Susan Choi's 'Flashlight' is about an alternate-universe version of her own family

Summary

NPR's Book of the Day: In-Depth Summary of Susan Choi's Flashlight

Podcast Information:

• Title: NPR's Book of the Day
• Host/Author: NPR
• Episode Spotlight: Susan Choi's Flashlight – An alternate-universe version of her own family
• Release Date: June 12, 2025

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Introduction to Flashlight

In this episode, NPR's Andrew Limbong introduces Susan Choi's latest novel, Flashlight, positioning it as a thought-provoking family saga that weaves together themes of history, war, secrets, and borders. Following her acclaimed previous work, Trust Exercise, which delved into the complexities of teenage psychology within high school theater, Choi's Flashlight presents a more straightforward yet equally compelling narrative that spans decades.

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Plot Overview

Flashlight opens with a poignant scene: ten-year-old Luisa and her father, Cirque, walking along a Japanese beach, where he carries a flashlight. Tragedy strikes when Luisa is swept away by the tide, leaving her father unable to save her due to his inability to swim. This mysterious and heartbreaking event sets the stage for the novel's exploration of family dynamics and personal loss.

Notable Quote:

Andrew Limbong [00:02]: "... Susan Choi's latest novel, Flashlight, is relatively straightforward but no less thought provoking. It's one of these big stories about a family across decades and it involves history and war and secrets and borders. There's a lot going on."

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Character Analysis and Emotional Depth

The narrative primarily follows Luisa, who grapples with profound loss and loneliness. After the beach incident, she and her mother are left to navigate their lives apart from Cirque. Luisa's interactions reveal her internal struggles, especially in her session with a child psychiatrist where she expresses resistance to forming connections:

Notable Quote:

Susan Choi [03:07]: "She's very unreceptive to him. But at the same time, she's kind of can't help engaging with him, even as she's sort of trying to fend him off."

Choi illustrates Luisa's complexity, portraying her as a character deeply committed to fending off love and connection yet yearning for understanding and companionship. This duality makes Luisa both a challenging and relatable protagonist.

Notable Quote:

Susan Choi [06:24]: "She is only slightly less difficult as a young adult than she is as a child. I think there's a lot of me in Luisa."

This personal connection hints at Choi's own experiences and emotions influencing Luisa's character development, adding layers of authenticity to her portrayal.

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Themes and Inspirations

Choi delves into historical tensions between Korea and Japan, drawing inspiration from her own family's experiences. Cirque, Luisa's father, is portrayed as an ethnic Korean born and raised in Japan, embodying the struggles of individuals caught between colonial legacies and national identities.

Notable Quote:

Susan Choi [03:42]: "...what was going on with ethnic Koreans who kind of got washed up in Japan at the end of World War II. They were second-class citizens under this Japanese empire, but then there is no Japanese Empire and they're citizens of nothing."

This historical context enriches the narrative, exploring themes of identity, belonging, and the lingering effects of colonialism.

Notable Quote:

Susan Choi [07:16]: "I was sitting in this wonderful library in Seattle, looking out at the water, and I was trying to figure out how to talk about that love and that sensation of recognizing someone that you really, actually don't know at all."

Choi connects personal emotions with broader historical themes, using metaphorical language to illustrate the complexities of love and understanding within the family structure.

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Writing Process and Narrative Structure

Choi discusses her method of managing a sprawling narrative that spans almost a century. Initially intending to write a concise story, she found the novel expanding organically, likening it to a "snail shell" spiraling outward.

Notable Quote:

Susan Choi [05:38]: "I began this novel with the intention of writing something very short. And I felt like the novel kind of wrote itself like a snail shell. It just kept spiraling outward in both directions. I had a hard time keeping track."

To maintain coherence, Choi employed a chronological ordering of events, a technique she describes as "Tolstoyan," enabling her to keep track of multiple characters and their intertwined stories.

Notable Quote:

Susan Choi [06:05]: "When you put the events in order, it's easier to keep track of what happened. I offer this free of charge."

This disciplined approach highlights Choi's commitment to crafting a meticulously structured narrative amidst its expansive scope.

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Exploration of Love and Connection

A poignant moment in the discussion centers on the concept of love as an unexpected yet grounding force. Choi articulates love as a sudden expertise that builds upon accumulated experiences, providing stability and understanding.

Notable Quote:

Susan Choi [07:11]: "It's about the flashlight again, and what we can see and what we can't see. I think sometimes the experience of falling in love is this experience of believing that we know everything about someone that actually we've only just met."

This metaphor underscores the novel's exploration of perception, understanding, and the often-overlooked depths of personal relationships.

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Conclusion: A Journey Through Decades and Emotions

Flashlight by Susan Choi is portrayed as an intricate tapestry of family history, personal loss, and the quest for connection amidst historical and emotional turmoil. Through Luisa's journey, Choi invites readers to reflect on their own life stories and the unseen forces that shape them.

Notable Quote:

Susan Choi [06:33]: "Admittedly, it's a hard thing to admit because she's a character that is so committed to fending off love. But it was so important to me that she find love and some kind of peace."

This resolution signifies the novel's overarching theme of healing and the enduring human desire for understanding and love.

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Final Thoughts

Susan Choi's Flashlight emerges as a profound literary work that intertwines personal narratives with broader historical contexts. Through meticulous character development and thematic richness, Choi crafts a story that resonates on both intimate and universal levels, making it a standout addition to contemporary literature.

