A review by jayisreading
Memento Mori by Eunice Hong

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

In Memento Mori, Hong took a unique approach to grief, trauma, and memory through her ideas and prose. From its nonlinear nature to the different stylistic choices across chapters, I will say that this novel might not work for everyone with how it leaned a bit more to the experimental. Yet, I would say Hong’s choices worked well for what she wanted to get across. It was especially interesting how she blended Greek mythology (focusing particularly on Orpheus and Eurydice), Korean history, and events in the unnamed protagonist’s life to, ultimately, reflect on her resilience.

The protagonist was deeply self-aware in a way that I found provocative, even finding myself reflecting on what she was thinking about. Hong captured a particular kind of intimacy that might be a little uncomfortable at times, but I also found it refreshing due to how candid the protagonist was. Perhaps being of Korean descent myself (and also loving the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, which was what initially drew me to this novel), I found that a lot of the protagonist’s reflections resonated with me. Another thing I wanted to comment on that really stood out to me was how Hong beautifully captured the grief one feels after losing someone while also contending with the grief of your own aliveness (or lack thereof). It was an honest and cathartic exploration of life and death that I felt differed from other approaches I’ve seen in other novels.

I will say that it took a bit to get used to the unique structure, and it wasn’t really until halfway through that I really got a sense of how everything was coming together. I know some people won’t be willing to wait it out that long, but I think it’s worth it for this novel. Furthermore, this is a book that asks you to take your time to sit with the protagonist’s grief and memories (i.e., don’t try to read quickly). I do think there were a couple ideas that could have been developed a bit more, but it didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment.
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