HeidiBeierle.com
“Book review – Coming Alive on the Ride”
By Heidi Beierle
Coming Alive on the Ride by Michael Yang is a memoir that offers ample food for thought about experiencing joy, exploring the tradeoffs of ambition, and finding community.
Yang immigrated from Korea to the U.S. as a teenager, and this book weaves together three parts of his life: his Korean heritage, motorcycle touring, and his career and entrepreneurial ventures in Silicon Valley.
Early in the book, Yang references three Korean concepts that subtly carry through the narrative. Shinnage is the activity or state of whole absorption in an undertaking. Han is accumulated cultural trauma brought about from injustice and oppression. Hongik is about conducting oneself in ways that benefit humanity. Riding a motorcycle is how Yang experiences shinnage, and through his engagement with his family’s history and his own ambition, Han falls away. Hongik appears in the many kindnesses strangers bestow upon Yang, his attention to faith, the rejuvenation he feels while expanding his horizons, and the lessons he brings to his homelife.
I appreciated the accessible way Yang introduced these Korean concepts in the story, and I was most drawn in by the parts of his book about his immigrant experience, including a chapter on Korean history and the backstory of his family’s experience. The book’s structure alternates chapters of Yang’s motorcycle adventures, which began when he was 57, with his immigrant and career story. About halfway into the book, the motorcycle adventure and immigrant story take a back seat to narrative about Yang’s career and entrepreneurial endeavors. While this content about Silicon Valley before the dot com bubble burst surprised me, I found myself carried by the narrative, wondering how everything would play out.
Continue Reading