I’ll Be Right There by Kyung-sook Shin follows the story of Jung Yoon, a new college student who is recovering from the death of her mother, who was chronically ill for the majority of her adolescence. Initially, after her mother’s death, Jung Yoon lived with her aunt; she covered her bedroom windows with black paper, as she had grown tired of the outside world. When she arrives at college, she makes several promises to herself: “Start reading again…. Memorize one poem a week… Do not go to Mom’s grave before Chuseok holiday… Walk around the city for at least two hours every day” (17). When school begins, Jung Yoon finds herself in the classroom of Professor Yoon, a famous poet whose class attracts a plethora of intruiging students. Jung Yoon grows close with her classmates Myungsuh, an anti-government protester, and Miru, a mysterious girl with scarred hands.
Set against the backdrop of protests in 1980s South Korea, Shin’s I’ll Be Right There positions its college-aged protagonists in a tumultuous environment that is brimming with protests, violence, and disappearances. While their traumas in this time of conflict bring the characters together and force them to address the uncertainties of life, the book does not fixate exclusively on these occurrences; it also focuses on the aftermath of certain events and how they affect the characters. I’ll Be Right There is about coming to terms with the fragility of life, and about learning how to cherish it. The protagonists Jung Yoon, Myungsuh, Miru, and Dahn all come of age as they face life’s brevity.
Matters become more complicated when Jung Yoon’s childhood friend, Dahn, joins the military, and is eventually deployed in the South Korean special forces. Jung Yoon finds herself contemplating mortality as she ruminates on the death of her mother and the dangers of the political climate in which she lives. She continues to grow closer with Myungsuh and Miru, and the three eventually end up living together. Jung Yoon finds herself having to choose between Dahn and Myungsuh, whereas Myungsuh finds himself having to decide between her and Miru. As their state of affairs becomes more politically convoluted, and as student activists and family members start to go missing, these friends have to figure out where they stand, both politically and with one another. Shin’s writing explores how difficult it is for love to flourish in such unpredictable and perilous times, as well as how exhausting it can be to grow closer to others when one is continually focused on loss.
I’ll Be Right There is a beautifully poetic character drama and romance that offers much in the way of teaching Westerners about South Korea’s political history. The book is filled with philosophy on the natures of love and life, and it examines how the fragility of life gives it purpose and meaning. Its form is inventive in its uses of multiple perspectives and non-linearity; I’ll Be Right There uniquely splits its chapters between Jung Yoon’s own internal dialogue and Myungsuh’s little brown notebook entries, thus allowing the reader to perceive a sense of omniscience about the happenings that occur through experiencing both Jung Yoon and Myungsuh’s narratives. Shin’s story is flowery and imaginative as she has her characters deeply consider humans’ place within the natural world through the use of illusions to the flora and fauna of South Korea, thus enabling the reader to smoothly envision the world in which her characters reside.
I’ll Be Right There is an incredible read for fans of historical fiction and romance, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in either genre. Shin’s work is particularly resonant for young adults who are also moving through college and investigating their own places in a fragile world. I’ll Be Right There is a novel dedicated to preserving the memory of students lost during South Korea’s protests for democracy, and Kyung-sook Shin captures their essence with the utmost grace and respect.