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Native Speaker, by Chang-rae Lee
Free PDF Native Speaker, by Chang-rae Lee
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The debut novel from critically-acclaimed and New York Times–bestselling author of On Such a Full Sea.
In�Native Speaker, author Chang-rae Lee introduces readers to Henry Park. Park has spent his entire life trying to become a true American—a native speaker. But even as the essence of his adopted country continues to elude him, his Korean heritage seems to drift further and further away.
Park's harsh Korean upbringing has taught him to hide his emotions, to remember everything he learns, and most of all to feel an overwhelming sense of alienation. In other words, it has shaped him as a natural spy.
But the very attributes that help him to excel in his profession put a strain on his marriage to his American wife and stand in the way of his coming to terms with his young son's death. When he is assigned to spy on a rising Korean-American politician, his very identity is tested, and he must figure out who he is amid not only the conflicts within himself but also within the ethnic and political tensions of the New York City streets.
Native Speaker�is a story of cultural alienation. It is about fathers and sons, about the desire to connect with the world rather than stand apart from it, about loyalty and betrayal, about the alien in all of us and who we finally are.
- Sales Rank: #27016 in Books
- Brand: Riverhead Trade
- Published on: 1996-03-01
- Released on: 1996-03-01
- Ingredients: Example Ingredients
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.00" h x .90" w x 5.10" l,
- Binding: Paperback
- 349 pages
Features
Amazon.com Review
Korean-American Henry Park is "surreptitious, B+ student of life, illegal alien, emotional alien, Yellow peril: neo-American, stranger, follower, traitor, spy ..." or so says his wife, in the list she writes upon leaving him. Henry is forever uncertain of his place, a perpetual outsider looking at American culture from a distance. As a man of two worlds, he is beginning to fear that he has betrayed both -- and belongs to neither.
From Publishers Weekly
Espionage acts as a metaphor for the uneasy relationship of Amerasians to American society in this eloquent, thought-provoking tale of a young Korean-American's struggle to conjoin the fragments of his personality in culturally diverse New York City. Raised in a family and culture valuing careful control of emotions and appearances, narrator Henry Park, son of a successful Korean-American grocer, works as an undercover operative for a vaguely sinister private intelligence agency. He and his "American wife," Lelia, are estranged, partly as a result of Henry's stoical way of coping with the recent death of their young son. Henry is also having trouble at work, becoming emotionally attached to the people he should be investigating. Ruminating on his upbringing, he traces the path that has led to his present sorrow; as he infiltrates the staff of a popular Korean-American city councilman, he discovers the broader, societal context of the issues he has been grappling with personally. Writing in a precise yet freewheeling prose that takes us deep into Henry's head, first-novelist Lee packs this story, whose intrigue is well measured and compelling, with insights into both current political events and timeless questions of love, culture, family bonds and identity. This is an auspicious debut for Riverhead Books, Putnam's new division. First serial to Granta; QPB selection; audio rights to Brilliance; author tour.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Assigned to spy on a fellow Korean American, Henry Park faces an acute crisis of cultural conscience. LJ's reviewer found Henry a "wonderful, honest creation."
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
tl;dr
By Brian Kim
When I started reading this book that was assigned in class I had very low expectations. I thought this novel was going to be just another story about a first generation Korean American struggling to keep his own identity against the evil American ways of life. However, Native Speaker by 이 창래 destroyed all of my preconceived ideas about cultural assimilation books.
The main protagonist Henry works for the organization Glimmer and Company that uses immigrant American spies to exploit other immigrants. Henry’s occupation as a spy actually represents the cultural alienation — from both American and Korean cultures — that many second generation Korean Americans face. The more he attempts to carry all the practices and attitudes of both cultures, the further he becomes from discovering his own identity and obtaining happiness. Glimmer and company is a sort of cultural limbo for immigrants. Henry describes his coworker Jack who has inflicted many immigrants but still cared for his family and for Henry when he says “But then who was the Jack that loved and buried Sophie; was he just another version in the schema, or the true soul. Or could he have been both?”(Page 33). His thoughts also apply to himself and to his last target John Kwang. The story by the end brings up many situations that make the reader question whether either culture truly defines people or if it is our choice to live in the way that will make us the happiest. It also reveals how immigrants play a large role in making themselves feel separate from the rest of Americans. A major reason that second generation Korean Americans are in this situation is that their parents who first came here pressure them into feeling like they are betraying their culture. However, the author does not demonize first generation Americans and makes Henry empathetic with his father. Henry’s father is portrayed as a traditionally Korean parent who is determined to succeed financially in New York. Even though he has a masters degree in one of Korea’s best schools, he becomes a fruit and vegetable grocer and believes that the world owes him nothing. Henry early in the novel admits that he cannot say that his father is a uncaring parent because he “put me through college, witnessed my marriage for my long-buried mother, even left me enough money that I could do the same for my children without the expense of his kind of struggle; his duties, uncomplex, were by all accounts complete. And the single-minded determination that had propelled him through twenty-five years of green-grocering in a famous ghetto of America would serve him a few last days, and through any of my meager execrations” (Page 49).
