[Translations of Beauty] Discussion Questions

[Khan]

안녕하세요.

이번 주 토요일 9:30-12:00까지 북클럽 정기 모임을 합니다.

이번에는 책 마지막에 있는 A Readers Club Guide에 있는 문제들에 대해

토론해 보고자 합니다. 전체를 다 논의하려면, 시간이 모자라기에

아래 14개 질문중에 논의하고 싶은 질문을 아래에 리플로 달아주시면

우선 그 질문 위주로 토론을 진행할 예정입니다. 이 외에 별도로 논의하고

싶은 질문이 있으시면 따라 리플주세요

그럼 모두 모임에서 뵈요

Khan

Discussion Questions

Q1. “In my dream, I am in the back of a taxi, speeding to Kennedy to catch my flight to Italy”(p1). From the first page, dreams play an important role in Mia Yun’s haunting and honest novel. How do you think the use of dreams contributes to the narrative? Recall one of Yunah’s dreams and analyze it for her.

Q2. The story about a set of twins- one normal, the other disfigured, Translations of Beauty focuses on the many differences between the two sisters. But what similarities do you see in Yunah and Inah? Do you think that their differences complement each other in such a way that they are closer than they even know?

Q3. In this novel, the author takes the reader to South Korea, Italy, and the United States- from Queens and Manhattan, New York, to the Catskills and the Jersey shore. How are the shifting settings integral to the theme of the novel? Do you like the author’s use of flashbacks? Do you feel that they add history, depth, and texture? Or do you find yourself wishing for , as Yunah wishes for Inah, consistency of place?

Q4. Does Inah blame her sister for the accident that scarred her? Do you think Yunah blames herself? How has the issue of blame shaped the lives of the twins and their family?

Q5. Chosen by The New York Times as “A New Immigrant Classic,” Translations of Beauty is a Korean immigrant’s voice speaking to the pitfalls of the American Dream. What are those pitfalls and how do they affect the characters of this novel? What other immigrant classics does this novel bring to mind?

Q6. “One of the mittens is caught in the door of the bus, slowly pulling away from the curb. I tug at the string but quickly let go, shrinking at the sharp burning on my palm. And the other mitten is gone too, flung off my shoulder” (page 48). Discuss this scene-why it is significant to the character of Yunah and how it is connected to the defining event of her childhood.

Q7. Inah is a voracious reader. What meaning, if any, do you find in the books she reads? Is her obsession with books, like her obsession with travel, an act of escapism? Or do you think that she is only fulfilling her mother’s wish-to overcompensate with education for a lack of physical beauty?

Q8. “There is that beauty about him-that intangible and yet immutable beauty that grows around only such a man. The kind that stems from a life lived in continuity, rootedness and rituals. A proud, self-assured sort of beauty you find in an ancient tree standing on terra firma” (page 117). What does our narrator reveal here about how she views beauty? Where, or in whom, did you find beauty in this story?

Q9. There are two moments of “sudden suspension of time” in the novel. What are they and how are they related? What do you think about Yunah’s reaction to both incidents?

Q10. “…life is all about making one choice after another. Connect those dots and see what kind of picture emerges: a portrait of a life” (page 221). For each character-Inah, Yunah, their mother and father, Auntie Minnie, Uncle Shin, and their grandmother-connect the dots of the choices each made and discuss the self-portrait that emerges.

Q11. Yunah has an epiphany as to why Inah moves about from one place to another, never settling down, never coming home. What is it? And what sparks the realization?

Q12. “Flushing isn’t America… It is a way station. A place to shake off the old dirt on immigrant shoes. A place of limbo. One foot there, the other here” (page 247). Do you think that, despite the hardships, Yunah considers Flushing her home? How about the other members of her family? What other American cities are similar to Flushing in this respect?

Q13. What do you make of Inah’s friend Nidra Phookan? Who is she? And why do you think the author includes this character in the novel? Why doesn’t Yunah make the connection between Nidra and Inah’s abandonment of her studies? Are there other things about Inah that Yunah doesn’t see?

Q14. In her letter to Inah, Yunah writes: “I realized that I was forever tethered to you as we were once tethered to Mon together through the umbilical cords. By fate and blood and love. And to be honest with you, it terrified me…” (page 255). What about their relationship scares Yunah? Do you think that Yunah finds closure in her quest to understand Inah? Do you think that Inah finds peace in her sister’s visit?

[Khan]

저는 Q4, Q8, and Q11을 논의하고 싶습니다.

[yOoJin]

저는 6,7,11 번이요!