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A review by gyeranbbang
The Prince of Mournful Thoughts and Other Stories by Caroline Kim
4.0
This was such an incredible reading experience. I very rarely love short story collections, but this one was incredible. Caroline Kim's writing is impeccable and I truly enjoyed how each narrator had a distinctive voice, nailing the voice of people with broken English or children (it is so rare to see children written 'properly,' I think we have normalized the adult-ish perspectives they are often given in literature).
I highly recommend this collection to anybody who likes reading about the Korean-American experience as well as Korean stories (about the war and the yangban times).
- "Mr. Oh" - A Korean man living in the US struggles with physical pain and is told to go to the shrink. 5⭐ - I loved the man's reflections about what being Korean means (it's funny because some of the 'stereotypes' he mentioned are the same ones that we use for Catalans?) and the writing was just top-notch here, Kim did an amazing job at writing the 'broken Korean' throughout.
- "Arirang" - Set in a village in 1949, a woman struggles to get pregnant while her old friend keeps having baby after baby. As they are both shamed for the two things, they find solace in talking about womanhood as, silently, the Korean War approaches. 5⭐ - just beautiful. everything. The bit where they sing Arirang have me goosebumps and the scenes about the war were just 10/10.
- "King of the Gipsies" - A lady meets the King of the Gipsies. 3⭐.
- "Lucia, Russell, and Me" -Lucia, the best friend and neighbour of the main character, has had her mom's new boyfriend move in and they have a strange relationship. The two of them navigate changes as they get to know their new neighbour Russell. 5⭐. I loved everything here, I just remember finishing the story and realizing I had been 100% immersed in it.
- "Seoul" - The story of a guy and his family during the Korean War, how it started and what they did to survive. 4⭐.
- "Magdalena" - A Korean church in the US is conflicted about one of their members after she turns eccentric following her divorce. 5⭐.
- "Picasso’s Blue Period" - A man struggles with how he is seen by his family as his daughter is about to give birth. 4⭐.
- "A Change Is Gonna Come" - A young woman travelling the world reminisces her last relationship as she finds herself in a new one and wonders why she always falls for other noman men. 2.5⭐. In all honestly, this one was weird because I too move a lot and I have met people like the ones described in the story, they are not my cup of tea.
- "Therapy Robot" - A Korean woman is given a therapy robot and she keeps a diary about how things are going. 5⭐. Brilliant.
- "Not Usual for Korean" - The main character's brother has been kicked out of school and her parents want her to talk to him. It's a mess. 3⭐.
- "The Prince of Mournful Thoughts" - An old man recounts his experience working for a Prince that was haunted by being disliked by the King. 4⭐.The King did the right thing.
- "Goodbye, Goodbye" - A young kid says goodbye to Korea as she moves to the US. 3⭐.
I highly recommend this collection to anybody who likes reading about the Korean-American experience as well as Korean stories (about the war and the yangban times).
- "Mr. Oh" - A Korean man living in the US struggles with physical pain and is told to go to the shrink. 5⭐ - I loved the man's reflections about what being Korean means (it's funny because some of the 'stereotypes' he mentioned are the same ones that we use for Catalans?) and the writing was just top-notch here, Kim did an amazing job at writing the 'broken Korean' throughout.
- "Arirang" - Set in a village in 1949, a woman struggles to get pregnant while her old friend keeps having baby after baby. As they are both shamed for the two things, they find solace in talking about womanhood as, silently, the Korean War approaches. 5⭐ - just beautiful. everything. The bit where they sing Arirang have me goosebumps and the scenes about the war were just 10/10.
- "King of the Gipsies" - A lady meets the King of the Gipsies. 3⭐.
- "Lucia, Russell, and Me" -Lucia, the best friend and neighbour of the main character, has had her mom's new boyfriend move in and they have a strange relationship. The two of them navigate changes as they get to know their new neighbour Russell. 5⭐. I loved everything here, I just remember finishing the story and realizing I had been 100% immersed in it.
- "Seoul" - The story of a guy and his family during the Korean War, how it started and what they did to survive. 4⭐.
- "Magdalena" - A Korean church in the US is conflicted about one of their members after she turns eccentric following her divorce. 5⭐.
- "Picasso’s Blue Period" - A man struggles with how he is seen by his family as his daughter is about to give birth. 4⭐.
- "A Change Is Gonna Come" - A young woman travelling the world reminisces her last relationship as she finds herself in a new one and wonders why she always falls for other noman men. 2.5⭐. In all honestly, this one was weird because I too move a lot and I have met people like the ones described in the story, they are not my cup of tea.
- "Therapy Robot" - A Korean woman is given a therapy robot and she keeps a diary about how things are going. 5⭐. Brilliant.
- "Not Usual for Korean" - The main character's brother has been kicked out of school and her parents want her to talk to him. It's a mess. 3⭐.
- "The Prince of Mournful Thoughts" - An old man recounts his experience working for a Prince that was haunted by being disliked by the King. 4⭐.
- "Goodbye, Goodbye" - A young kid says goodbye to Korea as she moves to the US. 3⭐.