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3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
3.5 rounded up.
Maybe it's because I was reading it in order to avoid doing my university assignments, or maybe it's because I had only recently finished Raven Leilani's Luster, but I felt like a lot of parts of this that would otherwise feel poignant and impactful fell flat. I feel like the woman protagonist that's oh so very lonely and a little alienated from her own culture and seeks validation in others -- usually men, usually men who are a bad decision -- has been overdone in the exact same way.
That being said, the descriptions are very vivid, you can clearly see and feel the nameless narrator's life in Sockho. The translation is amazing and reads like it was originally written in English. The emotions in the MC shine clear even when she's not putting exact words on them. There's plenty of good in this very short book! Plenty of reasons to recommend it, and I do, but it definitely did not come to me at the right time.
In the quote I started the review with she states that she doesn't want to be his eyes on her world, but at parts the novella does feel like we have to slowly be introduced to the Sokcho ways the way a Frenchman from Normandy would, like the reader is meant to be part tourist and only part experiencing what the MC does. I would've definitely loved for it to be longer and to see way more of her and her life and her journey, and less of Kerrand.
I wanted to live through his ink, to bathe in it. I wanted to be the only one he saw. And all he could say was he liked the way I saw things. That I had a good eye. Those were his words. A cold reality, devoid of emotion. He needed me to help him see.
I didn’t want to be his eyes on my world. I wanted to be seen. I wanted him to see me with his own eyes. I wanted him to draw me.
Maybe it's because I was reading it in order to avoid doing my university assignments, or maybe it's because I had only recently finished Raven Leilani's Luster, but I felt like a lot of parts of this that would otherwise feel poignant and impactful fell flat. I feel like the woman protagonist that's oh so very lonely and a little alienated from her own culture and seeks validation in others -- usually men, usually men who are a bad decision -- has been overdone in the exact same way.
That being said, the descriptions are very vivid, you can clearly see and feel the nameless narrator's life in Sockho. The translation is amazing and reads like it was originally written in English. The emotions in the MC shine clear even when she's not putting exact words on them. There's plenty of good in this very short book! Plenty of reasons to recommend it, and I do, but it definitely did not come to me at the right time.
In the quote I started the review with she states that she doesn't want to be his eyes on her world, but at parts the novella does feel like we have to slowly be introduced to the Sokcho ways the way a Frenchman from Normandy would, like the reader is meant to be part tourist and only part experiencing what the MC does. I would've definitely loved for it to be longer and to see way more of her and her life and her journey, and less of Kerrand.
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
This book is a bit of a mindf*uck. You're really in the character's head, and she is... not well. None of the characters makes sense, and the book feels almost vulgar in its descriptions of food and relationships. It is incredibly short and I think would pair well with other books about Korean culture and history, because it hints at interesting dynamics, but doesn't really explain them. Overall, I probably wouldn't recommend it for pleasure reading, but I can see how it would be valuable in other ways.
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Gotta say, I got into this pretty blindly via a rec (but also cause the cover is *so* sick) and OH MY GOSH! Her writing expresses a sense of true humanity in its simplest terms. It gives me what I crave in literature, in love, in life. Her writing style scratches a part of my brain, and, for that, I eternally swear my loyalty to Dusapin. Overall, a great book!
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
After initially disliking the sparse writing style, I ended up enjoying how it evoked the atmosphere in Sokcho, but ultimately I think the book could have been benefitted from being longer to flesh out the characters better and explore the themes in more depth
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder
This book was extremely atmospheric and not too much else. The eeriness of Sokcho in winter and the constant impact of the ongoing war with North Korea is beautifully conveyed to create a cold coastal city which stands in contrast to the rich foods and neon signs described. Like our protagonist it feels like a city which is still fighting for its identity and independence free from the history which defines it.
That being said I didn't love the romance between the narrator and Kerrand. While the idea of his artistic view obscuring her true self is strong the execution of this idea was in my opinion sloppy. There were very few actual meaningful conversations between the two and by the end of the book the ending felt very empty as the love affair remained unresolved and rushed.
Therefore, while Sokcho in the book (and the romance to some extent) beautifully show what it is to be undefined and divided between two expectations of oneself and two differing cultural and national identities, I just found the book felt it had something missing within it. Whether this could be resolved by lengthening the book allowing the author to go into greater depth and built the human relationship aspect of the book is worth considering. Nevertheless as always here are some of my favourite lines:
---> "I didn’t want to be his eyes in my world. I wanted to be seen. I wanted him to see me with his own eyes."
---> "Our beaches are still waiting for the end of a war that’s been going on for so long people have stopped believing it’s real. They build hotels, put up neon signs, but it’s all fake, we’re on a knife-edge, it could all give way any moment. We’re living in limbo. In a winter that never ends."
---> "He’d never understand what Sokcho was like. You had to be born here, live through the winters. The smells, the octopus. The isolation."
That being said I didn't love the romance between the narrator and Kerrand. While the idea of his artistic view obscuring her true self is strong the execution of this idea was in my opinion sloppy. There were very few actual meaningful conversations between the two and by the end of the book the ending felt very empty as the love affair remained unresolved and rushed.
Therefore, while Sokcho in the book (and the romance to some extent) beautifully show what it is to be undefined and divided between two expectations of oneself and two differing cultural and national identities, I just found the book felt it had something missing within it. Whether this could be resolved by lengthening the book allowing the author to go into greater depth and built the human relationship aspect of the book is worth considering. Nevertheless as always here are some of my favourite lines:
---> "I didn’t want to be his eyes in my world. I wanted to be seen. I wanted him to see me with his own eyes."
---> "Our beaches are still waiting for the end of a war that’s been going on for so long people have stopped believing it’s real. They build hotels, put up neon signs, but it’s all fake, we’re on a knife-edge, it could all give way any moment. We’re living in limbo. In a winter that never ends."
---> "He’d never understand what Sokcho was like. You had to be born here, live through the winters. The smells, the octopus. The isolation."
fast-paced
Read this in June, which is the first month of winter in the Southern Hemisphere. Very atmospheric