Transcript

[Andrew Limbong]

Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbong. Susan Choi's previous book, Trust Exercise, was this teen drama about high school theater students that has a middle of the book. I don't know. I don't want to call it a twist really, but it upends the psychology of the book in comparison. Her latest novel, Flashlight, is relatively straightforward but no less thought provoking. It's one of these big stories about a family across decades and it involves history and war and secrets and borders. There's a lot going on. And so it makes sense that when NPR Scott Simon asks how Choi kept track of it all, she says she just put everything in chronological order. That's ahead.

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[Interviewer]

Opens in mystery and tragedy. Luisa, 10 year old girl and her father Cirque, walk along a beach in Japan. He carries a flashlight. We next see Luisa when she is washed up by the tide, struggling to breathe. Her father is gone. He couldn't swim. What happened? What will unfold next for the family? And what might we miss in our own life stories? Flashlight is Susan Choi's novel and Susan Choi, a National Book Award winner who has taught creative writing at Yale, joins us from New York. Thanks so much for being with us.

[Susan Choi]

Thanks so much for having me.

[Interviewer]

Help us understand all that weighs on Louisa. To awake, to be alive, but also to have suffered a profound loss and a persisting question.

[Susan Choi]

Well, she doesn't know even the biggest.

Part of what's happened to her.

We meet her at the beginning of the book after these events that you've just described. She and her mother are left to.

Their own after something really terrible.

And it does not bring them closer.

Together, at least not for a very long time.

[Interviewer]

When she is speaking to a psychiatrist, at one point she says, I don't want friends. I don't like people asking me questions.

[Susan Choi]

She does her best to fend off this child psychiatrist.

She's very unreceptive to him.

But at the same time, she kind.

Of can't help engaging with him, even as she's sort of trying to fend him off. I hope the reader realizes that she's.

Going to so much trouble to fend.

Off this guy because she's actually terribly lonely. She does want to talk to somebody.

And she does end up talking to him, saying more to him than she ever meant to.

She kind of can't help it.

[Interviewer]

This is a family, I think we might put it this way, these days, with many strands. Cirque. Her father, for example, is an ethnic Korean born and raised in Japan.

[Susan Choi]

Sir. Born of this fascination that I actually.

Had with all of the tensions that.

Exist between Korea and Japan historically, which I've written about before.

I've been fascinated by, you know, my.

Own father and grandfather come out of.

This history of Japan, making Korea a colony and then having to give up.

The Korean colony with the end of World War II.

I was so interested in what was going on with ethnic Koreans who kind of got washed up in Japan at.

The end of World War II.

They were second class citizens under this.

Japanese empire, but then there is no Japanese Empire and they're citizens of nothing.

And my interest in, you know, what was that like, kind of led to my inventing this character who grows up.

In this situation where he really doesn't have a country.

[Interviewer]

In interviews, in fact, you've called Louise's family, I think, mark this down, your phrase is an alternate universe. Family for your own. Right?

[Susan Choi]

Very alternate. My own family spent some time in.

Japan when I was young. I was Louise's age.

I was interested both in that experience.

That I had when I went to Japan as this confused.

I'd grown up in the Midwest and.

No one ever looked like me. My dad's Korean and my mom isn't. So we went to Japan and I was sort of expecting to, like, fit in brilliantly and, I don't know, be received with glory, you know, at last.

Here you are, a person who looks like us. And of course, I didn't look like anybody there either.

Japan cast a dark shadow. And I think that Korea, Japan relationship was something I wanted to explore in.

This slightly different way.

[Interviewer]

Such a vast historical expanse over this novel of almost a Century, you know, and for that matter, the hereafter. I've got an intensely practical question. How do you keep so many characters and their stories going in your mind? How do you keep them straight?

[Susan Choi]

I began this novel with the intention of writing something very short.

And I feel like the novel kind of wrote itself like a snail shell.

It just kept spiraling outward in both directions.

I had a hard time keeping track.

Of it, to be honest. And at some point, I had this revelation, which I'm going to share now with your listening audience. As an amazing tip, I decided to put the events in chronological order.

[Interviewer]

Wow. That's like. That's Tolstoyan.

[Susan Choi]

I know.

It's a major narrative discovery. When you put the events in order.

It'S easier to keep track of what happened. I offer this free of charge.

[Interviewer]

Well, thank you. Boy, you wind up with complicated feelings for Louisa. I mean, she almost blows up a college trip that veers from comedy to near disaster.

[Susan Choi]

She is only slightly less difficult as a young adult than she is as a child. I think there's a lot of me in Louisa.

Admittedly, it's a hard thing to admit.

Because she's a character that is so committed to fending off love. But it was so important to me.

That she find love and some kind of peace.

And that's why we end up following her for many, many decades and many, many pages.

But I think she gets there. I hope she gets there.

[Interviewer]

There is a line that I have savored. Love is perhaps the sensation of expertise that erupts out of nowhere and as time goes on, accumulates enough soil at its feet as to be standing on something.

[Susan Choi]

I'm glad you singled out that line. It's funny, I remember where I was.

Sitting when I wrote that.

I was sitting in this wonderful library.

In Seattle, looking out at the water, and I was trying to figure out how to talk about that love and that sensation of recognizing someone that you really, actually don't know at all.

And I guess this is sort of.

About the flashlight again, and what we.

Can see and what we can't see. I think sometimes the experience of falling.

In love is this experience of believing that we know everything about someone that.

Actually we've only just met.

And our conviction that they belong to.

Us and that we belong to them binds us to them.

And if we do that successfully, we.

End up learning things.

[Interviewer]

Susan Choi's new novel, Flashlight. Thank you so much for being with us.

[Susan Choi]

Thank you so much for having me and for your wonderful reading.

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