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mango_mango_no_mi's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
4.75
mobyskine's review
5.0
I love that this was made based on a respectable Korean poet, Yun Dong Ju. It was a work of fiction but written slightly factual. The flow of its plot was so beautiful and heartwarming. I love how Yuichi narrated his story, so vivid and full of emotions. It was more to a friendship, mankind and history rather than an investigation-- realizing about humanity and moral, the lovely and historical side of literature and poetry. Thrilling with war story, intense battle and surviving chronicles. This was an example of hope and despair, struggle and hardships. Very inspiring and addictive. Life of Dong Ju and a friend like Yuichi-- a bizarre relationship between a Korean and Japanese in the time of Japanese occupation during World War. The setting and characters were properly structured and I love the development of each scenes. I like that Yuichi inserted poetry reading in between, as well as few snippets of lovely classical books that he loved. The relationship between Yuichi and Dong Ju was written so beautifully, fully immersed with the plot realizing that I could actually expected a sorrowful ending to it and still I was glad it taught me few amazing life lessons and words of courage. Dong Ju showed that no matter how hard people want to kill literature in life it will still vividly living inside one's head and heart. Stunningly beautiful.
blulady's review against another edition
4.0
A very unique novel, I'd especially recommend it to those who liked King Rat and The Shadow Of The Wind.
paulawind's review against another edition
5.0
If you have to read one book this year make it this one. It is book about the war, but not about the war. It is universal tackling the truths which we have to face both in times of peace and conflict. It is a book about humanity and whether war and suffering can take it from us. This book shows us that we can never really know the person and that the most evil of them can have the kindest heart.
This book not only makes you think, but does what I love most about the literature- it is meta on the level that it refers to wide range of other authors enriching it and giving “additional layer”. Books save souls. If you don’t get anything more than that (and you definitely can) then just remember than one thing. Oh, and of course the essence of Dong-ju - be always optimistic and see the beauty in all the world around you.
This book not only makes you think, but does what I love most about the literature- it is meta on the level that it refers to wide range of other authors enriching it and giving “additional layer”. Books save souls. If you don’t get anything more than that (and you definitely can) then just remember than one thing. Oh, and of course the essence of Dong-ju - be always optimistic and see the beauty in all the world around you.
ohsoreads's review against another edition
4.0
“Walls of books protected us from the ominous news of the war. Nothing could filter in through the hundreds of thousands of pages; not brawling of merchants or the clomping of marching soldiers or the cold of the winter night. The books protected me from the era’s rebellions and from my anxiety about the future.”
The Investigation by Jung-Myung Lee is a crime novel inspired by true events. It features a crime that takes place in Fukuoka Prison, 1944. Watanabe Yuichi, a student-soldier with a passion for reading was made a censor officer – one who scans through letters and postcards that go in and out of the prison. A man had been brutally murdered and he sets off to investigate the crime that happened. Watanabe digs deep into the case and uncovers what lies within the walls of this dreadful prison. He realised that he must protect Yun Dong-Ju, a Korean Poet, who has seen all that went down and insists on revealing the horrid truth.
"It was a desperate confession. What had he lost? Sugiyama knew Dong-Ju had lost everything – his country, his language, his name. Had he known long ago that he would be imprisoned, that he would be incarcerated on the other side of the wall?"
This has been truly engrossing – a crime novel with a storyline that I have never encountered! A murder taking place in a high-security prison paired with unforgettable and impossible friendships. I thoroughly enjoyed the references to books and the comfort of reading via Watanabe who was a bookworm. Who would have thought that whilst prisoners were stuck in a hellhole that they would seek books and storytelling as an escape, a coping mechanism? I highly recommend this novel if you are one who love book references and is in for an emotional ride with Watanabe Yuichi and Yun Dong-Ju. This crime novel is important and I quote from the book, "Sometimes fiction can reveal more truth than the bare facts."
Below I include excerpts from the book:
"Even a blank piece of paper tells the reader something about the person who chose not to write."
"Universes were organized on the shelves according to my will. I exerted absolute control according to my own order and rules, putting Tolstoy's essays on the same shelf as Dostoyevsky's Crime And Punishment and a yellowed copy of Othello next to King Lear.
Soon I could guess the age of a book just by its scent and understand a book's core from a quick glance at the table of contents, like a farmer who could tell the maturity and sweetness of a fruit from just its colour and the texture of its skin."
"Language is a person's signature, like his fingerprints. It contains his birth and growth, memories and past."
The Investigation by Jung-Myung Lee is a crime novel inspired by true events. It features a crime that takes place in Fukuoka Prison, 1944. Watanabe Yuichi, a student-soldier with a passion for reading was made a censor officer – one who scans through letters and postcards that go in and out of the prison. A man had been brutally murdered and he sets off to investigate the crime that happened. Watanabe digs deep into the case and uncovers what lies within the walls of this dreadful prison. He realised that he must protect Yun Dong-Ju, a Korean Poet, who has seen all that went down and insists on revealing the horrid truth.
"It was a desperate confession. What had he lost? Sugiyama knew Dong-Ju had lost everything – his country, his language, his name. Had he known long ago that he would be imprisoned, that he would be incarcerated on the other side of the wall?"
This has been truly engrossing – a crime novel with a storyline that I have never encountered! A murder taking place in a high-security prison paired with unforgettable and impossible friendships. I thoroughly enjoyed the references to books and the comfort of reading via Watanabe who was a bookworm. Who would have thought that whilst prisoners were stuck in a hellhole that they would seek books and storytelling as an escape, a coping mechanism? I highly recommend this novel if you are one who love book references and is in for an emotional ride with Watanabe Yuichi and Yun Dong-Ju. This crime novel is important and I quote from the book, "Sometimes fiction can reveal more truth than the bare facts."
Below I include excerpts from the book:
"Even a blank piece of paper tells the reader something about the person who chose not to write."
"Universes were organized on the shelves according to my will. I exerted absolute control according to my own order and rules, putting Tolstoy's essays on the same shelf as Dostoyevsky's Crime And Punishment and a yellowed copy of Othello next to King Lear.
Soon I could guess the age of a book just by its scent and understand a book's core from a quick glance at the table of contents, like a farmer who could tell the maturity and sweetness of a fruit from just its colour and the texture of its skin."
"Language is a person's signature, like his fingerprints. It contains his birth and growth, memories and past."
didis_diaries's review
4.0
Fukuoka prison is a small, functioning world with its own rules. The reader doesn’t get too much information on what’s going on in Japan or the world in general, so you really get the feeling of being in that prison. Before I started reading this novel I was a bit anxious to read about the horrible things people can do to each other, especially during war time. But Lee manages to tell the story in a very calm and poetic way that makes that brutality bearable for the reader. This is a very melancholic, sad and literary novel about the importance of reading, which I enjoyed quite much.
jessicaesquire's review
3.0
At first I thought this was a Japanese novel, but it's actually Korean. It's set in a Japanese prison with several Korean inmates, a piece of history I hadn't known about. At first this book seems like a crime novel, but it's actually about poetry and empathy. It can be a little tricky keeping tabs of the two parallel storylines, but it was quite beautiful. A great book for lovers of books and poetry.
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