"Year of Impossible Goodbyes" by Sookan Nyul Choi

Reading this book right after "So Far From the Bamboo Grove" was very beneficial for me as a reader. I appreciated how both authors were able to captivate their experiences without bashing on the other race. Reading these books together was a powerful experience because it shows how destructive war can be for both sides of the war. Reading from both perspectives helped me understand that no matter where you live or what nationality you are, neither side was right in their actions.

The book, "Year of Impossible Goodbyes" was actually very educational for me. Growing up, we didn't learn a lot of information about WW2 and how it effected all the different countries. Of course I learned the basics, but it's kind of embarrassing the lack of information that I know of past war times. I knew that North Korea is a communist country but I never knew it was because the Russians came during 1945 and took over N. Korea, after the Japanese surrendered.

Again with this book, I empathized a lot with Sookan. I can't imagine going through some of the horrific events she went through and the descriptions she gave made it very real for me. I was heartbroken when Captain Narita and his men cut down her Grandfathers tree. That was such a sacred thing to him and his religion. Another way the Japanese would make the Koreans suffer is when they would starve the Koreans to make them give up whatever family treasures they still had left. Or when Captain Narita decided to take the "sock girls" away so that they can be used and raped at the Japanese soldiers will. People should never have to endure these kind of experiences. I was captivated by the courage and hope that Sookan and Inchun had when they were separated from there mother on there journey to escape North Korea. They luckily met someone that helped them and directed them towards the Southern border. All of these are events are just unimaginable. When I was 10, my worries were minuscule compared to what these children and families had to endure.

I think these books are so powerful, and I definitely would recommend reading the two books together like we did in this class. These books actually kind of scared me... thinking about our world today and how someday war could break out in the United States. I hope that we can use these books to learn about the past and understand what happened and to hopefully make peace in our world today.