Lakis is in enthusiastic mood once more. After suggesting last week that Deborah Levy's Swimming Home is "as good as it gets" he's back this week to hail Kyung-Sook Shin's Please Look After Mother as simply "a masterpiece". But why's it so good?
"This is one of those books that are so full of grace that they take the reader's breath away; not only for their plot, but mostly because of their prose; a prose that's lyrical, dream-like, poetic, that sounds nostalgic and melancholic at the same time."
Shin unfolds the extraordinary story of an ordinary woman who vanishes while waiting for a train through the memories of a family which has always taken her for granted, "an unmovable presence in their reality who would remain there forever", Lakis continues, but gives much more than that.
"The author doesn't only offer the reader an amazing story but she also manages to speak directly to his soul. Wake up, she seems to say to him, and take a good look at life and the people that surround you. Recognise who you are and to whom you owe that."
It's no surprise that Please Look After Mother won the Man Asian literary prize, he continues, but he is puzzled that it received so little attention from the western media. "Is it because Shin is not Murakami?" he asks. "Or is it simply because our western arrogance doesn't allow us to recognise a gem when we see one?"
Another happy reader is Knight03, who returns to John Steinbeck's "beautifully lyrical" 1947 novella, The Pearl.
The story of a poor family whose lives are changed by the discovery of a pearl in the ocean, Knight03 risks a couple of spoilers in revealing that "like the tide coming in" evil follows in its wake. The modest aspirations of the family – a little education, a church wedding – make the conclusion "even more heartbreaking".
"They barely asked for anything at all. And they ended up with less than they started with."
The pearl is not evil in itself, nor does the wickedness reside in mankind, says Knight03. "It is the evil desires of those who lust after the pearl; it is the wrong actions men take in their lives which make them evil."
Now I don't know about evil, but it seems to me there have been a few "wrong actions" in this week's reader reviews. Glancing down the list of our latest reader reviews – complete with reviews for The Three Musketeers, The Man in the Iron Mask, The Count of Monte Cristo and all – I thought for a moment that we might be welcoming another Dumas fan to the site. But no ... "If you also enjoy Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo, have a look at the brilliant new sequels ... " Should anyone feel the need for further sequels beyond the heartbreaking Le Vicomte de Bragelonne they're available on Kindle, apparently ...
As ever, if I've mentioned your review in this article, please get in touch at richard.lea@theguardian.com and I'll send you a treat from the cupboards. Thanks for all your reviews.
