an advanced digital copy.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This book starts in Minnesota, where an ob/gyn doctor, Yungman Kwak (the evening hero) finds that his hospital, recently purchased by a large corporation, is now going to close, with only a few days notice. What's going to happen to people in the town? Big shrug - not our problem! When he and his wife go to visit his son for Thanksgiving, he finds that his son (also a doctor) works for the same corporation, and can get him a job interview at one of their offices at Mall of America - this particular job is as a Depilator. The company likes to advertise using real doctors for thing like this! A few months later, his wife informs him that what she really wants is to go back and visit the town where they both grew up, which is now part of North Korea. Yungman doesn't want to go, and we also know he's been receiving letters from someone in Korea, and doesn't want anyone to know about this.

At this point, we go back in time and place to his boyhood and youth in Korea - to me, this was particularly fascinating. While I know a bit about the Korean War, it's always been from an American perspective. This was from a Korean perspective - how they were finally free from Japanese domination, but then became pawns in the developing Cold War. After there was a truce, the line was drawn based on American and Chinese/Russian decisions, and areas in Korea ust willy nilly assigned to North or South Korea. His village was assigned to North Korea, so everyone was given a few days to evacuate south, or to be interrogated as to why they wanted to be in North Korea.

In the final part of the book, we wrap up both plot lines.

This book was quite interesting - and it gave me quite a lot to think about. The future of medicine in America was an interesting issue and I've been thinking about it since I read the book. The history of Korea was another topic that I knew very little about - I've only really thought about Korea from an American perspective, and as something that happened when I was too little to even think about. Fortunately, there's a list of resources to learn more about it.

But, don't be fooled by this - while I did learn a lot, this was a novel, and it was a good read as a novel. The characters were interesting and I very much enjoyed reading the story to see what would happen next.

Rating: 3.5
I liked the story, but I found the writing hard to focus on at times. I think it's more of a me problem though. I'm kind of picky about literary fiction.

The Evening Hero reminds me of my grandmother’s stories throughout my childhood. At times, the story is fast-paced and invigorating, and at others, it is meandering and directionless. There is a stream of consciousness done here that captures both history and fiction in a beautiful way, but again, it can be slow. However, Myung Ok-Lee’s acknowledgement that the history of the DMZ is hard to track due to convoluted/missing documentation and the storytelling passed down through Korean elders allowed for the meandering and its ability to show just what this kind of journey through life must have been like. With split timelines occurring at numerous points throughout the MC’s life during the Korean War and decades since in America, there is a poignancy to the evolution of cultures and their influences that makes this novel special for me.

The story of Yungman Kwak is a study in awkward contrasts. There is the clash between the Korean culture Kwak was raised with and the culture of America where he spends a majority of his life and raises a son who is the epitome of the American businessman stereotype. And there is the contrast between the author's beautiful prose and the ugliness of war ravaged Korea. All this combines to highlight the distinct difference between the history of the Korean War that Americans learn about in school and how the same situation is viewed by Koreans. Interspersed throughout all this is an education on the Korean language and culture. The result is an incredibly dense read. This is not a book you can skim and come away with an understanding of what you read. Another contributor to the bulky feeling of the book is how the timeline jumps around. The main story follows Dr. Kwak as he retires from his medical practice as an ob/gyn. But whether through nostalgia or guilt, the timeline frequently hops back to his past where the reader learns the history of Korea and what brought Kwak to the place he is today. I felt that these reflections sometimes took up too much of the book and occasionally I think I was reading the same thing a second or third time. But when you reach the end of the book you will come away with a great affection for a fictional doctor and an appreciation for a real country.

A fascinating story of one man's quest to move on from his past and blend in to his new surroundings. The Evening Hero features Dr. Yungman Kwak, an OB-GYN working in a small hospital in a Horse's Breath, Minnesota. Dr. Kwak has settled into his routine for the last fifty years and thinks he is content, if not haunted by a lie/secret he has carried with him for decades. When the hospital closes down without much notice, he has time to think about his childhood in Korea and to reflect on the choices he's made in his life.

