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4.18 AVERAGE
4.18 AVERAGE
This book was definitely more challenging than I had expected for many reasons. Most of all the translation of the Korean left some dialogue unnatural and unusual for English, however moving past that I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The plot revolves around a self-centred ex-kpop star and her brushes with death. If that's not sensational then I don't know what is! Insipid as that does sound, believe me I'm aware of it, the novel has true heart in a way that's uniquely Korean.
Although my rating is 3 stars mainly for the translation and how unwieldly it felt, this book is very interesting and thought-provoking. I will even admit to being moved by it many times.
The plot revolves around a self-centred ex-kpop star and her brushes with death. If that's not sensational then I don't know what is! Insipid as that does sound, believe me I'm aware of it, the novel has true heart in a way that's uniquely Korean.
Although my rating is 3 stars mainly for the translation and how unwieldly it felt, this book is very interesting and thought-provoking. I will even admit to being moved by it many times.
(i read the novel but now that i know theres a manhwa Out There...imma Die)
cn: suicide, murder, life sucks what do.
//
man. this book. god. difficult stuff.
i don't think about people going on death row much. i wrote a thing once about the bali 9, but that was pretty much it.
i do however think about my own death a lot. i think about it in different ways, i guess. i think about it when i'm in the shower, i think about it when i see a motorbike speeding too fast, nearly hitting the side of the car i'm in, i think about it when i'm about to sleep.
this book begins with us knowing that the main character has failed her third suicide attempt. her whole perspective is brimming with a quiet self-loathing until she meets an inmate on death row. the book alternates between glimpses of his childhood and the current day through her eyes.
in a literary sense it's not groundbreaking, or anything, but after i read this i just kind of sat down and thought about why i was so obsessed with my own death, and i thought about ways i've been just wasting time (and soz if this is cliched or anything but GOD rip) and i just. aaaaaaa
aaaaaaaa/10
cn: suicide, murder, life sucks what do.
//
man. this book. god. difficult stuff.
i don't think about people going on death row much. i wrote a thing once about the bali 9, but that was pretty much it.
i do however think about my own death a lot. i think about it in different ways, i guess. i think about it when i'm in the shower, i think about it when i see a motorbike speeding too fast, nearly hitting the side of the car i'm in, i think about it when i'm about to sleep.
this book begins with us knowing that the main character has failed her third suicide attempt. her whole perspective is brimming with a quiet self-loathing until she meets an inmate on death row. the book alternates between glimpses of his childhood and the current day through her eyes.
in a literary sense it's not groundbreaking, or anything, but after i read this i just kind of sat down and thought about why i was so obsessed with my own death, and i thought about ways i've been just wasting time (and soz if this is cliched or anything but GOD rip) and i just. aaaaaaa
aaaaaaaa/10
Not my usual type of book I have to admit, I read it because of my deep interest in korean culture and literature rather than the specific subject matter - and 공지영 is a big star in Korea - so difficult for me to compare to English equivalents.
The writing is fairly simple, and it doesn't merit my rating for it's purely literary merits.
But it certainly packs a powerful emotional punch and covers some quite deep topics - religion, redemption, rehabilitation, forgiveness, penal policy, hypocrisy etc.
And for what initially sounded a pretty cliched set-up - "suicidal girl befriends death-row prisoner via her nun aunt" - it avoids trite answers. Perhaps the only cop-out was having the prisoner, while not exactly non-guilty, responsible for less terrible crimes than those for which he was convicted: that seemed an unnecessary tool to draw the reader's, and the other characters, sympathy given that a crucial part of the book is that no one is totally evil or beyond redemption.
And Sora Kim-Russell is to be commended for a very clear and readable translation, which manages to preserve some of the sense of a Korean style.
Overall would make an excellent book club book, very moving and thought provoking but I would look elsewhere for top quality Korean literary fiction.
Incidentally a lot of the reviews refer to a manga version - the English version published this year is a proper novel so perhaps this was an earlier version / in a different language.
And why do Goodreads describe it as a debut novel? It certainly wasn't her first novel in Korean and it isn't even her first translated into English. Strikes me as a publisher trying to introduce an established but under appreciated author by hyping her up as new.
The writing is fairly simple, and it doesn't merit my rating for it's purely literary merits.
But it certainly packs a powerful emotional punch and covers some quite deep topics - religion, redemption, rehabilitation, forgiveness, penal policy, hypocrisy etc.
And for what initially sounded a pretty cliched set-up - "suicidal girl befriends death-row prisoner via her nun aunt" - it avoids trite answers. Perhaps the only cop-out was having the prisoner, while not exactly non-guilty, responsible for less terrible crimes than those for which he was convicted: that seemed an unnecessary tool to draw the reader's, and the other characters, sympathy given that a crucial part of the book is that no one is totally evil or beyond redemption.
And Sora Kim-Russell is to be commended for a very clear and readable translation, which manages to preserve some of the sense of a Korean style.
Overall would make an excellent book club book, very moving and thought provoking but I would look elsewhere for top quality Korean literary fiction.
Incidentally a lot of the reviews refer to a manga version - the English version published this year is a proper novel so perhaps this was an earlier version / in a different language.
And why do Goodreads describe it as a debut novel? It certainly wasn't her first novel in Korean and it isn't even her first translated into English. Strikes me as a publisher trying to introduce an established but under appreciated author by hyping her up as new.
I found this book difficult to put down. The writing was very personal and intimate, and Yujeong was very compelling and conflicted, which made me really love her parts even tho it was often really heavy-handed and not very subtle. Yujeong mentions several times how much she hates cliches, but Yunsu was extremely cliche and hard to sympathize with because his backstory was so unbelievable and his present day actions were so pure. It wasn't a perfect book, but it was really touching, and I could hardly put it down!
This was hauntingly beautiful.
I did not expect this kind of story, I actually thought this was going to be a cute silly love story, maybe get a little bit of drama in the middle, but I was so, so wrong.
This story is captivating, raw and beautifully written. It makes you feel so many things, it gets you confused and you get easily attached to the characters, even if you don't want to.
Our protagonist can come up a little bit selfish but the longer you're with her, you get to understand her and it doesn't become annoying.
The ending it's bittersweet (I'll say more bitter than sweet actually) but I think it's the perfect ending for the story, even if it hurt.
I highly recommend this, it was different to what I usually read, but I don't regret it one bit, I'm happy I had no idea what this was really about because if I had I probably wouldn't have read it.
I did not expect this kind of story, I actually thought this was going to be a cute silly love story, maybe get a little bit of drama in the middle, but I was so, so wrong.
This story is captivating, raw and beautifully written. It makes you feel so many things, it gets you confused and you get easily attached to the characters, even if you don't want to.
Our protagonist can come up a little bit selfish but the longer you're with her, you get to understand her and it doesn't become annoying.
The ending it's bittersweet (I'll say more bitter than sweet actually) but I think it's the perfect ending for the story, even if it hurt.
I highly recommend this, it was different to what I usually read, but I don't regret it one bit, I'm happy I had no idea what this was really about because if I had I probably wouldn't have read it.