The Korean Word for Butterfly
By: James Zerndt
Edition: 2nd ed. (2013).
Publisher: [CreateSpace]
Published: 2013
Place of publication: [Charleston, SC]
Language: eng
Number of pages: 322
ISBN-13: 9781483997476
Copyright date: 2013
Subjects: Abortion; Fiction
Notes: "Americans. They think everybody is snowflake. Only one snowflake. Only one you. But in Korea we think like snowball. Everybody snowball." Yun-ji packed an imaginary snowball in her hands, then lifted it, palms up, as if offering Billie a present. "You see? Snowball." Both of them looked at Yun-ji's hands holding nothing. "Snowball," Yun-ji repeated, then looked at Billie, at her unhappy mouth, at her face that looked like it had been bleached, and she pictured that soldier sitting in the tank, listening to head phones, maybe reading a Rolling Stone magazine, then the call coming in over the radio, the hurried attempts to think of an excuse, some reason why he didn't see two fourteen-year-old girls walking down a deserted country road in South Korea. "Never mind," Yun-ji said and dropped her hands. When she looked down at her shoes, she half-expected to see a puddle. But there was nothing. Just the flickering of the memorial candles. **** Set against the backdrop of the 2002 World Cup and rising anti-American sentiment due to a deadly accident involving two young Korean girls and a U.S. tank, The Korean Word For Butterfly is told from three alternating points-of-view: Billie, the American looking for adventure with her boyfriend who soon finds herself questioning her decision to travel so far from the comforts of her old life; Moon, the ex K-pop band manager struggling to maintain his sobriety in hopes of getting his family back; And Yun-ji, a secretary whose new feelings of resentment toward Americans may lead her to do something she never would have imagined possible. The Korean Word For Butterfly is a story about the choices we make and why we make them. It is a story, ultimately, about the power of love and redemption. * Warning: This novel, in part, deals with abortion. The book tries to remain impartial and is not intended as any kind of morality tale. If the subject matter offends you, this may not be the book for you.* **Formatting issues fixed as of 12/17/2013.