Ten Thousand Sorrows - Elizabeth Kim

...life is made up of ten thousand sorrows, but also ten thousand joys.

Her childhood with her mother is a happy one, despite their ostrasization and stonings by other villagers, until Elizabeth's mother is killed by her father and brother to maintain the honour of the family. Elizabeth is forced to watch her mother being hung from a hiding place, but she is soon discovered, and taken to an American Missionary orphanage by her aunt, ...
...allowed her to feel the ten thousand joys that her mother always said she would have in her life.

MY IMPRESSIONS

This is a sad tale, made even sadder by the fact that it is true. It feels like it is written wholely from the heart, and it seems to convey nothing but honesty. She describes the sad events in her life in a matter-of-fact way, with no dressing up or exageration, which allows you to feel the pain with her.
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This is the sad true story of a girl who lives through the honour killing of her mother, the life of a prisoner in a missionary orphanage, and the adoption by Christian fundamentalist parents.

THE STORY

The story describes the childhood of suffering of Elizabeth Kim, and the healing process she must go through as an adult to deal with the events of her past.

Elizabeth Kim is the daughter of a poor Korean mother and an American soldier, who subsequently leaves her mother when she is pregnant. Her mother returns to her traditional Korean village, where women are considered 'non-people', and where having an illigitimate child with a non-Korean man was considered an ultimate shame upon the family. Her mother is disowned by her family, but daughter and mother create a loving home together, despite their poverty. Elizabeth's mother describes how she believes that life is made up of ten thousand sorrows, but also ten thousand joys.

Her childhood with her mother is a happy one, despite their ostrasization and stonings by other villagers, until Elizabeth's mother is killed by her father and brother to maintain the honour of the family. Elizabeth is forced to watch her mother being hung from a hiding place, but she is soon discovered, and taken to an American Missionary orphanage by her aunt, who are told that Elizabeth has no mother, no name, and no date of birth. Elizabeth describes how she is treated as a prisoner at the orphanage, and writes about the sad moment when the baby she is told to watch dies in her bed.

Elizabeth is eventually adopted from the orphanage and taken to America, where she is frightened confused by the culture and the language, and struggles to fit in and please her new parents. She is shown no love by her Christian fundamentalist adpotive parents, and describes the racism and scorn she faced living in a Christian community. Her childhood is difficult, and she soon moves away, after marrying and divorcing, and having a child of her own.

Elizabeth then describes the process she must go through, with the help of her daughter, in order to heal the pain and suffering that she has been through. She must learn to lose her obsession with suicide and fear of abandonment, and the story concludes with Elizabeth describing how her healing process has allowed her to feel the ten thousand joys that her mother always said she would have in her life.

MY IMPRESSIONS

This is a sad tale, made even sadder by the fact that it is true. It feels like it is written wholely from the heart, and it seems to convey nothing but honesty. She describes the sad events in her life in a matter-of-fact way, with no dressing up or exageration, which allows you to feel the pain with her.

I particularly like the way that towards the end of the book, Elizabeth Kim has included some notes by her daughter, and her daughter's experience of her mother's struggle to avoid suicide. This is great, because it gives two different perspectives of an event, which you do not often find in a person's memoirs.

It is a compelling read, and keeps you engrossed to the end. I think this book is fantastic because it could give anybody hope in the face of adversity. The ending is so touching because Elizabeth Kim eventually suceeds in living a positive life.

THE BOOK

I borrowed the book off a relative, so I couldn't say where you could find this book in a shop, but it RRPs at £6.99, and if you wish to seek it out, the ISBN is 0553812645. The copy I read was published by Bantam Books in 2002.

CONCLUSION

I would certainly recommend this book to anybody, purely because it's positive ending lifts the spirits and makes you realise that even after the most horrific suffering, healing is possible! I think it would particularly appeal to anybody that likes memoirs or autobiographies. Give it a go, you won't regret it! 

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