A review by bookhoarder_neha
The Girl Who Wrote Loneliness by Kyung-sook Shin

informative sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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I think auto-fiction is a tricky genre to write. The lines between the autobiographical account and the fictionalised version gets blurred and leaves the reader confused at times. I wanted to exude empathy for the condition and struggle of the author but was disoriented since couldn’t fathom where the autobiographical account amalgamated with the fictional version. 

The story starts promisingly with her journey from the country side to Seoul to work in an industrial sweatshop along with an unnamed cousin. The initial usage of phrases like ‘I, 17 year old’ and ‘lone room’ and not revealing the names of her family members built upon the effectiveness of the writing. 

Midway through the book, the usage of these phrases and references to unnamed characters became extremely repetitive and frustrating leading to confusion at times. At several places, I had to go back in my audiobook to understand who was being referred to at particular points in the story. I felt some fictional names could have been given to the characters instead of calling them eldest brother, first brother, second brother, cousin to do away with the ambiguity. 

While I appreciate the author’s efforts to pen down the plight of the Korean citizens in the post war industrialisation struggle, I felt the writing to be average. A few parts like her attempts at being able to attend school and become a writer and the worker’s collective scuffles were well written. But the author failed to engage me in the family dynamics that was also a huge part of the story. 

I would recommend this book if you want to educate yourself about the industrialisation process in South Korea, post war struggle of the citizens and are able to assimilate auto-fiction. This was my third attempt at reading this genre and I am not sure if it is for me.