Through introducing us to her own story in To Kill a Tiger, Lee leads us down a path of self-discovery toward understanding our own histories, childhood and difficult family relationships.
To Kill A Tiger is an engrossing and big read. . . . Jid Lee has fine narrative skills, winding her story through time and place. . . .
From a childhood of injustice, poverty and emotional torment, Jid Lee built the life she longed for and became who she wanted to be. The details are intriguing, the history is important, but it is the tremendous achievement of breaking free that resonates most powerfully. . . .
. . . . But her book is also an unabashed act of social and political activism, which sums up her life's mission in the US: "Trying to persuade my American audiences to see what I see. . . ."
The weaving of Korea's relationships with America and Japan into the narrative of everyday Korean life . . . . is deftly handled. . . . Lee is particularly astute when writing about the Korean War, delving into its long and complicated incubation . . . . Jid Lee gives us her version of events. . . . Lee effortlessly intertwines the stories of her family life with the wider concerns of her country and her continent.
The political sundering of Korea was by no means a simple split. . . . Discussing everything from the Japanese occupation in the first half of the twentieth century and forward, To Kill a Tiger is a fascinating and informative read that should not be ignored.
Tigers can be menacing animals and their attacks are often fatal. The metaphoric tiger in Jid Lee's To Kill a Tiger is all that. . . . Throughout Ms Lee's memoir, interwoven with her family's story, is the history of Korea during much of the 20th century. . . . Ms Lee has written a compelling and engrossing account of her life and her country's history. . . .
. . . . Even at the age of six, Lee could see her dilemma. How could she cultivate a warrior spirit in herself and yet be the meek, self-abnegating woman her family and culture demanded. . . . The backdrop to Lee's childhood is Korea's turbulent political history. . . . She has resolved the dilemma presented in her grandmother's story and defeated the tiger with courage, perseverance, and insight. It seems like a very Korean happy ending.