This is my first re-read in a long time.

I read Kim’s Convenience in 2016 (before watching the TV show). I came into it with a bias against Canadian Literature & hit a certain barrier of understanding.

I wanted to see what a difference 7 years might bring.

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SYNOPSIS

Winner of Best New Play and the Patron’s Pick Award at Toronto’s Fringe Festival, Kim’s Convenience is the critically acclaimed, wildly popular, smash-hit debut by celebrated actor, playwright, and poet Ins Choi.

Mr. Kim is a first-generation Korean immigrant and the proud owner of Kim’s Convenience, a variety store located in the heart of downtown Toronto’s Regent Park neighbourhood. There, he spends his time serving an eclectic array of customers, catching petty thieves, and helpfully keeping the police apprised of illegally parked Japanese cars. As the neighbourhood quickly gentrifies, Mr. Kim is offered a generous sum of money to sell – enough to allow him and his wife to finally retire. But Kim’s Convenience is more than just his livelihood – it is his legacy. As Mr. Kim tries desperately, and hilariously, to convince his daughter Janet, a budding photographer, to take over the store, his wife sneaks out to meet their estranged son Jung, who has not seen or spoken to his father in sixteen years and who has now become a father himself.

Wholly original, hysterically funny, and deeply moving, Kim’s Convenience tells the story of one Korean family struggling to face the future amidst the bitter memories of their past.

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REVIEW

Rereading this book was a good idea. I originally read Kim’s Convenience for a Candian Literature class, which meant I was rushing & overthinking at the same time. Looking back at my shy annotations, I believe I missed the point entirely.

I laughed a lot more this time, reading it for fun.

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