The most enjoyable element of this novel is that is relatable unlike many other novels about assimilation. In other reviews people say that even though you hear things about Korean culture, it is too hard to believe that keeping appearances and having financial stability has priority over personal freedom and love. Both of these are explored in a positive light through Henry’s father and in a negative light through John Kwang. I think that empathizing with Henry is very appealing to Asian American readers but might bore other readers such as some of the other reviewers. Overall, Native Speaker sparked my interest for reading multicultural novels again and has me feeling like I am a part of the story unlike many novels that teachers force me to read.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
you would expect a relatively easy time finding a place where you belong
By Isaac Yun
Living in a country known as the “boiling pot” of an infinite amount of personalities, backgrounds, and cultures, you would expect a relatively easy time finding a place where you belong, a place to truly call home. However, Chang-Rae Lee negates this notion through the documentation of a story of self-discovery as a Korean American struggling to identify to which culture he belongs.
At the start of the novel, the reader is immediately presented with a list of phrases describing who the main protagonist, Henry Park, is, written by his wife shortly before her departure to a mysterious get-away. “You are surreptitious/ B+ student of life/ first thing hummer of Wagner and Strauss/ illegal alien/ emotional alien/ genre bug/ Yellow peril: neo-American/...stranger/ follower/ traitor/ spy” (Lee 5). Though the list dumps an overwhelming array of information the reader is obviously not ready to completely comprehend, it is obvious that Park’s wife has a relatively sufficient understanding of who Henry is and what he means to her. As the novel continues, a pattern of reading and defining who certain people are permeates every aspect of the text, whether it be through character dialogue, Park’s inner narration, even his job. The reader learns that the “spy” work he does is not the action-film spy works that everyone dreams about, rather the task of assuming fake identities to learn more about certain individuals that their clients needed insider information on. A certain irony is created when Park expresses his struggle to discover his own self despite his talent in reading everyone except for himself. Though he is a second generation Korean American, Park was practically raised as a Korean, with the stereotypical strict parents who spoke only Korean and rejected other cultures outside of their own. As a result, Park grows up a stranger both physically, as noted by his geographical separation from Korea, and emotionally, as noted by his cultural disconnect to American culture.
Though I picked up this book hoping to be able to identify with the story and have a deeper connection to the narrator through our shared Korean heritage, I struggled to form that bond, despite us both being second generation Korean Americans. In spite of my failed hope, Native Speaker did give me a deeper, raw glance into the struggle that not only immigrants, but all individuals face in the journey of self-discovery. Although Park’s story might be more dramatic than most, Chang-Rae Lee sends out a message that everyone, myself included, can understand and appreciate. For those reasons, I rate Native Speaker four stars.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
THE DARKNESS LINGERS
By Suzanne
Having read "A Gesture Life," and more recently "On a Full Sea," I have witnessed Chang-rae Lee's growth as a writer. "Native Speaker" was his first novel and is excellent as was "A Gesture Life." They both explore the difficulties a Korean immigrant has assimilating into American culture with depth and experience. The plots are a bit slow moving, but the deft use of language more than makes up for that.
All that said, "On a Full Sea" is such a leap of imagination that it takes your breath away. After that, going back to Lee's first novel is slightly disappointing, but that is not meant to be a criticism.
"Native Speaker" explores the ramifications of losing a young son and the devestating effect it has on the narrator's career and marriage. It also has the intrigue of his working for a mysterious investigative firm without asking questions about who's backing the company. He just does what he's told because it pays well and engages his mind. His Korean cultural background to put his head down and work hard while minding his own business is also in play.
I was disappointed with the ending but another reader might find it inspiring. It's a great first book.
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