Crying at the supermarket
My snobbery means that I am a little wary when the sales pitch for a book appears in the form of a banner “ the book that has already won over millions of readers“. Yet from the opening chapter, when the heroine, Michelle Zauner, explains to us why she finds herself crying in an H Mart supermarket, I was caught in the net of the book.
At the same time amused, moved, intrigued, curious. I’m terrible at Korean cooking (and not particularly a fan of Asian cuisine in general) but I happily searched for all the dishes, ingredients, specialties that are listed in the book. If you like novels that talk about gastronomy, which highlight the richness of a culture through its cuisine, you will definitely like this novel.
But Crying at the supermarket It’s much more than that! Michelle Zauner talks a lot about food because her mother always showed her love and attachment through it. The writer thus tells us about the relationship, anything but uneventful, with her mother: the education she received as a child (and the tensions linked to double identity, Michelle having lived largely in the United States, her father being also American), the painful and chaotic journey through adolescence, the estrangement and then the illness of his mother which completely reconfigured their relationship.
It’s a magnificent tribute that never falls into hagiography. Michelle Zauner does not spare herself or those close to her, they are all simply imperfect and therefore very human! In short, the banner was more than a marketing argument, I understand why this novel has attracted thousands of readers!
