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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
ماكنت أعرف إنها سيرة ذاتية بشكل رواية ، ع حسب كلام الكاتبة إن أحداثها مابين الحقيقة و الخيال ، وهي تتكلم عن أمها يجي على بالي روايتها (أرجوك أعتن بأمي) أحس الجزء اللي يخصها في الكتابين حقيقة :(
My second novel by another novelist from South Korea -- again, a dark experience, but more accessible to readers unfamiliar with the history of that country.
I wanted to like this more, because it has some genuinely lovely writing that neither the bleak subject matter—a writer's chronicle of her teenage self's attempt to escape working class poverty—nor the clumsy editing errors littering my edition could obfuscate. Instead, I ended up loving individual passages without ever feeling any particular investment in the characters and plot.
I'm going to blame my lack of context.
The novel tells a very personal story, one inextricable from a particular point in history. Arguably that history is as much a character as Shin's unnamed narrator, if not more so, given the imprint it left on her. The story artfully weaves back and forth between the grim past and the long shadows it still casts on the narrator's present, but it's the history that drives it, not the people.
Not knowing that history, its referents, made this an occasionally opaque read, a lot like stumbling across information you recognize as relevant, but without knowing how or why. Let's just say I spent a lot of time on Wikipedia getting a crash course in late 20th century South Korean history while reading this. The narrative came together better after that, but its flow was broken. It's not a complaint, or a criticism. It does, however, explain my distance from the text.
I'm going to blame my lack of context.
The novel tells a very personal story, one inextricable from a particular point in history. Arguably that history is as much a character as Shin's unnamed narrator, if not more so, given the imprint it left on her. The story artfully weaves back and forth between the grim past and the long shadows it still casts on the narrator's present, but it's the history that drives it, not the people.
Not knowing that history, its referents, made this an occasionally opaque read, a lot like stumbling across information you recognize as relevant, but without knowing how or why. Let's just say I spent a lot of time on Wikipedia getting a crash course in late 20th century South Korean history while reading this. The narrative came together better after that, but its flow was broken. It's not a complaint, or a criticism. It does, however, explain my distance from the text.
I both liked the way this book was written and felt overwhelmed by it. It's a quiet book, but it also felt slippery like I couldn't completely get a hold on the story, or the characters. I'm not sure that made sense. Something about this book fascinates me, but also I longed to finish it often when I was reading. I'll certainly be reading other books by this author.
Also this is irrelevant, but it's bothering me because I can't find mention of it, but the main character seemed to be queer? At one point in a section set in present day, she mentions reading the paper in bed and a woman referred to as "H" is sleeping... presumably next to her. I guess it could just be a friend.......... I don't know. The only other time I remember H being mentioned is close to the end when the protagonist calls some people on the phone. Also I could read her relationship with Hui-jae as being queer-coded. But anyway. That's all conjecture. Maybe I should take my gay goggles off. (Ha. As if that's even possible.)
Also this is irrelevant, but it's bothering me because I can't find mention of it, but the main character seemed to be queer? At one point in a section set in present day, she mentions reading the paper in bed and a woman referred to as "H" is sleeping... presumably next to her. I guess it could just be a friend.......... I don't know. The only other time I remember H being mentioned is close to the end when the protagonist calls some people on the phone. Also I could read her relationship with Hui-jae as being queer-coded. But anyway. That's all conjecture. Maybe I should take my gay goggles off. (Ha. As if that's even possible.)
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-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
dark
emotional
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:
Yes
okay, I wasn’t expecting this to read like random trains of thoughts......
First of all, I like that this gives insight to a particular bit of history that I’ve never heard of before. The factory girls and the special program for their education is interesting and I wish the story could have focused more on that. Perhaps I was wrong in expecting a story when really this is a somewhat autobiographical memoir. It’s more of a recollection of things that the author has went through imo.
Secondly, the writing is lovely. Kudos to both the original writer and the translator for that. It is slightly confusing though since the tenses are the same but the author will jump from present (where the narrator is 32) to the past (where the narrator is 16) without much fanfare.
I’m no expert at analysing literature and much of my reviews rely on me enjoying the story or not. In this case, it’s a bit too meandering for me. I just prefer my reading material to be simple 🙈 however, I did and probably always will enjoy the way Kyung Sook describes Korea.
