Rating: 
Summary: Poorly written, contrived, melodramatic and hokey.
Review: It's a wonder how people (99% anonymous) can write glowing reviews of this book and throw around words casually like "compelling", "powerful", etc. It's also a shame to see people so blindly read the INTERPRETATION of what this woman read as being her grandmother's history.
Another point about this novel - Who cares! It's a book about her supposed discovery of her heritage, of which she researches, writes, gets published and gets paid for. Does your story really warrant a book? Why don't the lot of us do exactly as Ms. Lee does and discover our own lost heritage, write about it, and package it as our own [insert background title here]? Apparently since her publishing, the likes of which people strangely lap up and call "amazing", Lee is now on the lecture circuit, going from one university to another lecturing on this. Is this for real? Is she now a certified expert in Korean history? Do not pass Go, do not collect your PH.D in History, instead write a fictitious book based on archival information and go straight to expert? Give me a break. This book is contrived.
1/5 stars.
Rating: 
Summary: bad writing
Review: It's probably good for stories like this about Korean immigrant grandmothers to be available, but I wish the writing had been better! It's somehow too linear, and it's hard to get a real sense of the characters. Yes, the grandmother is "a strong woman." What else is new? The book would have been much better if she had been made complex, with some kind of inner life. She just leaves the baby in the snow, period. She just hates Communists, period. She just becomes a devout Christian, period. And the sandwich bread arrangement with the "Americanized" granddaughter bopping around at the beginning and chastened into a "good Korean" at the end - whew! Pretty maudlin.
Rating:
Summary: Sour Rice
Review: Koreans have a word for rice that has gone rotten. It's "shin-bop" or sour rice. That's what I feel H.Lee has done with her book. In a debut book, she has naively set out to capture the history of her Korean grandmother with very minimal attention to researching the Korean historical background. In more of an endeavor for a mass market "take-out" attempt, the book lacks consistency in reference, narrative and most importantly plot development with no regard for literary techique and voice. It's unfortunate because the Korean-American voice in literature has been so weak. Maybe if Lee enrolled in a creative writing program she could be introduced to the ABC's of basic writing which could definitely be to her benefit. As a Korean-American currently working on a Master's degree in Korean History, I could not recommend this book to anyone here... nor in the states.
Rating: 
Summary: A refreshing glimpse of a real woman's family's survival.
Review: Lifted from our comfortable cocoon, author Lee indelibly etches on our hearts, the struggles, the defeats and the personal triumphs of her grandmother's growing up, marriage and family life in Korea, China, North Korea, South Korea and the United States. She captures her thoughts, hopes and emotions as she is forced to learn to survive in her world, that is torn apart by war. In the tradition of "The Small Woman" and "Far From the Bamboo Grove" this book is one I want my children to read. I am different after reading her words, for the tale is not lost in the telling.
Rating: 
Summary: Koryo
Review: My friend sent me this book because he knows that I love Asain books, and books with historical value. I didn't think that this book would be very good at first because I don't like books about wars and the tiring trifles of war either. I set out determined to finish this book even if I didn't like it though.I started reading it and finished it three days later. The book begins with the author Helie Lee talking about how her grandmother doesn't like that she is 25 and not married yet. But in America things are different. THrough the first two or three chapters the narritive voice changes to Helie's Grandmother Baek, Lee. Korean's said the last name first. It is cool how the descrisption is so vivid and honest. I think that this is a great book for lovers of literature. Powerful and Poingant, the pain, happiness, and love is felt throughout!
Rating:
Summary: Compelling Story
Review: Once you get past the poor literary style, "Still Life With Rice" is a compelling and fascinating story. Helie Lee brings to life a story that is common among many Koreans - the separation of family and suffering wrought by the Korean War. What I liked most about this book is its authenticity. The emotions evoked throughout the book seem genuine ranging from obnoxiousness to joy to hate and finally to love and hope. Despite running into a few cliches, Lee doesn't hide the fact that her grandmother was in the opium business, nor does she hide that this book is written from a subjective perspective. In addition, while this book isn't necessarily factual in regards to Korean history, it provides an insightful peek into Korean culture. Another interesting aspect of this book is that it humanizes North Koreans. North Korea and its people are not necessarily the evil monolith or "axis of evil" that some reduce it to. But as I mentioned first, this book's literary style is really quite poor. The first chapter of this book deals with Lee's grandmother and mother trying to find a husband for her. This idea of "rotten fruit" should have somehow been tied into the conclusion along with Lee's final understanding of what it means to be a Korean in North America. Similarly, I didn't particularly care for the way Lee adapted the first person narrative for her grandmother. I think there are more sophisticated ways to adapt different narratives. Finally, while I sensed a feminist agenda throughout this book, Lee really needs to tighten up her understanding of feminism. While Korean culture seems to be played up and something to be proud of, Lee seems to contradict this pride with a disapproving tone vis-a-vis wives belonging to their husbands and in-laws. Sure, this might seem bad, but does Lee really need to take up a Western style feminism?
