Name: I'll be Right There
ISBN: 9781590516737

Kyung-Sook Shin

Kyŏng-suk Sin

In 1980s South Korea, 20-something Jung Yoon is forced to re-live the most intense period of her life, including the death of her beloved mother, first love and friendship, when she receives a distressing phone call from her ex-boyfriend after eight years of separation. Original.

A Novel

I'll be Right There

giuli

nese

Is trying to spare someone the sensation of pain a love language or is it pure selfishness? 

I cannot say she was right. I think that if we all have to say goodbye eventually then the best we can do is try to stay together as long as we possibly can. But it's not that one of us was right and the other was wrong. We just saw things differently. 

I picked up a perilla leaf and placed it on Miru's rice. It was something my mother used to do for me. When did my mother get to eat? I had more memories of her feeding us than of her eating. She used to beam with pride over how heartily my father ate, and she encouraged me to eat like him. 

 "My mother would have enjoyed watching you eat," I said. "She used to say that people had to know how to enjoy their food. She said that was how you could be sure to always get your share, no matter where you went. People who know how to enjoy food know the value of it.” 

“Human beings are imperfect. We are complicated, indefinable by any wise saying or moral…The more you love someone, the stronger that feeling is. But if we cannot despair over the things we've lost, then what does it all mean? But... I don't want that despair to damage your souls.” 

Why was it so hard for me to open my eyes every morning, why was I so afraid to form a relationship with anyone?

I hope that when I die, I will be writing or reading a book at my desk late one snowy night and I will simply put my head down and close my eyes forever. I want that to be the last image of me in this earth.

"I wish someone would promise me that nothing is meaningless."

We all stare at the walls and complain of loneliness. All we have to do is turn around, but instead we keep our faces to the walls. It's depressing to think that this will never change.

To hold someone's hand, you must first know when to let it go.

How do we judge truth and goodness? Where are justice and righteousness hiding? A society that is violent or corrupt prohibits mutual conversation. A society that fears communication is unable to solve any problem. It looks for someone to shift the responsibility to and turns even more violent.

All beings, from human beings to the most insignificant creatures, experience a moment of radiance between birth and death. A moment that we call youth.

Back when I was caught in the whirling current and could not swim my way out, someone I have since forgotten told me: 

 I suppose this was proof. That advice applies both to those who suffer and to those whose lives are fflled with abundance. To one, it gives the strength to endure; to the other, the strength to be humble.

If only I had known that the moment you think everything has ended, something new is beginning.

If youth were something we could do over, I would not be standing here today, answering my phone and listening to his voice for the first time in eight years.

It seems that whether we are aware of it or not, memory carries a dagger in its breast.

Growing old does not make us any better at loving one another or understanding the meaning of life or death. 

Nevertheless, I hope that when I die, I will be writing or reading a book at my desk late one snowy night and I will simply put my head down and close my eyes forever. 

When I try to type, my thoughts keep stopping and looking back as my hands try to catch up.

em 摇摇

nicole

kim♡

finished this in such a short time. it was a great book about youth, going through loss, grief, despair, and everything in between. i loved the friendships formed all throughout the story, the beauty and ugliness of standing up in what you believe in.

and i learned here two phrases to say during tough times—“let’s remember this day, forever” and “i’ll be right there”.

sarah

Eri Asahi

I can almost see how this book would look if it were turned into big screen. This book is about devastation over the death of closest ones during the time of political turmoil in South Korea. Slow burner, but worth every second of it.

stephanie

(3.75 stars)
Very melancholic & often quite beautiful. This seemed more like a Winter read, than a Summer read, but maybe that's just me. Despite being very beautifully written at times, this didn't really hit the spot for me. Probably because I couldn't seem to feel deeply for the characters at all, despite all their suffering 😬 is it just me? or is it the book? I still liked it tho.
Some content warnings: Death (heavy emphasis on this!!), suicide

This is a book I'll read again when I'm going through a rough patch centered around a loss of my sense of self and how it relates to those I love. There's lots of loss and love in this book. It's written beautifully and simply in a way that makes understanding clear (for someone like me who can't see things in their head). Deep enjoy. A new possible favorite. 

madina

couldnt stop crying, folks!!!! a testament to mary oliver's and nobody gets out of it, having to swim through the fires to stay in this world.  it was incredible.

I'll be Right There A Novel