Rating: 
Summary: You either love it or you hate it
Review: Chang Rae Lee did an excellent job in what he set out to do. The story that revolves around an aging Korean/Japanese man might not involve an action packed plot like Tom Clancy's novels, but that is only understandable. I feel that Lee has written a remarkable story that interjects some very important insights to Asian American sensibilties. It certainly can not and does not claim to represent Asian American life in a nutshell, but some of the aspects have been seemless addressed and shared and he comes across very honest. And, it is not surprising that some people just really don't like the story. This usually happens when people don't like a particular subject matter no matter how it is written.
Rating:
Summary: Lee is a masterful storyteller!
Review: "A Gesture Life" is told in such simple language, that one hardly realizes how deliberately it is written. The book draws you in from the first instant and keeps you there. It is a heartfelt tale and "Doc Hata" is a very sympathetic character. The only part I couldn't quite accept is the Doc's level of language--as a Japanese immigrant he speaks a little too American. Other than this, I find "A Gesture Life" flawless. It's a very satisfying and thought-provoking read!
Rating: 
Summary: unsympathetic
Review: Lee's writing style is superb and undoubtedly he has a beautiful mastery of language. What I don't like about the story is that I find the protaganist so unsympathetic - it is very difficult to find anything to like about him. The story is so one-dimensional in the characters - both in different types of characters and in development of a complex personalities that they don't seem real. Maybe it is because the personalities aren't developed at all; just the description about how they float around in the world. You may feel sorry for these people but you don't want to know them. To anyone that likes this book, I would challenge you to read William Styron's "The Confessions of Nat Turner" which is on my all-time favorite book list. It is absolutely phenomenal. Although based on a true story, it is completely fictional and Styron describes Nat Turner as totally tormented by the conditions of slavery. And you want to root for Nat Turner, wishing you could go back in history to be on his side or to even know him.
Rating: 
Summary: overrated
Review: Shockingly overrated. Gesture Life has been garnering accolades from so many critics - this reader has only one question : why? There is nothing exceptional about this story. It is pretentious, self-righteous, and sanctimonious. The characters are amazingly one-dimensional, and the self-congratulatory structure makes it almost painfully difficult to read. From a thematic point of view, it explores almost nothing new and lacks originality. Overall, an irritating novel which doesn't deserve a single measure of the superfluous praise it has received
Rating:
Summary: disjointed
Review: Like pulling teeth, "Gesture Life" is a book that has garnered many accolades from both the press and my book-loving friends. Save your time! This story is so disjointed and obtuse that making sense of it will give you a headache. Sunny is the only believable character in the story, but he seems a mere afterthought until the metaphors are finally played out.
Rating:
Summary: lot of comments, that's good
Review: Lot of critics on this book. It's like kimchee, you either love it or hate it. It amazes me though that most of the low comments are from Japan. Calling comfort women history- over exaggerated. Does that tell you something of how Japan views WW 2 history.
Rating: 
Summary: An Unusual Second Novel
Review: Many excellent authors fall into a sophomore slump. (Witness David Guterson's recent effort, East Of The Mountains) Such is not the case with Mr. Lee. His courageous experiment with language and point of view becomes an absorbing (if flawed) meditation on identity, being and longing. In addition to the pleasures of allowing us to slip inside an authentic voice, he shakes our suburban complacency to its foundations with the contrast of the not-so-long-ago fate of the 'comfort women.' And we are lured by the poetic devices of Mr. Lee to confront the reality that all around us are still the living ghosts of so many 20th century horrors.
Rating:
Summary: Masterfully written
Review: A gritty piece of sand settles early within the bindings of the book. The incidents in Franklin's life are disturbingly irritating. As the story unfolds Chang-rae Lee masterfully encases the story in one iridescent layer after another of rich voluminous narrative culminating in a lustrous pearl of a book.The San Francisco Chronicle Online Book Club chose Chang-rae Lee's "A Gesture Life" for it's 10/17 - 11/20 selection. Please join us by chiming in our online bulletin board. We would love to hear any additional thoughts that you might have.
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Summary: hidden identities
Review: Chang-Rae Lee's best skills are in exploring how we all must assume and disguise our identities, so often that what was once fake" becomes "real." The whole idea of an old Korean man in America "pretending" to be Japanese to fit in with a bunch of rich NYers struck me as darkly funny. Franklin Hata's experiences as a soldier and with the comfort women were the best part of the book for me. I greatly appreciated Mr. Lee's ability to show the complicated relationship of the colonizer and the colonized in this novel and not simply fall back on the "tried and true" image of the Japanese Army as a ravenous, blood-thirst institution bent on world destruction. I think Mr. Lee convincingly captures the mood of the day. Hata as the opressed Korean in Japan, as the privileged colonial in the Army, as the conquering soldier "liberating" Western colonies in Asian, his life is filled with reversals and contradictions. I eagerly await Mr. Lee's next work.
Rating:
Summary: I didn't like this book
Review: I found this to be one of the worst books i have ever read in my life. It is almost impossible to follow the storyline as the main characters perspective is amazingly introverted and scenes are sometime fragmented causing confusion. This story is nothing new and has been written since the invention of words a million times over, and i really have no comprehension of why this book is considered good literature
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