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alison_ruth's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.25
kdahlo's review
5.0
Really fun stories. I hope more stories and books by this author become available in English!
natalie027's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
These stories are beautifully written and translated. I fell in love with the characters immediately and was invested in every step of their journeys. I already want to read it again.
bookplaits's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
szuum's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
einnymydog's review
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
glitterypiggies's review
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
stephxsu's review
4.0
Kim Bo-Young joins, for me, Asian literary greats like Ted Chiang, Ken Liu, and Cixin Liu in their ability to write mind-blowing sci-fi to make readers think about life, humanity, and emotions in new ways. However, while I will definitely seek out more of her work, the unevenness and disparity of the concepts, intent, and translations of the stories in this collection may be off-putting to some if it is their first introduction to Kim’s writing.
Great sci-fi is, for me, like a mirror room in a fun house: it reflects the current state of humanity an infinite number of times to give readers a glimpse into a probable future, and what we could consider at present to avoid this future probability or make it happen. In this regard, all four stories in I’M WAITING FOR YOU AND OTHER STORIES achieve this. The first and fourth stories (the titular “I’m Waiting For You” and “On My Way to You”) explore a world in which humans, harnessing light-speed travel to “skip” periods of time on Earth, nevertheless cannot escape the destructive impact of humans on quality of life on Earth. The second and third stories, “The Prophet of Corruption” and “That One Life,” present all of existence as if they are part of and the creations of god-like prophets, and what happens when different prophets have different perspectives on the unity vs the individuality of all beings.
The second story, once you can get past the first 10 or so confusing pages, is simply astounding, and gets my only perfect 5-star rating of this collection. The world-building is apparently based on Buddhist concepts of existence, but not being familiar with Buddhist tenets, I didn’t read it that way. “The Prophet of Corruption” makes you consider: what if we are all just part of one entity, and that the fallacy of thinking we are individuals is what has caused so much of humanity’s conflicts? I love this concept because it IS very Buddhist: why do so many people insist on drawing clear lines of demarcation between themselves and others? What would the world be like if we were more conscious that we are all just tiny parts of something far greater than us?
At the same time, the novella cautions against making judgments based on “purity” and “corruption”. For if all beings are part of one whole, then no one is more right or more wrong than others: all perspectives are equally valid. It is the prophets’ insistence on purity that leads to their downfall. For me, this is a perfect mirror to a huge problem in today’s society, which is our inability to accept multiple perspectives as valid, leading to fights, discrimination, wars, and other divisiveness and destructiveness.
The third story, “That One Life,” is a natural extension of the second, although admittedly I don’t recall much of it. But I guess if I loved the second story that much, the third story is fine.
Now let’s talk about the first and fourth stories. Hmm. I am mixed. These two stories are much more… melodramatic and tawdry for me, perhaps because they are primarily romances, set against a sweeping sci-fi concept. The man and the woman try to find each other and marry by taking various forms of near-lightspeed transport. However, due to unfortunate circumstances, they keep on missing one another, and the time they spent traveling grows longer and longer. Meanwhile, decades and centuries pass on Earth, which becomes unrecognizable as a result of war, looting, famine, climate crisis, etc.
I liked the concept but wish the focus could have been less on the romance. There was so much to be explored in this world, and yet the stories are drowned by the couple’s cliched epistolary declarations of love for one another. Reading the notes at the end of the book (which are interesting, if not necessarily fun to read) tells me that the stories were written for a specific couple, which perhaps explains why the potential of the world took a backseat to the romance.
Overall, I was satisfied and happy that I discovered Kim Bo-Young through this collection, which is probably the most delightful and random find I made in a nondescript chain bookstore here in Vietnam. I am determinedly seeking out her other translated short story collection, [b:On the Origin of Species and Other Stories|55528293|On the Origin of Species and Other Stories|Kim Bo-young|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1601563678l/55528293._SX50_.jpg|86591576], in order to see what else she has to offer.
Great sci-fi is, for me, like a mirror room in a fun house: it reflects the current state of humanity an infinite number of times to give readers a glimpse into a probable future, and what we could consider at present to avoid this future probability or make it happen. In this regard, all four stories in I’M WAITING FOR YOU AND OTHER STORIES achieve this. The first and fourth stories (the titular “I’m Waiting For You” and “On My Way to You”) explore a world in which humans, harnessing light-speed travel to “skip” periods of time on Earth, nevertheless cannot escape the destructive impact of humans on quality of life on Earth. The second and third stories, “The Prophet of Corruption” and “That One Life,” present all of existence as if they are part of and the creations of god-like prophets, and what happens when different prophets have different perspectives on the unity vs the individuality of all beings.
The second story, once you can get past the first 10 or so confusing pages, is simply astounding, and gets my only perfect 5-star rating of this collection. The world-building is apparently based on Buddhist concepts of existence, but not being familiar with Buddhist tenets, I didn’t read it that way. “The Prophet of Corruption” makes you consider: what if we are all just part of one entity, and that the fallacy of thinking we are individuals is what has caused so much of humanity’s conflicts? I love this concept because it IS very Buddhist: why do so many people insist on drawing clear lines of demarcation between themselves and others? What would the world be like if we were more conscious that we are all just tiny parts of something far greater than us?
At the same time, the novella cautions against making judgments based on “purity” and “corruption”. For if all beings are part of one whole, then no one is more right or more wrong than others: all perspectives are equally valid. It is the prophets’ insistence on purity that leads to their downfall. For me, this is a perfect mirror to a huge problem in today’s society, which is our inability to accept multiple perspectives as valid, leading to fights, discrimination, wars, and other divisiveness and destructiveness.
The third story, “That One Life,” is a natural extension of the second, although admittedly I don’t recall much of it. But I guess if I loved the second story that much, the third story is fine.
Now let’s talk about the first and fourth stories. Hmm. I am mixed. These two stories are much more… melodramatic and tawdry for me, perhaps because they are primarily romances, set against a sweeping sci-fi concept. The man and the woman try to find each other and marry by taking various forms of near-lightspeed transport. However, due to unfortunate circumstances, they keep on missing one another, and the time they spent traveling grows longer and longer. Meanwhile, decades and centuries pass on Earth, which becomes unrecognizable as a result of war, looting, famine, climate crisis, etc.
I liked the concept but wish the focus could have been less on the romance. There was so much to be explored in this world, and yet the stories are drowned by the couple’s cliched epistolary declarations of love for one another. Reading the notes at the end of the book (which are interesting, if not necessarily fun to read) tells me that the stories were written for a specific couple, which perhaps explains why the potential of the world took a backseat to the romance.
Overall, I was satisfied and happy that I discovered Kim Bo-Young through this collection, which is probably the most delightful and random find I made in a nondescript chain bookstore here in Vietnam. I am determinedly seeking out her other translated short story collection, [b:On the Origin of Species and Other Stories|55528293|On the Origin of Species and Other Stories|Kim Bo-young|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1601563678l/55528293._SX50_.jpg|86591576], in order to see what else she has to offer.
ngray's review
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0