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A review by koreanlinda
Fifteen Seconds without Sorrow by Shim Bo-Seon
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
I read this book twice, once in its original language, Korean, and another translated into English. Although some poems, such as "A Poem in -ing," partially lost the beauty of wordplay through translation, the translation sufficiently captures the tone of the poems: deep sorrow.
When I discussed the book with two of my friends (my attempt to understand the poems better through their thoughts), we all confessed to its difficulty in comprehension. Shim, Bo-Seon's poems feel like one hand reaching down to the earth to grasp the escaping reality and the other hand floating above into a fictional world. Often they feel dreamy. One of my two friends described it as looking at a beautiful piece of art through an opaque window.
Instead of struggling to understand the poems completely, I settled with feeling the emotions they evoked: again deep sorrow. If you are looking for a book of sad poems, this would be it. Shim's poems don't fall flat as a whine or a helpless cry. There is stoicism in dealing with the sorrow in daily life. Also, Shim's sorrow originates from various sources including past love, loss of father, and societal issues.
A side note:
Be aware. The way Shim describes his female ex-lover and his feelings for her can seem misogynistic. As a man who was born in 1970 and grew up in South Korea, it is not surprising. "South Korea has the worst gender pay gap among the 38 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development according to 2022 data... This marked the 27th year straight that Asia's fourth-largest economy recorded the most severe gender pay gap among the member states." (Source: The Korea Herald) In addition, gender-based violence against women is rampant.
Review by Linda (Any Pronouns) in October 2024
Personal essays on DefinitelyNotOkay.com
Artwork on Instagram @KoreanLinda
When I discussed the book with two of my friends (my attempt to understand the poems better through their thoughts), we all confessed to its difficulty in comprehension. Shim, Bo-Seon's poems feel like one hand reaching down to the earth to grasp the escaping reality and the other hand floating above into a fictional world. Often they feel dreamy. One of my two friends described it as looking at a beautiful piece of art through an opaque window.
Instead of struggling to understand the poems completely, I settled with feeling the emotions they evoked: again deep sorrow. If you are looking for a book of sad poems, this would be it. Shim's poems don't fall flat as a whine or a helpless cry. There is stoicism in dealing with the sorrow in daily life. Also, Shim's sorrow originates from various sources including past love, loss of father, and societal issues.
A side note:
Be aware. The way Shim describes his female ex-lover and his feelings for her can seem misogynistic. As a man who was born in 1970 and grew up in South Korea, it is not surprising. "South Korea has the worst gender pay gap among the 38 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development according to 2022 data... This marked the 27th year straight that Asia's fourth-largest economy recorded the most severe gender pay gap among the member states." (Source: The Korea Herald) In addition, gender-based violence against women is rampant.
Review by Linda (Any Pronouns) in October 2024
Personal essays on DefinitelyNotOkay.com
Artwork on Instagram @KoreanLinda
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Misogyny
Minor: Mental illness and Death of parent