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A review by koreanlinda
Palimpsest: Documents From a Korean Adoption by Lisa Wool-Rim Sjöblom
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.25
This was a difficult read. Don't get me wrong. The writer makes it very easy to follow the story, but the story itself is very hard to digest. It sits on your chest like a chunk of meat that won't go down.
The atrocity committed against numerous adoptees infuriated me. If the writer had not shown the love she was surrounded by from her family members, friends, and strangers, I might have given up in the middle of the book. So many people committed irreversible damage to babies and children for their own interests: jobs, money, politics, etc.
I loved Wool-Rim's drawing and writing style. It's comforting and down-to-earth. There are some pages where she shares the whole document from her adoption process. There are some pages where she uses excerpts. Those pages slow you down, but if you pay attention, you will understand why the writer made such choices. Every detail matters when you are searching for truth amid a hidden past.
I was not adopted, but I grew up in one of the biggest baby-exporting countries in the world: South Korea. So I keep reading, listening to, and watching adoptees' stories. (One documentary I recommend is Return to Seoul, directed by Davy Chou.) I empathize with their suffering, and I wish they get a fair share of healing from people they connect with, including Koreans like me. I also want to remind all the adoptees that growing up with your birth parents is often not ideal. As I grew up in my abusive mother's care and with several teachers' violent treatment in Korea, I wished that I lived in another country with different parents. Although we experienced different hardships with our upbringings, I look forward to connecting with more Korean adoptees in my life.
Review by Linda (Any Pronouns) in April 2024
Personal essays on DefinitelyNotOkay.com
Artwork on Instagram @KoreanLinda
The atrocity committed against numerous adoptees infuriated me. If the writer had not shown the love she was surrounded by from her family members, friends, and strangers, I might have given up in the middle of the book. So many people committed irreversible damage to babies and children for their own interests: jobs, money, politics, etc.
I loved Wool-Rim's drawing and writing style. It's comforting and down-to-earth. There are some pages where she shares the whole document from her adoption process. There are some pages where she uses excerpts. Those pages slow you down, but if you pay attention, you will understand why the writer made such choices. Every detail matters when you are searching for truth amid a hidden past.
I was not adopted, but I grew up in one of the biggest baby-exporting countries in the world: South Korea. So I keep reading, listening to, and watching adoptees' stories. (One documentary I recommend is Return to Seoul, directed by Davy Chou.) I empathize with their suffering, and I wish they get a fair share of healing from people they connect with, including Koreans like me. I also want to remind all the adoptees that growing up with your birth parents is often not ideal. As I grew up in my abusive mother's care and with several teachers' violent treatment in Korea, I wished that I lived in another country with different parents. Although we experienced different hardships with our upbringings, I look forward to connecting with more Korean adoptees in my life.
Review by Linda (Any Pronouns) in April 2024
Personal essays on DefinitelyNotOkay.com
Artwork on Instagram @KoreanLinda
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Child abuse and Colonisation