Soon after losing her own daughter in a tragic accident Hon returns to her childhood home in
the Korean countryside after many years away. Her father a cattle farmer is elderly and
requires her care. He is withdrawn kind but awkward around his own daughter. As time
passes however Hon realises that her father is far more complex than she ever realised. The
discovery of a chest of letters and conversations with his family and friends help Hon piece
together the tumultuous story of his life. She learns of her father's experiences during the
Korean War and the violence of the 19th April Revolution of a love affair and involvement in a
religious sect of his sacrifice and heroism and of the phantoms that haunt him. As she
unravels secret after secret Hon grows closer to her father realising that his lifelong
kindness belies a past wrought in both private and national trauma. More than just the
portrait of one man I Went to See My Father opens a window onto humankind family loss and
war. It asks us to look at the ones we love uncover the secrets they keep and finally see who
they really are. Flawlessly rendered by award-winning translator Anton Hur Kyung-Sook Shin has
crafted a novel both affectionate and epic joyous and lasting.
