If you aren’t hungry when you pick up this book, you soon will be. Zauner describes Korean food with the passion of a zealot! I’ve never heard of most of the dishes she described in lush and mouthwatering detail but now I want to find the nearest Korean restaurant and dive in. I want to try all the different flavors of kimchi!
I loved so many things about this book, truly. I think I read it too fast and I already want a re-read. I lost my own mom to cancer at 22, such a tender age when you are just getting past all the teenage moodiness and resentment towards your mother and begin finding yourself in her and building a relationship again. Michelle’s deep love for her mom and how she waded through the months of watching her mother fade and deteriorate struck a deep chord in me. It was hard to read but powerful and vital.
I loved how vulnerable and honest this memoir was. It wasn’t preachy or given to justifying or explaining death. Michelle just told the story with straightforward and direct words that highlighted the realness of her experience and mostly lets you do your own interpreting of what it all means. I do love one section in particular where she goes all little off that script and gives some food for thought when she intertwines the relationship between kimchi and death, describing how cabbage could rot into nothing but with the right ingredients, the rotting process turns into a delicious dish that is integral to Korean culture. She chose to find the beauty in her mother’s death and instead of letting it rot, instead become a source of healing and sustenance.
Overall this is a remarkable book about a very human experience that many will face in some form or another when they lose someone vital to their life. Michelle told her story with raw candor and the added depth of her mixed heritage and love of Korean food that bound her to her mother was so compelling that I read the whole book in a day! This is a great book to explore death, culture, food and the power of the mother-daughter relationship.
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Popular Highlights in this book
I remember these things clearly because that was how my mother loved you, not through white lies and constant verbal affirmation, but in subtle observations of what brought you joy, pocketed away to make you feel comforted and cared for without even realizing it.Highlighted by 5,693 Kindle readers- She believed food should be enjoyed and that it was more of a waste to expand your stomach than to keep eating when you were full. Her only rule was that you had to try everything once.Highlighted by 4,372 Kindle readers
- I came to realize that while I struggled to be good, I could excel at being courageous.Highlighted by 4,021 Kindle readers
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Reviews with images
One Woman's Search for Identity
Growing up as one of the few kids who is different from everyone else can be difficult. It can be tough to fit in, and it can be a challenge for parents of such children to reign- in their child’s tendency to possibly become rebellious. Indie rock star Michelle Zauner knows what this feeling is like and it forms the basis of her memoir, Crying in H Mart.What you get with this book is a memoir about a Korean American girl, growing up in Eugene, Oregon and trying to find her identity. The author struggles at times to communicate with her parents and extended family, while taking comfort in things that she and her Korean relatives can relate to, like food. In fact, this book is very much about food, with references to baking and creating familiar Korean food dishes found throughout the read.The other important part of the book is the relationship the author had with her mother and how it developed from childhood through young adulthood. There were difficult times of understanding during her youth, which is common among most children. But the real test came later, when Zauner’s mother was diagnosed with cancer and had little time to live. Her attempts to reconcile with her mom, take care of her and provide comfort, all the way to her final days form a large portion of the book and the grief she feels following her mom’s death lingers on, from chapter to chapter.It's always fun to read books like this, detailing a celebrity’s roots and what they overcame during their younger days. But there are aspects of Crying in H Mart that I found a little off- putting and difficult to relate to. For one, the overwhelming feeling of grief and the time it took for the author to get over this grief was exhausting. I also lost my mom to cancer, but the grieving period didn’t drag on for this long. It could be a cultural difference, I suppose. Also, as much as I love to eat, the emphasis on food as comfort was a little over the top.Another disappointment that I had with the book is that there is very little mention or talk about the author’s band, Japanese Breakfast. I would have liked to know more about the forming of the band and its success. Instead, it is only mentioned sporadically, almost like it’s an unimportant side hustle. Maybe a sequel is in the works, one that focuses on the author’s success with her band.Life can be difficult when you stand out in the crowd. Crying in H Mart is a book about identity and coping; family relationships; food; and grief. It’s a good book overall, but not as compelling as I had hoped, as I was unable to relate to much of it. Still, it’s worth a read, especially if you’re someone who has had to cope with a similar upbringing.
Top reviews from other countries
Cath James
brilliant and heartrenching
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 17, 2024
