Reviews

DMZ Colony by Don Mee Choi

yeller's review against another edition

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4.0

Would be 4.5 stars if Goodreads did what literally anyone wanted. The format/style of this book reminds me of Claudia Rankine's Citizen, which I read for a poetry class in college. It also, in how Mee Choi uses academic texts as quotes within the poetry, reminds of Anne Carson. These are two of my favorite poets, and I'm thrilled to have received this in my monthly box from Politics and Prose DC.

While at times the poetry is not linear or even quite sensical, the emotions and feelings are always intense.

martian_anthropologist's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

4.5

jess_segraves's review against another edition

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3.0

Artistic, journalistic, interpretive, experimental – but I had a hard time connecting or even following the threads. I think that's a me problem, but I found it tough to keep up with this one.

c_serpent's review against another edition

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3.0

I have been to the DMZ. I wanted to understand more about the Korean (and/or, i suppose, the Korean/American) experience—of the war, of the DMZ, of being cleaved in two and then being expected just to live like that, to go on.

It felt like this book was written in a language I can sound out, but not comprehend, like Portuguese or something. It meant very little to me, although I really wanted to connect with it.

That's okay. I'm a white American girl. Sometimes, I'm not the audience. This book clearly resonates with a LOT of people, and that is objectively a good thing.

Except also this is a review for my Goodreads account, which is was created for the sole purpose of recording the books I have read and how I felt about them, so I'm rating it accordingly. I didn't get this book. I thought it was ambitious and I can tell there's a message here. But it was not for me.

A solid 3/5, because less stars seem punitive and more stars feel dishonest.

karenchiarajo's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

arby55's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

sophiepops's review against another edition

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5.0

so smart and well-told; choi's ability to play with form is remarkable

allie_shu's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

5.0

chiaroscuro_bby's review against another edition

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5.0

"I did what the snow geese do. I wrote in the sky..."

spacestationtrustfund's review against another edition

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3.0

Poetry-journalism-nonfiction-memoir-fiction-historiography-qui sait.