Rating:
Summary: Compelling Story
Review: Once you get past the poor literary style, "Still Life With Rice" is a compelling and fascinating story. Helie Lee brings to life a story that is common among many Koreans - the separation of family and suffering wrought by the Korean War. What I liked most about this book is its authenticity. The emotions evoked throughout the book seem genuine ranging from obnoxiousness to joy to hate and finally to love and hope. Despite running into a few cliches, Lee doesn't hide the fact that her grandmother was in the opium business, nor does she hide that this book is written from a subjective perspective. In addition, while this book isn't necessarily factual in regards to Korean history, it provides an insightful peek into Korean culture. Another interesting aspect of this book is that it humanizes North Koreans. North Korea and its people are not necessarily the evil monolith or "axis of evil" that some reduce it to. But as I mentioned first, this book's literary style is really quite poor. The first chapter of this book deals with Lee's grandmother and mother trying to find a husband for her. This idea of "rotten fruit" should have somehow been tied into the conclusion along with Lee's final understanding of what it means to be a Korean in North America. Similarly, I didn't particularly care for the way Lee adapted the first person narrative for her grandmother. I think there are more sophisticated ways to adapt different narratives. Finally, while I sensed a feminist agenda throughout this book, Lee really needs to tighten up her understanding of feminism. While Korean culture seems to be played up and something to be proud of, Lee seems to contradict this pride with a disapproving tone vis-a-vis wives belonging to their husbands and in-laws. Sure, this might seem bad, but does Lee really need to take up a Western style feminism?
Rating:
Summary: Compelling Story
Review: Once you get past the poor literary style, "Still Life With Rice" is a compelling and fascinating story. Helie Lee brings to life a story that is common among many Koreans - the separation of family and suffering wrought by the Korean War. What I liked most about this book is its authenticity. The emotions evoked throughout the book seem genuine ranging from obnoxiousness to joy to hate and finally to love and hope. Despite running into a few cliches, Lee doesn't hide the fact that her grandmother was in the opium business, nor does she hide that this book is written from a subjective perspective. In addition, while this book isn't necessarily factual in regards to Korean history, it provides an insightful peek into Korean culture. Another interesting aspect of this book is that it humanizes North Koreans. North Korea and its people are not necessarily the evil monolith or "axis of evil" that some reduce it to. But as I mentioned first, this book's literary style is really quite poor. The first chapter of this book deals with Lee's grandmother and mother trying to find a husband for her. This idea of "rotten fruit" should have somehow been tied into the conclusion along with Lee's final understanding of what it means to be a Korean in North America. Similarly, I didn't particularly care for the way Lee adapted the first person narrative for her grandmother. I think there are more sophisticated ways to adapt different narratives. Finally, while I sensed a feminist agenda throughout this book, Lee really needs to tighten up her understanding of feminism. While Korean culture seems to be played up and something to be proud of, Lee seems to contradict this pride with a disapproving tone vis-a-vis wives belonging to their husbands and in-laws. Sure, this might seem bad, but does Lee really need to take up a Western style feminism?
Rating:
Summary: Typically Straight Talk About Koreans by A Korean Woman
Review: STILL LIFE WITH RICE is a breath of fresh air blasting into a staid room. Not only is the language straightforward and frank, but it is respectful, in a way only Koreans would understand. Not only does the narrative begin in North Korea before the 1950 invasion, but it discusses Korean emigrees in China, living in Occupation-era Korea, surviving during war, and emigrating to a foreign country. But this book is also about women, written by a woman rediscovering her history and her voice. It is not only a political discussion, but also a discussion of how women existed in Korean society. Although, as a man, talking about menstruation and other aspects of a woman's daily experience, was a bit unnerving, it established the book's focus, the tale of a woman maturing and becoming quite unique by any standard. The author is a first generation Korean-American (gyopo-saram) listening to her grandmother's tales of the old world. But neither are victims, and the fierce determination of the grandmother is revealed in the brashness of the granddaughter's prose. The granddaughter legitimates her grandmother's right to speak, a right not granted in her upbringing. The act of writing is liberation from the constraints of a misogynistic, Confucian social structure, and reveals the power of women in Korean culture. What I liked about the narrator was her humility. She may have withstood some of the bitterest experiences any women would face, but she takes no credit and is not condescending. She grows older and wiser, but her own personality does not change. Both women, storyteller and story-writer, are quite unique. By adopting her grandmother's voice, the granddaughter creates a heroine that speaks to both the old and future worlds.
Rating:
Summary: Thank you!
Review: Still Life With Rice is an amazing and excellent book. My mother was born in North Korea in 1933 and fled to the south during the Korean War. She was about the age of Duhwah yah. She has said almost nothing to us about this part of her life. This book has given me such insight to my Mom and the struggles she went through as a young girl growing up in Korea. I highly recommend it to my three daughters and to anyone who has any interest in Korea.
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