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thewordsdevourer's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
this is a beautiful collection of short stories, each distinct yet threaded w/ a commonality of bittersweet reflection thats tinged w/ melancholy.
shoko's smile both squeezes and fills my heart w/ its perceptive meditation on life and - perhaps most astonishingly - its mastery in capturing and somehow succinctly articulating all the subtle ways ppl drift from one another, the oft confounding how's and why's relationships - even and esp dear ones - tense, transform, and taper off over time. it's both life's tragedy and happiness that ppl can find so much solace and love in one another, yet nothing can ensure that any of it will endure.
i also admire how choi brings up and explores so many underrepresented and maybe-taboo topics in her stories - esp considering her home country's social and political climates - some of which include korea's own little-known war atrocities abroad; disability; state violence and unjudicial repression; feminism and local rigid age-based social hierarchy; and ofc, the sewol tragedy. and they're all examined thru various types of relationships as well, be it friends, families, lovers, neighbors, those from other cultures, etc.
the book's overall calm, sparse feeling + writing, and melancholic yet a lil hopeful rumination on life strike a chord with(in) me, even reminding me of my lifetime fav kitchen, and this has for sure become another fav, albeit a bittersweet, heartrending one.
shoko's smile both squeezes and fills my heart w/ its perceptive meditation on life and - perhaps most astonishingly - its mastery in capturing and somehow succinctly articulating all the subtle ways ppl drift from one another, the oft confounding how's and why's relationships - even and esp dear ones - tense, transform, and taper off over time. it's both life's tragedy and happiness that ppl can find so much solace and love in one another, yet nothing can ensure that any of it will endure.
i also admire how choi brings up and explores so many underrepresented and maybe-taboo topics in her stories - esp considering her home country's social and political climates - some of which include korea's own little-known war atrocities abroad; disability; state violence and unjudicial repression; feminism and local rigid age-based social hierarchy; and ofc, the sewol tragedy. and they're all examined thru various types of relationships as well, be it friends, families, lovers, neighbors, those from other cultures, etc.
the book's overall calm, sparse feeling + writing, and melancholic yet a lil hopeful rumination on life strike a chord with(in) me, even reminding me of my lifetime fav kitchen, and this has for sure become another fav, albeit a bittersweet, heartrending one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, Sexism, and War
Minor: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Torture, Police brutality, Murder, Death, Child death, Violence, Racism, Xenophobia, and Grief
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