Reviews

Princess Bari by Hwang Sok-yong

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guitarpotato's review against another edition

3.0

This novel touches on so many contemporary issues in its retelling of the Korean folktale of Princess Bari. From problems caused due to illegal immigration following an escape from North Korea during the famine of the 1990s all the way to the rise of anti-Muslim sentiment post-9/11. Hwang masterfully weaved in these (still) current world issues with a shamanic folktale which has been handed down for centuries.

At its core, this novel is simply about life. The search for the reason as to why humans must suffer loss, trauma or betrayal in their lives. And why it is that despite experiencing so much tragedy, humans resiliently live on.

That being said, I do think the final chapter ended a little bit too abruptly. Perhaps that is just life though. The ending simply lacked a catharsis. Also, despite being well written I think that this work lacks an emotional impact. The story progresses at a steady pace and a lot happens in the plot, however, an emotional connection to the things occurring. Hwang’s style in this novel is quite detached and the story is told very matter-of-factually.

alex_renee_is_reading_away's review

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3.0

I enjoyed this book. The only downside is the abrupt ending. It just felt a bit out of place. I definitely feel like some of the beauty of the descriptions were lost in the translation into English. I would definitely read another book by this author again.

magratajostiernos's review against another edition

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4.0

3,5/5
La primera parte de este libro me gustó muchísimo. El autor nos narra a través de un cuento tradicional protagonizado por una princesa, la terrible infancia y juventud de Bari.
La novela comienza en los años 90 en Corea del Norte y va a mostrarnos la durísima vida de Bari y su familia, la hambruna, represión, cómo la niña escapa a China y posteriormente emigra ilegalmente a Londres.
En 300 páginas el autor habla de inmigración, terrorismo y prostitución de manera cruda pero sin perder ese tono de realismo mágico que lo hace todo más facil de digerir.
Reconozco que lo que menos me gustó de toda la novela fue el final (que me pareció apresurado y muy poco satisfactorio), aún así me parece un libro interesante por cómo contrapone la cultura y costumbres coreanas con las musulmanas, por cómo muestra esa mezcla de etnias en Londres y la vida en Corea del Norte, pero especialmente por poner el foco en el tráfico de personas.
Es una novela difícil y muy dramática. Pero que habla de cosas que están pasando ahora mismo desde un punto de vista diferente, merece la pena.

theconstantreader's review against another edition

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4.0

This is not a book about one girl's struggle to find her place in a world of famine, disaster and war. This is a book about all of the world's displaced people.

It is a beautiful book where Bari's story is intertwined with with a fairytale (of sorts), Princess Bari. Perhaps because of this, the book is written in a smooth, simple and soft kind of way. I think this made the book shine. The story itself was rather complex but the way it was told so directly, in such a matter-of-fact manner, intimated that Bari knew no different. I felt that this delivery made the events even more shocking and jarring to the reader. Bari is such a stoic character and it comes off like she never realises it. This is just her life.

We can see here that Sok-yong is tackling huge social issues from the perspective of a victim of the system. No complex language is used and the story is not dramatised. It is told like it happened, like Bari would explain it to you.

This books makes us reflect on humanity's ability to be cruel but also on our ability to overcome great hardship.

dragonsandfoxes's review against another edition

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4.0

3,75/5

"Ben hayatın, zamanı bekleyip dayanarak katlanmak olduğunun farkına varmış oldum. Her zaman beklentileri sağlayamasa da bir şekilde yaşadığımız sürece zaman akıyor, her şey geçip gidiyor."

Okuduğum en iyi kitapların arasına girmese de güzeldi. Çevirisini beğendim. Kurgu olarak okuduğum Çin edebiyatı kurgularına benzettiğimi söylemeden geçemeyeceğim. Sanırım yaralar benzer olduğundan.

bogdanbalostin's review against another edition

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5.0

War, poverty, famine, immigration, human trafficking, terrorist attacks, shamanism, harmony, the flow of lie, pride, despair.

I have two main criteria by which I rate a book. One is the boring factor and the other one is the emotional factor. A story should not be boring and should elicit some emotional response from me.

Princess Bari is a weird story. Look at the list of words at the beginning of the review. Those are the themes presented in this novel. This is a lot and even if it's not confusing, there's not enough time to talk about them all. Princess Bari is not a long novel. Actually, because I'm used to drawn-out stories that have a definitive ending or a cliffhanger, I read this very quickly, soon to discover it just ends. There's no end, it's just life.

Spoiler

Bari lives and she's doing what she's doing, having the life any of us can have.

The plot isn't exceptional and because Bari narrates the story from a detached point of view like she's not involved in the action, the book isn't particularly exciting. And yet, it's emotional. I was interested in the first part of the story as I got to learn a little about Korean culture and I was also captivated by the second part when Bari starts making decisions and living her life.

Then the ending. It bugs me a lot that there's not a real ending. If you want to argue with me, there is a spiritual ending when Bari understands life but I wanted more. Also, the novel couldn't talk deeply about all of the themes it presented which is a shame.

P.S. I really liked the fantasy aspect of this novel, but I see many reviewers not too fond of it.

asterope's review

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dark emotional reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

2.5

The book is a modern retelling of the Korean folk story of Princess Bari. It follows the main character from her childhood in North Korea, to her escape and long journey that ends with her settling in London.

I loved the first section that shows us Bari's experiences growing up and escaping North Korea. The family bonds were so tangible and you really felt the despair when it all eventually falls apart during the famine. The magical realism of Bari’s shaman powers was tied in nicely here. This was definitely the best part of the book.

After she makes the harrowing journey to London, the pace becomes so fast and emotionless. It's very much “this happened, then this happened, and this happened.” So the book loses a lot of depth here, especially when it comes to Bari herself. I felt like the focus shifted away from her. I can see the message the author was trying to convey, but the way the themes were crafted using the side characters from all the various cultures and backgrounds in London was written very awkwardly. We're presented with an idealised view of things. The dialogue seems like what the author hopes people would say, rather than how they actually talk in reality.

I would say most of my complaints about this book are on the language and writing. The mix of British and American English was jarring. There were also some sweeping statements made about living here that were untrue. Again, I don't know if this was down to the translator or original text, but either way, it needed better editing.

Now the details of the traditional Korean story of Princess Bari probably went over my head, but the way the shamanism stuff was used was super clumsy. The climax almost felt like I was reading a scene from a fantasy video game. Again, the best part was the first section covering Bari’s childhood, because the magic wasn't too overt and handwavy.

Finally, the book shoehorns in the 7/7 bombings and then suddenly ends as Bari and her husband are running away from it. So bizarre. I found it very heavy-handed when the author tried to use 9/11 to expand on the book’s themes earlier on, but adding 7/7 right at the end was an even worse choice. Maybe I wouldn't be so annoyed about this if the anniversary of the attacks hadn't just passed and it wasn't fresh in my mind, but it really didn't come across however the author intended it to.

I'm just baffled because I've enjoyed previous works by both the author and translator. I was looking forward to reading this and feel quite disappointed!