Review of Kayak to Serenity
Young Lee immigrated to America in 1967, many years after the Korean War, from Korea, ready to take on America and everything it had to offer him and his pregnant wife. What would unfold for the next 45 years would prove that personal freedom that he adored and longed for also has its limitations and demands self-control. Young and his wife would travel a journey of hardship, but it would be peppered with love and family. Kayak to Serenity is for their children and grandchildren, who will never know what it was like to leave a country behind and start from scratch in a strange land.
A gambling addiction challenged Young Lee, and his wife was an equal participant. During retirement, they gambled with the stock market and hardly realized the hole they were digging for themselves. They found healing, ultimately, but not without leaving a trail of tears behind them and many lessons learned. By setting aside the stock market reports and picking up the kayak, Young Lee has found his place in nature, soaking up the majesty of the Earth.
Young outlines the path that led to their addiction to gambling with the stock market, a truthful, detailed confession for everyone to experience. Not only does Young admit his downfall, but he hopes to inspire others to seek help who may find themselves in similar situations. Young also captures the journey of an immigrant trying to make his way in a country where freedom is free, but life isn’t. With a new family to support, Young’s work was cut out for him.
The journey to America was paved with opportunity for Young, and he expands on the events that led up to his departure from Korea to work and study as an engineer in America. While work was intense and the struggle to adapt equally extreme, Young took advantage of many of the pluses of working in the US, such as weekends off and company benefits. What’s also touching is the extent to which he glorifies his wife, gushing over his love for her and her loving contributions to the world. After all, this isn’t just a memoir—it’s a love story.
Young’s spiritual plateau was something he attained over the course of many years, each year of struggle leading up to his need to accept God into his life and bask in the glow of a nonphysical connection. Often taking for granted the successes they achieved after arriving in America, Young and his wife realized what was missing—their gratitude and appreciation for all of their blessings.
Young Lee’s ability to tell his story in such descriptive language and imagery is what makes his memoir stand out above the rest. Everyone has a story, but Young’s ability to tell it, in a language that is not his native tongue, so well and with such mastery of syntax is the gold backing for this gem. Readers will step off the plane with him in 1967 and then step into his kayak in present day, ready to embark on a spiritual journey after having ridden the story of his life in Kayak to Serenity. - PublishAmerica
