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dilchh's review against another edition
4.0
I was pretty much skeptical when I first read it, I mean what are the odds that this book indeed was smuggled from inside North Korea? If defecting in itself is almost difficult (note that I did not say impossible), how could you smuggle stories? And get this, why not smuggle yourself rather than just your piece of work. But, I wasn’t going to let cloud my judgement. I wanted to read this book and take it as it is, no distractions and prejudices.
I have to say that the ambience brought about by the stories in this book reminded of reading The Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony Marra; the constant fear of being denounce by the people living in a dictatorship, always having to look behind your back lest someone stab you in the back and then you got sent to the gulag. And whilst The Tsar of Love and Techno was inspired by a historical event, the amount of how fear was being instilled inside you as you read the stories were different from The Accusation. These stories were written inside the regime itself, during the time the regime was happening; you can’t fake that kind of fear, that’s just too genuine.
But, see, the fear is not this book’s strongest point; it’s the characters, it’s their voices, it’s the words that are being poured out into stories. It was beautiful, mesmerizing, and painful all in one place. Although for a short story, some are incredibly long, the writing was completely beautiful that I hadn’t realise how long it was until I finished the story. And the tricky part about short stories, imho, is that more often than not the story tends to end abruptly. You don’t necessarily have a proper ending or opening, but the stories in this book was properly written that even if you may not have an interest or any basic information of what North Korea is like, you would still understood and enjoyed the story.
I found myself incredibly drawn to the poem that came with the manuscript. For the author, it speaks of the author’s wish and hope that people will read the work and have people understood what life is like North Korea, but for me it also speaks of longing and responsibility. The author could have defect along with the manuscript, but his responsibility and love for his family made him choose to stay and yet he is still fighting for what he believes to be true, through smuggling his works.
I have read quite a number of non fiction works regarding North Korea, most of them being a defectors’ account, but never a fictional work that tells what life is like in North Korea. It not only gives you an insight of what ordinary people go through, but it gives you an insight of how North Korean literature is like, and to me, this has been an incredibly experience.
I have to say that the ambience brought about by the stories in this book reminded of reading The Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony Marra; the constant fear of being denounce by the people living in a dictatorship, always having to look behind your back lest someone stab you in the back and then you got sent to the gulag. And whilst The Tsar of Love and Techno was inspired by a historical event, the amount of how fear was being instilled inside you as you read the stories were different from The Accusation. These stories were written inside the regime itself, during the time the regime was happening; you can’t fake that kind of fear, that’s just too genuine.
But, see, the fear is not this book’s strongest point; it’s the characters, it’s their voices, it’s the words that are being poured out into stories. It was beautiful, mesmerizing, and painful all in one place. Although for a short story, some are incredibly long, the writing was completely beautiful that I hadn’t realise how long it was until I finished the story. And the tricky part about short stories, imho, is that more often than not the story tends to end abruptly. You don’t necessarily have a proper ending or opening, but the stories in this book was properly written that even if you may not have an interest or any basic information of what North Korea is like, you would still understood and enjoyed the story.
I found myself incredibly drawn to the poem that came with the manuscript. For the author, it speaks of the author’s wish and hope that people will read the work and have people understood what life is like North Korea, but for me it also speaks of longing and responsibility. The author could have defect along with the manuscript, but his responsibility and love for his family made him choose to stay and yet he is still fighting for what he believes to be true, through smuggling his works.
I have read quite a number of non fiction works regarding North Korea, most of them being a defectors’ account, but never a fictional work that tells what life is like in North Korea. It not only gives you an insight of what ordinary people go through, but it gives you an insight of how North Korean literature is like, and to me, this has been an incredibly experience.
wakejyles's review against another edition
3.0
A fascinating and heartbreaking look into what life is like for North Koreans. The stories themselves have a straightforward, no frill writing style about what I imagine are common occurrences for people living under a regime like that. While the writing may feel more like reports than short works of fiction, the glimpse we get into daily life in a tightly controlled and oppressed place is hard to ignore or dismiss.
ryanteston's review
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
nettahk's review against another edition
4.25
Very interesting to read a North Korean author! Got a much better picture of what life is like there. Clearly a very talented writer and constructor of stories. Extremely heavy-handed on “communism is bad” but what can you expect
oozesleaze's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.5
ovenbird_reads's review against another edition
4.0
I only managed to read the first three stories before having to return this book to the library. This should definitely be on your to-read list. It provides a strange and frightening look into life in North Korea in the 1990s. I was deeply startled by the stories and made quite uncomfortable in being confronted with the bizarre horrors of the communist regime. While I wouldn't say this is a fun book to read it should be an essential one. I intend to check this book out of the library again so I can finish reading it at a later date.
kylaoren's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0