Reviews

The amount of passages I took pictures of because they were just so good...

To be honest, I thought I was going to give this 4 stars because while I thought the first two parts were interesting enough, I didn't really connect with the story or the MC. Even during the second half of the novel, I didn't find the MC relatable at all, but OMG!

Part 4 really transformed this novel from just another slice of life tale into a book I think should be classified as a Modern Queer Classic. If you are a gay man and have been considering reading this book, do it! As I mentioned, I did not find the main character relatable but I still had a great time!

Anyway, I've never even had a boyfriend, let alone had my first kiss, and yet, I felt the homosexual yearning of the main character in my BONES! If you've read this book, then you know what I'm saying when I say:

That last anecdote. Wow!

The last few paragraphs in particular were so good! I commend the author on the last lines of the book, because as a writer myself, it feels like the most important sentences are the closing lines and it can be hard to find the perfect words to conclude your story with.

But the author of this book ate down.

Also, I'm just going to say it... I think another reason this novel succeeded is because it was translated by an Asian person who has lived in Korea for over thirty years. I've read too many books by Asian (Japanese, Taiwanese, etc) authors that have been translated by white people from the US or Europe, and it just seems so clunky and textbook; it's clear that they have no understanding of the language outside of a classroom setting.

Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou (which I also gave five stars) has great commentary on this, but yeah... I hope the publishing industry gives more translators with real-world experience a chance instead of blindly trusting someone to translate a novel (especially one that is popular in its home country!) just because they have a master's degree in a certain language.