There seems to be a lot of buzz 'round this book lately, and friends have mentioned/recommended it to me since it has a "Chekhovian" quality to it, according to the NY times, and the title includes my favoritest adverb (i.e. "super"). Oh and of course, the female lead in the story is a Korean-American girl (Eunice Park-> most typical Korean-American name ever) such as myself.
Aside from being Korean, the similarities between me and this girl are uncanny!
-Both in our mid-20's. She's 24 though, at least in the beginning of the book.
-Grew up California.
-Her family currently resides in Fort Lee, NJ (that is literally 2 min. away from me right now).
-Both have sweet, loving, but nagging/suffocating moms who email/text us in broken English.
-Both have siblings who are back at home with the family who (kinda) give us guilt trips for leaving home.
-Both cynical and angry at the world.
Except I'm not as angry, and she's probably a lot more badass.
Anyway, the first 50+ pages seem promising, even though I'm a bit wary of the Korean-ness of it (but aren't I always?). And I feel like I'll end up getting really repulsed at Lenny (the homely, self-deprecating 39-year-old protagonist). I feel like I have a thing against self-deprecating guys unless they're actually great or hilarious so there's not too much truth behind it (i.e. Conan). Otherwise, it's just annoying and pitiful.
Another book that's under my radar (and recommended by a friend):
I'm sucha sucker for zee Russians! The only gripe I have about Russian lit though (at least the lit from the "Golden Era") is that they are too many repetitive names in one story and each character has multiple names. Are they trying to confuse us on purpose? Reading, in and of itself, is already difficult for people, but when you have too many damn Alexei's and Sergei's, it's just game over. wth? I always find myself making a character list (a la CliffNotes) to keep track. Wow, I'm sucha nerd.
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