Take a photo of a barcode or cover
teafortiff 's review for:
Winter in Sokcho
by Elisa Shua Dusapin
I could not tell you what Winter in Sokcho is about, but I can tell you about the reading experience. Relying heavily on atmosphere and mood, Dusapin's novel is bleak, eerie and has a fever dream-like quality to it. The whole book felt like a slow burn noir with vivid images of the town appearing while all the characters felt like ghosts.
Kerrand poses as an interesting character to examine contemporary Korea. A French-man who arrives hoping to set his next story in the quiet town if tense undercurrents due to it's close proximity to the North, Kerrand claim he wants to see an 'authentic' Korea, yet he visits the museums and avoids people on the streets, turning his nose up at local offerings. The novel holds an implicit accusation that Korea is consumable to the West when it is reduced to it's ongoing tensions with the North, glitzy pop or colourful homes.
The novel touched on several themes: culture, body image, alienation, belonging and how the past (or present) continues to haunt us.
Kerrand poses as an interesting character to examine contemporary Korea. A French-man who arrives hoping to set his next story in the quiet town if tense undercurrents due to it's close proximity to the North, Kerrand claim he wants to see an 'authentic' Korea, yet he visits the museums and avoids people on the streets, turning his nose up at local offerings. The novel holds an implicit accusation that Korea is consumable to the West when it is reduced to it's ongoing tensions with the North, glitzy pop or colourful homes.
The novel touched on several themes: culture, body image, alienation, belonging and how the past (or present) continues to haunt us.