The Magical Language of Others by E.J. Koh

The Magical Language of Others by E.J. Koh
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.0/5.0 - I'm not sure what I thought this was going to be about when I checked it out. Maybe it was the cover, the fact that it was on a list of books (GR editors summer reading recommendations) that I made a note to check out, or the fact that it met a task requirement. Nevertheless, I'm glad I picked it. It is a memoir by a young poet (is there an age requirement to write memoirs?) with beautiful prose, and lots of cultural background on her family during their times in Japan and Korea. Chapters by the author are interspersed with letters written to her in Korean, by her mother. She also includes the English translation. The letters inspire her to pursue an advanced degree in translation (in addition to her degree in poetry), and it is only upon using them for this degree that she truly begins to understand them. It's a short book, but it helped me to expand my understanding of cultures beyond my own.

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