Reviews with content warning for Miscarriage - The Court Dancer

Reviews tagging 'Miscarriage'

The Court Dancer by Kyung-sook Shin

9 reviews

smart_girls_love_trashy_books's review

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

-POTENTIAL SPOILERS-

I really wanted to like this book. It has a lot going for it, such as being about time periods and countries not really explored in books. I was a bit cautious when I learned this was a translation, but still tried my best to get into it. My best was not enough.

The biggest issue was the fact that everything felt detached, distant and rushed. Much like when I read Kiku's Prayer, I don't know if this is from the original text, the translator, or a little bit of both, but it's why I can't really trust many translated books. Everything was just told, so it made the few character moments that I did like, that should've meant something, feel more like they came out of nowhere. Like the scene where she sees herself like the stolen artwork at the museum. That should've amounted to something, but it didn't. We're told she lost a child but it's just said and never mentioned again. And later on, when she miscarries at a ball and is traumatized over it, it completely skips over all of her trauma, saying 'it has been six months later'

The whole book is written in that very dry style so even though I should've liked this story about finding identity and love among a turbulent time, I couldn't. The characters feel very bland and one-note, many events are written like a textbook of the time, with major events spelled out as background information even though they don't have anything to do with the main story, and things just happen. The characters don't really develop or grow or feel any different. Even the huge event that the synopsis says happens, does happen....at the very end of the book. It's barely a climax in my opinion.

I wanted to like this book so much. It's a unique setting with good themes and the potential for good characters, but the style kills it. It's dull, dry, tells everything instead of showing it, and for half of it feels more like a textbook of the period. I keep giving translated books a chance because they write about interesting things you don't often see here in the West, but I have to also hope they are written in engaging ways, and so far that track record is terrible.

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magnolia_berry's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense

5.0

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singalana's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Kirjan edetessä imeydyin yhä syvemmälle tarinaan, ja lopussa olin jo aivan Yi Jinin kohtalon lumoissa. Kirja perustuu osin todellisiin tapahtumin ja henkilöihin, mutta kirjailijan mukaan kyseessä ei ole historiallinen romaani. Teosta voitaisiin pitää rakkausromaanina, mutta ei ehkä perinteisessä mielessä.

Kirja sijoittuu 1880-luvun loppupuolelle, ja kertoo Korealaisesta naisesta nimeltä Yi Jin. Jin on keisarillisen palatsin hovitanssija, johon ranskalainen diplomaatti rakastuu silmittömästi ja haluaa viedä tämän mukanaan Ranskaan.

Kirjassa on lumoavaa kuvausta koreasta, ja hyvin kaunista, soljuvaa kieltä. Kirjan hahmot tuntuvat aluksi ehkä hieman etäisiltä, ennen kun heitä oppii tuntemaan paremmin. Etenkin korealaiset hahmot ovat pinnalta tyyniä, mutta sisimmältään syviä. Kirjassa kuvataan Korean historian kannalta merkittäviä tapahtumia hahmojen näkökulmasta.

Juonipaljastuksia!

Aluksi minun oli vaikeaa päästä kirjaan sisälle, koska en tuntenut Victorin ja Jinin välistä kipinää. Tapahtumien edetessä käy ilmeiseksi, että Victor rakasti Jiniä ehkä enemmän keräilyesineenä kuin ihmisenä. Eikä Jin todellisuudessa rakastanut todellista Ranskaa, vaan sitä kiiltokuvaa mikä Ranskasta annettiin. Jin rakasti Koreaa ja niitä ihmisiä jotka jäivät sinne hänen jälkeensä. Loppu on hyvin traaginen, koskettava ja symbolinen. Historian julmat tapahtumat henkilöityvät kirjan hahmoihin.

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rieviolet's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

All in all, I liked this book much more than I thought. I especially liked the discussion on such themes as orientalism, colonisation and cultural appropriation. There were also a lot of characters that really stood out and that I became quite fond of. The ending was quite a lot to take in, I wasn't really expecting anything else (given the time period and the setting), but still it was quite a lot to digest (Victor, you really were a piece of garbage till the end).

I liked the historical segments (I'm always interested in learing more about Korean history) but sometimes they felt a bit too much disconnected, not very well intergrated into the story. But, above all, there were a lot of general comments/reflections just placed in the middle of the narration that stood out a bit too much to me, they kind of disrupted the narrative flow.

Also, I'd have done without some of the more gruesome details, for example do I really need to know about Korean execution practices?

I quite appreciated the author's note at the end in which she shared the intentions and emotions throughout her writing process. I think that it helped me to contextualize the novel and expand its meaning and scope.

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kcelena's review

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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lenaricharz's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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suula's review

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adventurous emotional informative sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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ci_reads's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Sometimes a kind word can encapsulate love like a seed buried in the soil.

The story follows Yi Jin, who was orphaned as a child and goes on to become a dancer in the imperial court of Joseon in the late 19th century. Having a working knowledge of Korean history (admittedly based mostly on historical kdramas) perhaps made this an easier read for me than it would be for someone coming in with zero knowledge of how imperial courts work in Korea. But regardless, the time period is particularly because Korea is opening up to more outside influences, and it becomes a key location for power struggles between various European powers, China, and Japan. This directly influences Jin's life due to her acquaintance with a French missionary as a child that ultimately leads to her meeting Victor, the French legate.

I found the writing absolutely beautiful in its descriptions and I was really pulled into the world that Yi Jin was living in. The novel deals beautifully depicts conflict over identity negotiation and control on an individual and national scale. Yi Jin struggles with finding her identity when she enters court and when she accompanies Victor to Paris, while she tries to gain control over her own life. At the same time, the imperial court and Korea is struggling to identify itself on the global stage and not lose control and sovereignty to outside powers.

The short description of the book suggests that it might be a love story between Yi Jin and Victor, but I think it's much more interesting to consider Victor's role in othering. While he is portrayed as mostly compassionate, he clearly contributes to the othering the Yi Jin feels and his love for her can be read more along the lines of a fascination with the exotic (clearly evident in the way he collects East Asian artifacts and books). He doesn't understand any critical commentary Yi Jin provides about the plundering of cultural artifacts and the effects of imperialism. Rather than their love story, I was much more compelled by the relationships of Yi Jin and the Queen, and Yi Jin and Yeon. I'm very curious as to how much is really based in history (especially since the ending had me in tears).

Two people born in different countries but speaking the same language is as refreshing as striking water in the middle of a desert.

She learned French music and even the canon in her attempt to embody France in body as well as soul, but on the streets of Paris, all she received for her trouble were stares. ... Jin could not be free of the attention of strangers, whether they were from kindness or curiosity. And without that freedom, there could be no equality.

"Did you not say the most highly regarded virtues of this republic were liberty and equality? How highly regarded can they be, when they discriminate and stare so at those who are different?"

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internationalreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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