This novel is a successful blend of historical fiction, satire, and literary fiction. It is beautifully written and there are plenty of hilarious and strange moments that lighten the heavy plot. I loved getting to know Yungman and his wife, Young-ae. I appreciated the details that add richness to the characters (many which made me smile, including the fact that the relatively mild-mannered Yungman had a nemesis at work).

The story is divided into five books, and each one unfolds in elegant and surprising ways. It is truly moving and offers a glimpse into a war not often discussed and various perspectives on what is the "American Dream".

Thank you very much to Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read this ARC via NetGalley.

The Evening Hero is the story of Yungman an Korean American, who is also called as Dr. Kwak. He is an Ob/gyn in a small town of Minnesota where he has settled with his family. Abruptly his life takes a turn when he is forced to retire when his hospital shuts down. What follows is his new journey where he needs to look deeper into his present and past life.
The Evening Hero is so much more than a literary fiction. It's a story which every immigrant in the United States can relate to. There's a humor in the book which is funny but at the same time reflects what any immigrant might go through when their children grow up in a culture which is different from their upbringing.
This book tackles very important subjects of racism, role of women in the society and the role of Allied forces in the formation of North Korea and South Korea. It was an eyeopener for me into a world which I did not know about. An excellent book which handles serious topics with a humor that is seen seldom.

DNF @ 15%

Note: Very Character, a slice of life feel.

I think that this would be a very good book and I may pick it up as an audiobook. I personally can not get through character-driven books very often without audiobooks. I am interested in the characters and hope that an audiobook is made for this! I need to put it down though or I end up in a reading slump.

Note if there is an audiobook I will listen because I can't more easily get through these types of narratives this way!

Assimilation is a struggle for this doctor, as it is for most immigrants across the globe. Being a different race just adds complexities. An eye-opening novel for those of us who have known grandparents or other close family members who became Americans after growing up in another country. The required changes - from language to food to social customs - are amazingly overwhelming (as it would be for anyone immigrating to any country not their country of birth).
Navigating one's personal life and relationships is difficult enough living in familiar territory. Living in a strange land just makes every single thing even more difficult.
What to keep and what to let go? What does one need to internalize to succeed in this new world and what is unnecessary? And when and where do your most deeply held past values intersect with your present world?

Thank you in advance for this arc copy for an honest review. I tried to push through this book, but it is not for me. I had to DNF it really early into the book. It is for sure a slow burn beginning.

This was a beautifully written book. At times the story snaked around so much that I thought for sure the author would struggle to recover, but she did recover every time. Yungman’s story was at times so alive on the page that the reader is stricken with every emotion he goes through. Rarely do books do this. At one point I thought this might turn into a type of Idiocracy story (retailicine? MDeity? Depilation Nation!) but the outrageousness of this part of the story honestly hit home. I wasn’t expecting this story to go where it did, and I was more than pleasantly surprised as a reader. Marie Myung-Ok Lee is a very talented writer and storyteller. Do not pass on this one.

"The Evening Hero" is a book that will stick with me for quite some time! This story of Dr. Yungman Kwak, a Korean immigrant, is rich, complex, and thought provoking. It certainly doesn't shy away from difficult topics!

I love this book. However, people who lean to the right will hate it. At its core, "The Evening Hero" is a commentary on everything that is wrong with the United States; from its broken medical system to the attitude of exceptionalism, from racism to attitudes on immigration. It is a scathing commentary on American imperialism and the atrocities committed during the Korean War. My world grew as I read this book, and I will never be the same.

Though this is a "heavy" read, there were also parts that were laugh-out-loud funny. The characters were all so believable and came alive from the pages. It is beautifully written and should definitely be considered as one of the best works of historical fiction of 2022.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the privilege of reading an advanced digital copy of this tremendous book in exchange for my honest review.