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This story really touched me and formed a thread linking several texts I've read throughout the years:
The friendship in the children's book [b:Freak the Mighty|8953|Freak the Mighty (Freak the Mighty, #1)|Rodman Philbrick|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1440388999l/8953._SX50_.jpg|2049173] between two outcast boys with respective mental and physical disabilities reminded me of the friendship between Gon and Yunjae. Both books deal with ostracism, "troubled" children, and neurodivergence/ableism.
[b:The Stranger|49552|The Stranger|Albert Camus|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1590930002l/49552._SY75_.jpg|3324344] and Almond both feature characters who are subjected to society's ire due to their failure to react to their family's deaths in a socially acceptable way. Along the lines of [b:Frankenstein: The 1818 Text|35031085|Frankenstein The 1818 Text|Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1631088473l/35031085._SY75_.jpg|4836639], Almond draws out the humanity in the "monster" and the monstrosity in humanity. Both novels, along with The Stranger, further suggest that society projects its own indifference onto nonconforming individuals.
In Almond, Yunjae's mother warns him that, "Every social community needs a scapegoat." In this Aeon article, Alexander Plakias argues that the "awkward," or nonconforming individual, often becomes the scapegoat for awkward situations, which should instead be understood as a collective failure. Yunjae says that, "Without Mom to come up with sample dialogue for every new scenario, I was utterly helpless," evoking Plakias definition of awkward situations—those for which there is no social "script."
W.H. Auden's poem, "Musee des Beaux Arts," grapples with society's apathy and the bystander effect. Society's hypocrisy confounds Yunjae too, who says, "Most people could feel but they didn't act. They said they sympathized but easily forgot." Empathy does not make a good person. Emotions and ethics are distinct.
I found the translator's note fascinating as well—It must have been a challenge to provoke the reader's emotions when translating the words of a character who is meant to be emotionless. I also appreciated that the translator sensed the homoerotic undertones of Gon and Yunjae's friendship :D
Giving this five stars because it's the first book in a while that has impacted me so deeply and also helped me think through my thesis on criminal insanity. But that's not to say the novel is without fault:.
The friendship in the children's book [b:Freak the Mighty|8953|Freak the Mighty (Freak the Mighty, #1)|Rodman Philbrick|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1440388999l/8953._SX50_.jpg|2049173] between two outcast boys with respective mental and physical disabilities reminded me of the friendship between Gon and Yunjae. Both books deal with ostracism, "troubled" children, and neurodivergence/ableism.
[b:The Stranger|49552|The Stranger|Albert Camus|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1590930002l/49552._SY75_.jpg|3324344] and Almond both feature characters who are subjected to society's ire due to their failure to react to their family's deaths in a socially acceptable way. Along the lines of [b:Frankenstein: The 1818 Text|35031085|Frankenstein The 1818 Text|Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1631088473l/35031085._SY75_.jpg|4836639], Almond draws out the humanity in the "monster" and the monstrosity in humanity. Both novels, along with The Stranger, further suggest that society projects its own indifference onto nonconforming individuals.
In Almond, Yunjae's mother warns him that, "Every social community needs a scapegoat." In this Aeon article, Alexander Plakias argues that the "awkward," or nonconforming individual, often becomes the scapegoat for awkward situations, which should instead be understood as a collective failure. Yunjae says that, "Without Mom to come up with sample dialogue for every new scenario, I was utterly helpless," evoking Plakias definition of awkward situations—those for which there is no social "script."
W.H. Auden's poem, "Musee des Beaux Arts," grapples with society's apathy and the bystander effect. Society's hypocrisy confounds Yunjae too, who says, "Most people could feel but they didn't act. They said they sympathized but easily forgot." Empathy does not make a good person. Emotions and ethics are distinct.
I found the translator's note fascinating as well—It must have been a challenge to provoke the reader's emotions when translating the words of a character who is meant to be emotionless. I also appreciated that the translator sensed the homoerotic undertones of Gon and Yunjae's friendship :D
Giving this five stars because it's the first book in a while that has impacted me so deeply and also helped me think through my thesis on criminal insanity. But that's not to say the novel is without fault: