Country of Origin by Don Lee

"The Japanese believed in mono no aware, the essential sadness of things-- that was how they defined their national character-- and it made Lisa even more lonely. But she told herself she was used to loneliness. Besides, she wasn't in Japan to have a good time. She had work to do."


After thinking about this book for nearly two weeks upon completing it, I've yet to really pinpoint why I felt it so compulsively readable. Don Lee is certainly a good writer and the plot is intriguing enough, but I was surprised by how dedicated I was at reading this. There were nights where I was falling asleep at 3am with this book open and all I could think was, "No, don't fall asleep now. Must. Keep. Reading...." I wanted there to be more hours in the day so I could read this book. I went so far as to sneak in a few readings during work when no one was watching me. It was almost becoming fanatical. And yet, what exactly inspired me to do this remains a mystery.

Country of Origin is Don Lee's first novel. Before this, he put out Yellow, a collection of short stories that deals with various Asians, half-Asians, immigrants and Asian-Americans. So it's not surprising that the issues of identity and nationality spill all over the novel. Set in 1980, the main plot centers around the disappearance of a young woman named Lisa Countryman. A half-black, half-Japanese graduate student, Lisa traveled to Japan to supposedly do research on her dissertation and soon disappeared. The sparse evidence left behind suggests she fell into the sex trade industry and met with an unfortunate end.

Lisa's case is turned over to Tom Hurley, a lazy, self-absorbed junior diplomat for the US embassy in Japan, who has clearly no interest in pursuing Lisa's whereabouts. Like Lisa, Tom has a split ethnicity (half-white and half-Korean) which he guards by telling people he's Hawaiian. The case is then turned over to a divorced Japanese detective, Kenzo Ota, who hopes this case will turn his faltering career around.

The book interlocks the lives of Lisa, Tom and Kenzo, going back and forth in the timeline. I usually hate this method of storytelling, but was pleasantly surprised by how easily the story flowed. Mr. Lee discusses race, corruption, the government, the sex trade, and most importantly, identity. Do our parents ethnicity determine ours? Do we pledge our allegiance to the country we were born in? Does having a split ethnicity mean we have to choose one and be loyal?

The conclusion of the mystery surrounding Lisa's disappearance was underwhelming. But that wasn't really a problem. The book served more of a way for me to start asking myself the questions above and concentrating not on what happened to Lisa, but the circumstances that brought her to Japan. Overall, the novel pulls you in with a mystery, but holds you with its sharp, prodding observances. I'd recommend this book to anyone who can afford to stay up long nights.