Quiet Odyssey

Quiet Odyssey – A Pioneer Korean Woman in America

Book Review By: Nabeel Fargo

Quiet Odyssey is an autobiography of Mary Paik Lee (Paik Kuang Sun), edited by Sucheng Chan, and published in the year of 1990. This book was written by Mary Paik Lee who was a Pioneer Korean Woman who was born in1900 in Pyongyang, the Capital of North Korea. I really enjoyed reading this book because I could somehow relate to Mary because I am also an immigrant, and throughout the book I could see some similarities between my stories of emigrating to the United States and Mary’s emigration story to a certain extent. I really admire Mary for writing such a powerful book where she lays her story and encourages people to not give up but rather work hard in order to reach success and appreciate education. I was personally encouraged by her Mary’s life story, she never gave up and she always sacrificed certain things for her family and loved ones. I really admire Mary’s strong personality, she believed that nothing was impossible; she always faced difficulties and discrimination throughout her life mainly because of the fact that she was Oriental, and during the early 1900s era, unfortunately Orientals along with other races and ethnicities were looked down on in America or the western world.

Mary left her home country when she was only 5 years old in 1905, traveling along with her family as a political refugee after Japan had complete control over Korea during the time of the end of the Russo-Japanese War, Mary and her family, emigrates to Hawaii where her father works for a year and a half in the sugar plantations of Hawaii. Life seems to be hard in Hawaii and so Mary’s father decides to take his family and move to California where Mary and her family face many interesting adventures and travel from one city to another seeking for stability. Throughout this period of Mary and her family face financial difficulties which cause the whole family to work day and night in order to be able to have food and a place to live in. Mary along with her family worked as farmers, cooks, janitor (school girl), as well as in a quicksilver mine. Although Mary’s family was a well educated family in Korea, they were forced to be humble and take on humble jobs in order to make a living and provide food for their household. Mary and her family as well as her husband learned to be resourceful, meaning they lived off other peoples’ leftovers or throwaways and clothing from unlikely resources. Throughout their life they were always empty handed when they travelled from one place to another due to the fact that they come with nothing from Korea and they barely made enough money to eat and have some necessities of life available.

Mary’s and her family was Christian – Presbyterian, her father was a former minister and he was very well respected among the small Korean community. Mary’s family always kept their faith in God and was also optimistic about their future, they always believed that God will never leave his children in need but rather He is the ultimate provider for everything. Mary’s faith kept her going in her life, she also states in her book that what her parents had told her in her early childhood was what enabled her to stay strong and keep on going. Education was a big thing for Mary, she was the first to graduate from her middle school along with her brother, and she was also the only Oriental student in her high school. One of the remarkable aspects about Mary’s life was the fact that she received an education which she paid for herself, where she worked as a school girl day and night just so she could continue her education, but above all, her ultimate love and loyalty to her family was always more important for her in her lifetime.

Later on, Mary gets married when she is only 19 years old in 1919 to Hung Man (H.M.) Lee who was 27 years old. Mary and her husband Hung Man Lee then moved to Anaheim. Mary then faces another dilemma in her life when she was told that she would not be able to conceive children, but in 1925, a miracle takes place in her life and with the help a special doctor, Henry Farrow Lee was born, and he was named after the special doctor who helped Mary in conceiving. While still living in Anaheim with her husband, she and her husband Hung Man Lee owned a fruit business. Their business was very profitable and it enabled them to have a stable life for a certain period of time. Mary remembers her parents as well as her brothers, and so she sends them money hoping that would help them for some time. But unfortunately Mary’s parents had not been so lucky but rather struggled financially, they were always struggling and tried numerous times to do something that would help them become comfortable financially. Later on Mary's husband turns out to have a terrible skin condition. The condition of his skin had numerous bumps which eventually burned terribly and caused him pain. Mary’s and Hung Man Lee’s business lasted for about 11 years, but eventually Mary had to return to live with her struggling parents and siblings, but in addition, one of the reasons why Mary’s family had to leave was because of Her husband's skin condition. By that time, after leaving Anaheim, Mary's family was farming, and in 1950 Mary had to quit farming and was forced to go to Whittier where people are not willing to give or rent her a house mainly because of the fact that she was not white but rather Oriental. Eventually she moves to Los Angeles where she helps Oriental Americans with the language issue, and in addition try to help those who are non whites to fit in the American white society at Large.

In conclusion, I was really touched by Mary Paik Lee’s story, it helped me realize the struggles of non whites in America in the 20th century where discrimination occurred and non whites were looked down on, but with all that mentioned Mary was strong throughout her life and was able to make a difference within the life of her family and other Orientals who went through similar experiences and difficulties throughout their lives in America. I really enjoyed reading Mary’s story and I personally recommend it for anyone who is looking for facts about the life of an Oriental in the 20th century.