Rating: 
Summary: The Immigrant Song
Review: Lee's first novel consists four wonderful stories that interweave and strive to establish vital connections with each other. Hidden inside the novel is an outstanding novella about fathers. I completely enjoyed the beginning, Lee's alter ego, Henry Park, meeting his wife and enduring his father's difficult, lonely life. Flashbacks capture the oddly kitsch humor of Korean families in America that grows out of the venerable, cross-wired distance between parents and children. Lee's realism uncovers tiny, poignant moments, like how underneath a father's refusal to speak to his son at night lies his self-imposed shame in sharing details of his menial job. Like many Korean parents, the mediation of issues with one's children is not an option. The next two storylines, his occupation as a spy and a surrogate paternal relationship with his target, entertain from time to time but prove less engaging than the beginning.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, but poorly written.
Review: Lee sets up this novel inventively by paralleling the qualities of a great spy, with the character traits of being Asian. Silence, restraint, and distance are common in Asians and therefore never warrant too much suspicion. However, it is the writing that lets this book down. Particularly coarse and unreadable are the sections of diaglogue of his white co-workers. Lee seems to overemphasize the vulgarness of their speech to force the reader to feel how foreigners must when they hear American English. Lee is also guilty of faultering into verbose meandering leading to no point, especially when trying to express emotions. Overall, the author seems to aim this novel at non-Asians by dissecting the Korean American pschye with concepts from pop culture.
Rating: 
Summary: Reminds me of Charles Dickens
Review: Feeling that I experienced many times over during the course of reading this book was very similar to the feeling I got at the end of reading the Great Expectations, which is that I was overcome with emotion. And yes I am comparing Chang-rae Lee's talent to that of Charles Dickens. Being a Korean-American, I have hard time deciding whether I like this book because I am a Korean-American or bacause this is a great book. But one thing I can say for sure is that if you are a Korean-American and you ever had a slightest discomfort of being one, you must read this book simply because you will most likely enjoy it. You will find out you are not alone. Whether or not Chang-rae Lee is a "token" is totally irrelevant to me because he reached me and, I am sure, many others. Greatness, even if achieved only once, is enough in this short life.
Rating:
Summary: Great Stuff
Review: I can understand some of the ambivalence which surrounds the reception to this book; more often than not, people love it, but some really dislike enough of it to give it low ratings. While the author has very studied and elaborate style, which is actually beautiful at times, maybe people come to expect too much from the plot and the development of "Parky." The very graceful, "riddling" prose may make the development of the story seem unsatisfactory at times. At any rate, people seem intrigued or perplexed enough to have formed strong opinions about it. As for the story, I think it would have been too crass for it to have ended in any other way, given the length of the book and what a brooding and quietly melancholic character Henry is. I haven't read Lee's successive work, but I would probably need a break to take in some sunshine and laugh a bit before I delved into his world again. Mr. Lee's necessary explanation of why Henry became the man he is seems utterly convincing, drawing at length from his childhood and the contrasting influences of his family and his adopted country. Given this, it's probably difficult for people to accept the book as being anything other than a Korean-American experience novel - but though for me it somehow isn't; Henry's "sentimentalist," yet "emotional alien" character defies common logic (and yes I am Korean, though not Korean-American), and makes the reading of the man's thoughts via the narrative as intensely interesting as his manner is surreptitious and secretive. Someone elsewhere wrote that Lee's novels seem to be "more personal therapy than art," and it seems unlikely to me that Lee could borrow so deeply and richly from any other personality than his own. I'll certainly be looking foward to his future works (after a bit of a break, as I said), but his very unique and accomplished style makes it unfair for him to be bracketed as just another Korean -American writer; he should be allowed to stand on his own merits, and be appreciated as a storyteller of an different order, and not as a voice for Korean-Amercans. I imagine the scope of any ethnicity's experiences are too broad to be squeezed into the narrative voice of one author, so let's just appreciate his work for what it is, and not be disappointed that it isn't "definitive".
Rating:
Summary: A remarkable debut for a young writer
Review: The story of Henry Park is very much the manifestation of existential crisis that immigrants live in our North American society. Henry is a complex man who is constantly fitted "into the wrong picture", without him realizing it. Some of the characters portray very well the simple-minded yet stoic immigrants who work hard in order to adapt themselves into the social fabric of a cosmopolitan society. Also remarkable is the honesty of the author in describing the racial frictions between the different ethnic and racial groups and how this affects the pettiness of "minority politics". Overall, a well-written novel.
Rating: 
Summary: uneven
Review: I like the depiction of the Korean American as someone who watches from the sidelines, never seen as a "native speaker." The only way Henry can really express himself is by having sex with his (white) wife, who is perfect, speaks perfect English, and teaches immigrants how to pronounce English correctly (!). On the other hand, the representations of Korean women (to whom hardly any space is devoted) are disturbing: the mother is dead, the "auntie" who replaces her dies without anyone seeming to care much besides Lelia, the politician's wife is beaten by her husband, who also mistreats the bar hostess. This makes me feel like Mr. Lee has some serious problems. Also it makes the book much less enjoyable for me.
Rating:
Summary: an american novel...
Review: A Korean-American experience tightly and eloquently meshed into what is America. The book successfully integrates unique details of what it means to be an immigrant in a country where we all are, after all, immigrants without losing its appeal as every man's story wheather you are first generation, second generation or beyond.
Rating:
Summary: An exquisitely crafted novel.
Review: Chang-rae Lee is an extraordinarily gifted writer. Native Speaker is a refreshingly original piece. Subtle, brooding, and at times, painfully insightful, it offers a remarkable snapshot of the Asian-American psyche. I started the book and couldn't put it down until I finished it 8 hours later. I hope the author is prolific, so I may soon look forward to reading more of his work.
Rating: 
Summary: I am writing a report and need help please
Review: I have to write two essay 3-5 pages on Native Speakers by Chang-Rae Lee. IT IS DO THURSDAY. I have to choose 2 of the following questions. 1) who do you think is behind the investigation of Kwang? Why? 2) What's the significance of hte names Henry's gathering? 3) what do you make of the ending? 4) what does Kwang's relationship to sherry, his wife, and Janice suggest about him? Does Henry learn anything from this? 5) Does Henry discover who he really is by the end? 6) what's Hoagland's relationship to the FBI? 7)What do you make of Henry's intidelity? Can you please help me, I read the book but I need help in writing the essay. I didn't really understand most of the story. Are there some sites where I can get information? Please help
Rating:
Summary: More than the sum of its parts.
Review: Chang-Rae Lee blends three genres - the immingrant experience, a spy thriller, and the story of a relationship - seamlessly into one beautifully worded book.
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