My Brilliant Life
Ratings3
Average rating4.3
A BEST OF THE MONTH SELECTION BY OPRAH MAGAZINE AN NPR BEST BOOK OF 2021 “An eminent South Korean talent makes her American début in this poignant watercolor of a novel . . . Kim is a writer on the move.” —O, The Oprah Magazine Ae-ran Kim's My Brilliant Life explores family bonds and out-of-the-ordinary friendships, interweaving the past and present of a tight-knit family, finding joy and happiness in even the most difficult times. Areum lives life to its fullest, vicariously through the stories of his parents, conversations with Little Grandpa Jang—his sixty-year-old neighbor and best friend—and through the books he reads to visit the places he would otherwise never see. For several months, Areum has been working on a manuscript, piecing together his parents’ often embellished stories about his family and childhood. He hopes to present it on his birthday, as a final gift to his mom and dad; their own falling-in-love story. Through it all, Areum and his family will have you laughing and crying, for all the right reasons. “This novel snuck up on me and captured my heart.” —Margarita Montimore, USA Today bestselling author of Oona Out of Order At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
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Sad and sweet - maybe a little too sweet. But charming, thought-provoking, and lovely. The characters were interesting and the plot was really well executed.
We've seen this story before - a young child with a tragic condition armed with a buoyant outlook on life, sprinkled with a preternaturally wise sense of the world. It's Wonder's Auggie Pullman or more recently (and Korean) Almond's Yunjae.
Here we have Areum. Diagnosed with progeria, Areum ages at an accelerated rate so at sixteen he's inhabiting the body of an 80 year old teetering on the brink of death. His parents, pregnant at 16, find themselves barely over 30 and faced with mounting hospital fees and the unavoidable certainty of their child's imminent death.
Areum is determined to write his own story and reconstruct the life of his parents meeting and having him. His tale also includes a quirky 60 year old neighbour and best friend, an inspiring TV spot and a secret admirer and Areum's parents just trying to do the best they can. The whole plot is almost its own genre and the story hits the expected beats with a few twists delivering just the right dose of heartwarming and hopeful without veering too far into misery and mawkishness. All you can hope for really.