First of all, I like that this gives insight to a particular bit of history that I’ve never heard of before. The factory girls and the special program for their education is interesting and I wish the story could have focused more on that. Perhaps I was wrong in expecting a story when really this is a somewhat autobiographical memoir. It’s more of a recollection of things that the author has went through imo.
Secondly, the writing is lovely. Kudos to both the original writer and the translator for that. It is slightly confusing though since the tenses are the same but the author will jump from present (where the narrator is 32) to the past (where the narrator is 16) without much fanfare.
I’m no expert at analysing literature and much of my reviews rely on me enjoying the story or not. In this case, it’s a bit too meandering for me. I just prefer my reading material to be simple 🙈 however, I did and probably always will enjoy the way Kyung Sook describes Korea.
First things first, this book reads almost as if it were translated one word at a time, or plugged in to google translate. It definitely wasn't copy-edited. All over the place, pronouns, prepositions, other words are missing from sentences. Stylistic quirks pop up here and there randomly that aren't present anywhere else in the text. Events taking place in the framing story are told in the past tense, while the 'real' narrative is presented in present tense, except when the author/translator/editor forgets and screws it up.
All THAT being said, the book doesn't tell us anything. It's certainly not about loneliness. Most of the narrative concerns a teenage girl working at a factory to pay for school, except it all ultimately doesn't matter, it's just telling us what goes on, nothing deeper. Then union busting pops up - ah, conflict! But there's almost never any investment in it, emotionally, philosophically. Then there's a friendship/romance thing, but that too comes and goes until the end of the book, in which something happens that ultimately doesn't really cause any changes either. There's a narrative about a friend whose father has a secret, and . . . it just kind of gets forgotten. There's a narrative about people i nthe author's life reacting to the things she's written, but it too is only superficially important. Basically the entire book is like a high-school level personal narrative. Things happen, emotions are felt, but none of it really means anything - and this isn't intended, it's just poor writing.
All THAT being said, the book doesn't tell us anything. It's certainly not about loneliness. Most of the narrative concerns a teenage girl working at a factory to pay for school, except it all ultimately doesn't matter, it's just telling us what goes on, nothing deeper. Then union busting pops up - ah, conflict! But there's almost never any investment in it, emotionally, philosophically. Then there's a friendship/romance thing, but that too comes and goes until the end of the book, in which something happens that ultimately doesn't really cause any changes either. There's a narrative about a friend whose father has a secret, and . . . it just kind of gets forgotten. There's a narrative about people i nthe author's life reacting to the things she's written, but it too is only superficially important. Basically the entire book is like a high-school level personal narrative. Things happen, emotions are felt, but none of it really means anything - and this isn't intended, it's just poor writing.
informative
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
#bookhoarderreviews
I think auto-fiction is a tricky genre to write. The lines between the autobiographical account and the fictionalised version gets blurred and leaves the reader confused at times. I wanted to exude empathy for the condition and struggle of the author but was disoriented since couldn’t fathom where the autobiographical account amalgamated with the fictional version.
The story starts promisingly with her journey from the country side to Seoul to work in an industrial sweatshop along with an unnamed cousin. The initial usage of phrases like ‘I, 17 year old’ and ‘lone room’ and not revealing the names of her family members built upon the effectiveness of the writing.
Midway through the book, the usage of these phrases and references to unnamed characters became extremely repetitive and frustrating leading to confusion at times. At several places, I had to go back in my audiobook to understand who was being referred to at particular points in the story. I felt some fictional names could have been given to the characters instead of calling them eldest brother, first brother, second brother, cousin to do away with the ambiguity.
While I appreciate the author’s efforts to pen down the plight of the Korean citizens in the post war industrialisation struggle, I felt the writing to be average. A few parts like her attempts at being able to attend school and become a writer and the worker’s collective scuffles were well written. But the author failed to engage me in the family dynamics that was also a huge part of the story.
I would recommend this book if you want to educate yourself about the industrialisation process in South Korea, post war struggle of the citizens and are able to assimilate auto-fiction. This was my third attempt at reading this genre and I am not sure if it is for me.