Chang-rae Lee holds a copy of Northwest Asian Weekly at Costco in Issaquah, at his book signing. (Photo by George Liu/NWAW)
Chang-rae Lee, who just published his fourth novel, “The Surrendered,” was signing autographs at Costco. So I requested that he autograph his book in both English and Korean. It would be a good item to donate to a charity auction.
“Do you speak Korean?” I asked.
“Not very much,” Lee said. “I understand it.”
When he was young, Lee’s dad thought English would help his son, not Korean.
There wasn’t a community that required him to speak his native language when he was little. Yeah, he wished he could speak more! I asked what the most challenging part was for him in writing “The Surrendered.”
“Towards the end,” he replied. “There was so much material, and you want to finish it.”
I understood as I held the heavy, 469-page book.
It will take me a while to gulp it down before I can donate my copy to a charity. If the book is unable to sustain my attention, I could give it away sooner. ♦