Crying in H Mart

A memoir. A daughter reflects on her life after her mother succumbs to Cancer.

I've been reading such books to serve as a guide on dealing with my current situation.

The novel is honest. It does not sugar coat cancer. We see the author be thrown into caretaking her mother and are given a front seat to viewing all her thoughts - The selfish, ugly and scared.

The mother is the anchor for this family and its clear that there's no family without her. We see things unravel. We see a lost daugher come off after her mother dies. She sheds off the baggage of her family (her father specifically) and finds new family in her husband and mother's sister.

The novel is also a great introduction to Korean cuisine. I took notes on some dishes but might need a second read just to fully grasp that :)

Unorganized Notes

Parachute Kids
October 18, 2014, the mother dies
Nami, Eunmi, two sisters
Food is how the family experienced culture
Han River, Gangnam
Eugene, Oregon
Seong Yeong, Nami's son, author's cousin
Emo Boo, Nami's husband
Anju, Korean Chakna
jjimjilbangs, communal spa
gwaenchanh-a, it will be all right
pancreatic cancer has a survival rate of 3% without surgery. 20% with surgery.
Septic Shock - dangerously low BP, often caused from organ failure, likely to be put on ventilators
Hydrocodone - painkiller administered orally to cancer patients