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Title: Tendrils of Life
Subtitle: A Story of Love, Loss, and Survival in the Turmoil of the Korean War
Author: Owen Choi
Narrator: Tim Campbell
Format: Unabridged
Length: 16 hrs and 50 mins
Language: English
Release date: 11-20-13
Publisher: Princeton Falcon Press
Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 11 votes
Genres: Fiction, Historical
Publisher's Summary:
Acute food shortages and lawlessness plague communist-occupied Seoul at the start of the Korean War in 1950. Jimin, a sixteen-year-old boy, aches to return to the safety of his old home on Ockdo (Jade Island), a remote island he'd left five years earlier. But only his father, who is absent from home, knows the way.
His adversary, a man who's been plotting to wipe out Jimin's family and steal their island, brings about a tragedy and tries to eliminate him, forcing him to traverse the war-torn country on foot with his seven-year-old sister to find his father. But the war sweeps across the country multiple times and hinders them from meeting up with their father.
Back in Seoul, with Chinese troops (who invade the country to prop up the communists) bearing down on them, Jimin is forced to join the army, leaving his sister alone, hungry, and homeless in the cold, bomb-devastated city.
With action and suspense, Tendrils of Life is a rich and intriguing work of historical and literary fiction, interwoven with gripping character-oriented narratives and full of visual detail. It's a story of love and hope, greed and revenge, and the quest for survival in the turmoil of war - a depiction of resilience of the human spirit.
Members Reviews:
A Gripping Tale of Living in War
If you could sum up Tendrils of Life in three words, what would they be?
Family trumps everything
What was one of the most memorable moments of Tendrils of Life?
This book is about relationships and many of them are potential relationships in which the parties struggle to show their true feelings toward one another, with mixed success. When Sora finally connects with Jimin, I cheered them on with a happy heart!
What does Tim Campbell bring to the story that you wouldnt experience if you just read the book?
I read the book first, then listened to it. Tim Campbells character voicings actually helped me understand the characters much better!
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
During the war, many people lost track of one another, and that is the subject of much of this book. As this is reviewed at the very end, it was so touching to me!
Any additional comments?
I couldn't put this book down! It is a gripping tale of two feuding families in wartime Korea, and the action and plot twists just keep coming, page after page. You get to see Asian culture by participating in it, and you get to experience the many ups and downs of life in a family by living it. "Tendrils of Life" makes you appreciate the strong loyalty that comes through being part of a family.
But most of all, this novel helps us see the day to day tragedy it is to live in a war-torn land. So many people have experienced this around the world, yet so many have never thought about how hard it really is. After reading this book, I so appreciate the relatively peaceful lives we are privileged to live!
Highly recommended!
Amazing story of courage and hope
This was an epic story. I never have known a lot about the history of Korea and the Korean War. This brought the conflict to light and I was stunned by the events millions endured. Tragic and yet a story of how a young man can endure loss I cannot imagine, and be true to the goodness in the person he is through it all. This was an amazing story, and it was well told by the narrator.
